this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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The Epic First Run programme allows developers of any size to claim 100% of revenue if they agree to make their game exclusive on the Epic Games Store for six months.

After the six months are up, the game will revert to the standard Epic Games Store revenue split of 88% for the developer and 12% for Epic Games.

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[–] BURN@lemmy.world 159 points 1 year ago (18 children)

They can try all they want, but I’ll just wait until the game comes to steam. No game is worth using that dumpster fire of a launcher.

[–] sebinspace@lemmy.world 67 points 1 year ago (11 children)

Elite Dangerous was their free game for the month awhile back. I made extra accounts and snagged free copies for people that wanted to try it, because I adore that game and love having people to fly with.

You know, oddly enough, no one wants it, even for free, expressly because they don’t want to deal with the dog’s anus EGS launcher.

[–] BURN@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yep, I used to pick up the free games, then realized I’d never play any of them because I expressly do not want to deal with the EGS launcher.

It sucks, because it really is better for the devs, but steam is just so much better

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[–] jet@hackertalks.com 80 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (9 children)

There seems to be a lot of debate in the comments, that are disingenuous arguments.

I think the quality of the software is a factor for some people, but that's not the main issue here.

Steam has always publicly stated their competition is piracy. They have to be more convenient than piracy to survive. And over steams lifetime I think they've demonstrated that's their goal, yes they have DRM, but only to satisfy publishers, they've done everything they can to keep things as convenient as possible.

Epic, the company, has demonstrated their goal is money. And they've demonstrated an anti-consumer trend, the exclusivity deals are in great indicator of that. If epic became as popular as steam, they would make the experience awful, they would become the Disney of the game world.

So all of the arguments about

*launcher quality

*availability of DRM free games

*some publishers choosing to release on one platform

Are missing the mark, many people don't want to financially support a market participant who will make their lives worse in the future.

If you don't like valve, that's fine, support a different distributor who makes the ecosystem better, like GoG.

[–] Myro@lemm.ee 18 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I think competition is always good and Steam should not have a monopoly, but Epic is certainly not a beneficial alternative.

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[–] dinckelman@lemmy.world 70 points 1 year ago (23 children)

The first few months of a game release are absolutely critical, no matter the size of the studio. I won't buy anything on Epic just out of principle, and I'm sure there are countless other people who share the mindset. A 100% share, vs a 70% one, is definitely appealing at first glance, but it'll butcher your numbers for short-term gain

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 36 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

As a patient gamer, who hates enticements to get stuck in yet-another-walled garden, I refuse to go with Epic. The benevolent kingdom of steam never forces exclusivity deals, and just out of self interest i wont reward behavior that removes options from me.

I guess this means I'll have to wait at least 6 months for some games to show up on steam

I'm ok with other ecosystems, if they treat people right, like GoG, I'm cool with GoG.

[–] gibmiser@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Waiting 6 months means you will find out if the game was any good anyways

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[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

It's that upfront money they give that's the big thing for some of these devs I can't blame them for taking that upfront influx of development capital.

Still not buying it from Epic, I hate console exclusivity, including Nintendo, and I'm not going to support it on PC.

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[–] thattysonguy@lemmy.world 53 points 1 year ago (12 children)

Say what you will about epic, but this is compelling as hell for Devs. Hopefully this puts more pressure on Steam to reduce their cut. Competition is good.

If you're so against epic, have a little patience and wait until it comes to steam 6 months later. That's what I'll be doing. But don't just mindlessly shit in epic because you (as a consumer) don't like their business model intended to attract devs. You can dislike something while also recognising the good in it.

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[–] bappity@lemmy.world 52 points 1 year ago (26 children)

you guys can pay developers all you want but nobody is gonna stick if your launcher is still shit

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[–] Arkarian@lemmy.zip 49 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (16 children)

Someday maybe they will try to improve the launcher instead of burning all the money in exclusives that only pisses people off. I uninstalled that shit and don't even bother to take the free games anymore.

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[–] devbo@lemmy.world 46 points 1 year ago (28 children)

So is it just me or does every game that becomes a epic exclusive never do as well as they should. i think most game developers realize this, which is why epic is desperate to get developers on their failing launcher. maybe they should try offering all the things steam does. regardless i cant switch because i own too many games on steam, im locked in.

[–] BURN@lemmy.world 43 points 1 year ago (12 children)

It’s because PC gamers overwhelmingly will just ignore the game until it comes to steam, but by the time it comes to steam it’s been 6 months - 1 year and all the hype around the game has died.

People have been voting with their wallets and not rewarding anti-competitive behavior for once

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[–] Adalast@lemmy.world 44 points 1 year ago (11 children)

God I hate Epic. I hate them with every fiber of my being. The fact that I have to have their crappy, insecure game store bloatware just to try to learn Unreal for personal projects is dumb. Hence why I am learning Unity and Godot.

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[–] jernej@lemmy.ml 43 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Steam has proton, Epic games does nkt even have a linux launcher, its obvious who I'm sticking with

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[–] ilickfrogs@lemmy.world 41 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Man epic games store is actual industry aids. We don't buy games on steam because we have no other choice. We buy them because it's by far and large the best platform. I don't want 10 different apps for different games. I want my collection in one spot. Epic games sucks. I've never given them a single cent and never will. I've claimed many a free game on there but the irony is I just buy them on sale through steam and never actually play them on epic. I want playtimes, achievements and the games themselves in one fucking spot. If steam becomes wildly anti consumer I would absolutely change my stance. But valve and it's customers have a pretty good relationship imo.

[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I wish more companies were like Valve. They are following that old style of making a great product and/or providing a great service to make consumers happy to spend their money there. The only mixed feelings I have about spending money on steam is "do I really need more games when there's a ton in my library that I still haven't even installed let alone played?"

I hope they stay private and that Gabe has or finds an heir that follows his mindset rather than decides to go for a quick payout.

Even when those other companies embrace shitty business practices to make more money and it works for them, they are just setting the stage for a better company to come along and replace them.

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[–] Rooster@infosec.pub 34 points 1 year ago

They'll get 100% of my zero dollars that way.

[–] noirnws@lemm.ee 33 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Never forget that GOG is also an option!

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[–] MajorHavoc@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago (6 children)

"Let us offer you 100% of the money from a marketplace 0.0001% as large! Did we mention you get all the money that neither of us are making? We will throw in all the good will with gamers we've earned too."

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[–] Infinity187@lemm.ee 29 points 1 year ago

Lol, Epic losing steam? No pun intended.

Also, fuck Epic.

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 28 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I already block ads and advertisements, so the game will just be completely off my radar for another six months until I see friends start playing it. Eh. It's far too much effort to try a new platform after the dumpsterfires of Origin and Uplay to play 1-3 games.

The only game I'd actually install a new launcher for would be a new Half Life Game.

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[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago

I mean that's seems like a decent deal for developers but I'm not buying it until it goes Steam and GoG.

[–] Anti_Face_Weapon@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Other posters seem to forget that competition is very important for this kind of thing.

Sure it's annoying when Epic stops games releasing in other platforms, and especially how the epic launcher and it's games do not support Linux.

But without competition, steam can continue with an insanely high cut of indie game sales, and that is NOT ok.

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[–] newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They've done everything to encourage game developers, expecting consumers to follow. But none of this entices me to leave steam. I, like many, will gladly wait.

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[–] lazyvar@programming.dev 17 points 1 year ago (3 children)
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[–] kryllic@programming.dev 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Reeks of desperation, Tim's hate boner for Valve seem to drive a lot of Epic's policies

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[–] ngwoo@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

This is probably a worse deal than the previous offer of guaranteed revenue regardless of performance.

[–] Stinkywinks@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

Guess I'll get the game on sale

[–] red@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Fuck Epic and any store who tries to remove games from others.

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[–] Fraylor@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Developers, or their MBA publishers? I HIGHLY doubt developers beyond indie studios benefit from this.

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