Just read about the free game for epic store, sign me up for free, take back what i said, i can add another launcher lol, after they done giving away the games i can uninstall it...
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Steam, Origin, uPlay, Bethesda, Epic, W10 Store, Rockstar Social Club, GoG Galaxy, where's the line?
- Thread starter Kraken3dfx
- Start date
Your point? I see kb and mouse. Does not look like gamepad-only setup and it should be possible to achieve such setup on PC without unnecessary pain. All those launchers make it harder to do, some actions are close to impossible to perform on controller, like text messaging and entering text in-game.Comfy couch?
this is the hilarious part - people are all about "competition" but then frustrated at keeping their gaming library organised because they can't with all this forced fragmentation.
Because EA origin has EA games. Bethesda launcher only Bethesda games, etc. So people really didn't make a stink too much. Those places weren't really going to compete with Steam. It was just moving their games to their own platform.
But now, things are a bit different. Epic has a fuck ton of money now. They have an amazing engine that is free to use and make games on. They have the biggest game in the world on their platform. They are giving devs 88% cut for their games, and are making moves. They are clearly a potential contender now to battle with Steam.
Thats the power of the PC. Its a free for all. No one controls it.
I quoted my original comment above to help keep things clear, but I don't understand how your reply connects to what I wrote. I'm saying storefronts offering different overhead for publishers is a big competitive difference, in response to people suggesting that something like the Epic store doesn't count as competition. I made the point to discern between consumer-facing and business-side competition.
Your right, Devs don't owe anyone anything and are allowed to put there game on any platform they want and we are allowed not to buy it which is exactly what will happen. I just hope these games that are exclusive don't bomb and negatively affect the developers because they should be prepared not to get the sales they might have thought now.
The point is that gamepad only setup sucks and thats why I have both setups at the same time and no couch, because couch also sucks ;)
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It isn't ideal but we've dealt with shitty launchers for forever. Uplay, origin and early steam. All sucked.
I'm open to an Epic launcher/storefront if they compete on feature and price. A library of game exclusives isn't enough for me to just install it without buying anything.
Playnite.link
It's free too and it organizes everything. Discord also does this too it allows you to import every game installed on your system.
Playnite apparently also lists not installed games and supports UWP too.
If the launcher works and doesn't hog resources I really don't care if there are 5 or 10 different stores. Ultimately you're still using the same hardware for these platforms.
And how is this different to Sony paying Insomniac to make a Spider-Man game on PS4 only? By this logic people should be outraged that it isn't on XB1 or PC and that they're forced to own a PS4 to play it. But no, instead it's held as one of the reasons why Sony's exclusive lineup is so attractive to customers and a challenge for Microsoft to step up when it comes to exclusives.
Paying a developer for platform exclusivity, whether it was agreed to before or after development or announcement, has the same practical result. The only difference is timing. And if Epic moneyhatted their lineup before the games were announced we'd be applauding them for "supporting developers" and no one would be arguing about this.
Yeah...I don't mind that much. And as someone who lives outside the US I appreciate that Origin and GOG do regional pricing for my country a LOT better than Steam.
I can tell you that at least in the book publishing world (including e-books), sale prices are totally under the umbrella of the publisher ceding more of their own cut, allowing for some special cases. Piscatella would know better about the details of the game publishing space.
I've never understood why this is such a big deal.
The complaints I saw of no refunds and no user reviews do not bother me in the slightest.
No refunds is not an issue if you do proper research before buying a game and/or look up gameplay on youtube.
No user reviews is not an issue because most of them on Steam are a joke anyways and heavily abused to "review bomb".
And exclusive games? All it adds is a few more clicks to play. I have no issues with these launchers. It's not a problem.
The complaints I saw of no refunds and no user reviews do not bother me in the slightest.
No refunds is not an issue if you do proper research before buying a game and/or look up gameplay on youtube.
No user reviews is not an issue because most of them on Steam are a joke anyways and heavily abused to "review bomb".
And exclusive games? All it adds is a few more clicks to play. I have no issues with these launchers. It's not a problem.
I do also think that the increase in launchers and exclusives will result in an increase in piracy, in a similar manner to how I do expect the launch of Disney and AT&T's streaming services will also result in an increase in piracy. Admittedly, I do think that's going to be less of a factor than the umpteen streaming subscriptions companies expect people to pay, but I do think there's going to be a limited tolerance before people start seeking out the launcher-free alternatives.
If it helps you any, I did buy wallet money for Final Fantasy XII TZA this year. (When I bought credits for Divinity it was July 16th 2014. That's closer to 4 years than 5. That 5 number shouldn't be that important, especially if they got better months after my e.. dropping it).
I'm not running to that as an excuse of, why I'm glad there are options to buying games on PC? It's was just my worst experience with Valve that caused me to diversify my PC gaming if you will. Like I said, I still bought something on steam since. I just go out of my way to look for better options first now, competition was good for me.
yes Its always because of publishers, devs etc. but without steam allowing free steam key generation do you think those discounts would happen? I dont think so to the extend that it happens now
better library management in the client (tagging support for example)
better integrated community features like discord and info sharing
regional releases, so games can be played on launch at a convenient time on your timezone
better achievement system with a profile score
better refunds than the 2 hour limit
better support and quality control for older games that are no longer maintained
DRM management that allows publishers to easily remove DRM after the release window is done.
Loyalty points system for customers who buy a lot of games from a particular publisher.
Reward incentives
etc
tons of ways
I only see the argument for communication between friends but if Discord is the backbone for PC games then launchers are fine, a slight annoyance but as long as they aren't crap clients it's not a big deal. I get people want one library, I like things tidy too but I know it's silly to get worked up about it. Enjoy the games.
Yep. Same in games.
A retailer can, of course, choose to sell a game at a discount without partnership, but the retailer then eats the entire discount out of their own margin, and retail margins are pretty thin to begin with, so retailers tend not to do this. Sometimes they do though. Rarely, if they have share goals or some other metric they're chasing.
Retailers doing this also put the publisher relationship at risk. But sure, it happens.
Far, far more often it's the publisher agreeing to fund a portion of the discount in order to protect the retailer's margin. This can be done via a % discount on a digital store or by what's called a back end rebate at b&m retai, where a pub gives an agreed upon $ per unit rebate to the retailer for every unit sold during the promotion.
I wish Steam would just do that automatically tbh, completely removing the need to even interact directly with other launchers besides buying the game.
Perhaps by some luck they could be working on something to help with dealing with all the launchers, while still being able to benefit from Steam's feature set.
Everyone having their own store is fine. I just want a client that can manage all of them from one place. Steam's pretty close to being exactly this, they just need to upgrade the Add Non-Steam Game button to Add Non-Steam Library. If the different stores could agree to a universal client integration standard that would be even better.
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Defining a term like "competition" only through the lens of one perspective is... narrow.
Devs/pubs are a customer of the storefront just as consumers are of the content they buy. Competition doesn't exist from just one perspective.
It's cool for anyone to look at this stuff any way they wish, but there have been pages and pages and threads and threads about this one term because of a difference in definition.
you can add non steam games to steam
and get most of the features
it works great except for MS Store games
EDIT: oh i missed automatically, i feel that would involve privacy issues
In all my years since I got back into PC gaming, I never once understood the veneration that Steam got and still gets. I found dealing with their support to be an insane hassle, with 7 year old inquiries still not handled, their store is a cluttered mess that only really works if you know what you're looking for anyway, and it's biggest boon, the all in one hub for games is still applicable, even if you have to jump through a few hoops to integrate games into the client.
Reviews are absolutely useless just like on Google Play, and the Forums are a cesspool of racists, bigotry and harassment, with the occasional link to a community fix. I use Steam because I have to, not because it convinced me.
The different launchers can be a hassle, but outside of Bethesda's gross negligence I found them to be no more intrusive than any other program I use on my PC. With Discord being a good unifying platform to coordinate.
Reviews are absolutely useless just like on Google Play, and the Forums are a cesspool of racists, bigotry and harassment, with the occasional link to a community fix. I use Steam because I have to, not because it convinced me.
The different launchers can be a hassle, but outside of Bethesda's gross negligence I found them to be no more intrusive than any other program I use on my PC. With Discord being a good unifying platform to coordinate.
There's is no line. All of these clients are just a means to an end. The only thing that matters is the game and how much I have to pay for it.
For me, it depends on a couple of things. If a large publisher that releases a lot of games every year makes their own client, then I'll be ok with that. I get annoyed using a client for 1 or 2 games. Battle.net, for instance, has less than 10 games, and doesn't boot on launch for me.
There are many similarities between Online Retail and Streaming services. Steam and Netflix carved the path of online distribution, but now competition is following. I suspect many to fail, leaving only a few. During the interim there will be an excess of platforms, and it might even diminish usability/convenience.
I think discord does it automatically, and Playnite does it too.
The GOG launcher was my line. You can get by without so it's easy to avoid but that's when I decided in the back of my mind that I've got enough stuff installed and if anyone else comes along I'll ignore them completely. Bethesda (if they keep RAGE 2 exclusive) and Epic are the first big casualties. Thing is, if anyone launched an actually great store/client with awesome exciting features that works and does something, anything better than Steam I might at least take a look. But so far they all have been a joke. Or an actual hazard in case of Bethesda.
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I love PC gaming, but the amount of launchers is getting VERY old. The consoles don't have these problems. You put in the disk, install the games and updates and go. PC publishers are making PC gaming worse.
I need Battle.net for Blizzard games and Steam for the 250 games I already own, but anything more than that is a hassle.
I need Battle.net for Blizzard games and Steam for the 250 games I already own, but anything more than that is a hassle.
I 100% prefer my games on Steam. But it's never been possible to have them all there. I've been using Battle.net on the side probably just as long as I've used Steam. I've had Uplay for a long time, even if I've only bought one game directly from there I think. It's no trouble at all that my Ubi Steam games launch it automatically. I got GoG for Gwent, not a big deal if not what I would have preferred. I just few days ago caved and finally downloaded Origins, mainly because I want to support the efforts of Dice and EA, but also because the Premier subscription seems quite appealing. PC is convenient and easy to use, even if with multiple different launchers.
I'm only bothered by 3rd party (paid) exclusives. If devs/pubs want to distribute their games only on their own platform, that's fine. But paying for exclusivity rubs me the wrong way.
I'm only bothered by 3rd party (paid) exclusives. If devs/pubs want to distribute their games only on their own platform, that's fine. But paying for exclusivity rubs me the wrong way.
Yeah but consoles have the problem of having to buy more expensive hardware. I'm quite pleased I just need to download software on PC.
The big problem with this argument is that itch.io already exists and addresses basically everything a developer wants. The problem with itch.io is that the number of people who buys games there is negligible. Arguing that competition for developers and publishers is mutually exclusive from competition for customers is silly.
I mean what's really needed is a program that pulls from all the platforms and displays your games in one place,
It is easy to get it twisted here. It may seem like consoles don't have this problem but ironically you are buying an entire redundant computer -in a box- not to mention subscribing to a service that will effectively double your cost over the useful life of the thing.
I'm glad Steam isn't the only big player anymore. I just don't like having to launch their store to play the games I buy. I try to keep background programs to a minimal, and this is becoming a pain.
i don't think competition defines the whole situation.
stores like origin and uplay probably aren't created to directly 'compete' with steam and co, more likely created for other purposes e.g ecosystem, revenue etc
gog and epic store on the other hand should be in direct competition with steam.
exclusives are cause of competition, they make your products stand out more however big or small
can't fault that.
yup.
and then competition also arises in that space....
stores like origin and uplay probably aren't created to directly 'compete' with steam and co, more likely created for other purposes e.g ecosystem, revenue etc
gog and epic store on the other hand should be in direct competition with steam.
exclusives are cause of competition, they make your products stand out more however big or small
can't fault that.
yup.
and then competition also arises in that space....
Zero line.
Just like in real life.
I can either go to big retailers like WM, Target, BB, GS, Amazon or smaller one to buy my game.
Just like in real life.
I can either go to big retailers like WM, Target, BB, GS, Amazon or smaller one to buy my game.
Sorry, I dont understand the point you're trying to make. And I never said it was a mutually exclusive situation.
User Banned (1 Day): Trolling, posting misinformation. Previously warned for drive-bys.
Disruption in the market is always good for the consumers. I don't get why people want Steam with a monopoly.
Also, this might get Valve to stop resting on their pedestal and make games again.
Also, this might get Valve to stop resting on their pedestal and make games again.
I don't know about you, but I regularly have to update my PC hardware to play the newest games.
They just released Artifact. And aren't a monopoly. How do you think Fortnite happened? Origin? GOG? Uplay? Blizzard?
I don't think there is a line.
More buyers and sellers is a good thing for any industry.
Valve has had a pseudo monopoly for long enough. I'm glad others are trying to challenge them.
More buyers and sellers is a good thing for any industry.
Valve has had a pseudo monopoly for long enough. I'm glad others are trying to challenge them.