The Outer Worlds, Control, Dauntless, SpellBreak, The Cycle, Ancestors & More Coming As Timed Exclusives To Epic Games Store; TOW also on MS Store

LifeBrandRobot · Mar 20, 2019

Valdega said:
How is it possible that after countless threads discussing these exact topics, people can still post questions like this? Are they just trolling or do they genuinely not read anything within a thread?

Well like I said I only play on consoles so I don't normally check out PC threads... So many EGS threads have been popping up so I thought I'd check one out. First few pages are just really upset people. Hard to get info from that.

water_wendi said:
A lot of those opposed to EGS are a little frazzled to explain things right now so ill give it a shot. Its mostly about feature set. The short-short version is that EGS is lacking features they desire.

Ahh growing pains of a new store huh. Lack of features for a new platform is somewhat understandable in the beginning. The Switch was super bare at launch. Kinda still is. Does the store not get regular feature updates?

Mentalist · Mar 20, 2019

LifeBrandRobot said:
Isn't the EGS free? Why are people so angry? They're both on your computer what's the difference...

Strictly a console pleeb here, but if a game I want to play is on my Switch and not my PS4 I'll buy it on my Switch even though I like my PS4 more.

So if you game on a console, you can buy the game directly from Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo's own online shop. Or you can pick up a game copy on Amazon, or a used copy in a store down the street, or a big retailer (insert 4-5 local retailer chains that sell video games). And these stores run promos in different times, and they vary their prices, so you can look out and get your games cheaper, yeah?
So, on PC, it's like that with Steam. You got Steam itself, and then you got a bunch of smaller stores selling Steam keys, and the they also compete, and undercut each other, and we end up with these sales andbig game libraries, backlogs to last years and all the gamers are happy.

and then you got Epic come in and say "right, I'll give you, developer or publisher a bag of money to only say games in my store). So on console, this would be like , " you can only buy this game from the online store of the console-maker"

you lose all those other shops. So there's no incentive to vary prices, and the game price stays the same.

and on top of that, Epic store's missing stuff. no achievements, no cloud saves, not available in all countries, security's not the best, controller support, not the best- there are a bunch of reasons.

but they're not giving you a choice, because the game is exclusive. And you're also being told by everyone that "this is good for you". When you can see, very clearly, that the way things were before were better for you.

and so people tend to get pretty pissed off, because it feels like someone thinks they're stupid and tries to take advantage of them.

Admiral Woofington said:
At this point I demand a full scale investigation if the fiftieth "I don't get it, it's all free, I only play console somebody explain" obvious concern trolling post is made lmao

I'd much rather there was just a (locked) sticky thread with all of the PCEra's concerns listed that we could just link anyone seeking information to

LifeBrandRobot · Mar 21, 2019

Mentalist said:
So if you game on a console, you can buy the game directly from Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo's own online shop. Or you can pick up a game copy on Amazon, or a used copy in a store down the street, or a big retailer (insert 4-5 local retailer chains that sell video games). And these stores run promos in different times, and they vary their prices, so you can look out and get your games cheaper, yeah?
So, on PC, it's like that with Steam. You got Steam itself, and then you got a bunch of smaller stores selling Steam keys, and the they also compete, and undercut each other, and we end up with these sales andbig game libraries, backlogs to last years and all the gamers are happy.

and then you got Epic come in and say "right, I'll give you, developer or publisher a bag of money to only say games in my store). So on console, this would be like , " you can only buy this game from the online store of the console-maker"

you lose all those other shops. So there's no incentive to vary prices, and the game price stays the same.

Ahhh true I didn't think of it like that. I was only seeing it as two gaming platforms and not two stores. Yeahhh, I'd be pretty pissed too if EB games had games I wanted exclusively sold through them.

BasilZero · Mar 21, 2019

LifeBrandRobot said:
Isn't the EGS free? Why are people so angry? They're both on your computer what's the difference...

Its not free, you gotta pay money, what are you? A pirate?

juventino13 · Mar 21, 2019

Soundtrack2chaos said:
Damn I was looking forward to Outer Worlds. I'll pick it up in a humble bundle instead.

Thanks Obsidian. You played yourself.

It was the publishers decision not Obsidian. Isn't humble now partnered with epic? Don't see how buying through them will prove anything

Metroidvania · Mar 21, 2019

Welp, sucks that I'll be waiting a year or more to play either of those games - but honestly, Control doesn't really seem like a it'll differentiate from Remedy's other games (insofar as a one-time playthrough, maaaaaaybe two), and Outer Worlds isn't gonna have anywhere near FO:NV levels of mod support that would make me want to get it right away. It's still shitty, though, for sure.

LMAO though, at both the 'I feel you' dev and the 'fun thread' dev bowing out after getting called out without any significant rebuttal.

Also with 4A saying '2.5x better sales than Last Light' - which could mean potentially barely any sales at all, with how vague they're being - but from the rumors on how much money is being tossed around, it's not like the devs/pubs are gonna care, until if/when they burn through goodwill.....And to be honest, they likely won't, as gamers tend to be a fickle bunch with short-term memories, on the whole.

water_wendi · Mar 21, 2019

LifeBrandRobot said:
Ahh growing pains of a new store huh. Lack of features for a new platform is somewhat understandable in the beginning. The Switch was super bare at launch. Kinda still is. Does the store not get regular feature updates?

It is getting (and has received) updates and there is a roadmap. Probably the most severe issue (unavailability in China) is not likely to be resolved easily though. At least games are not exclusive-exclusive for those that have to deal with that.

TheClaw7667 · Mar 21, 2019

Arulan said:
I can't wait for the disingenuous arguments to end once Google, Amazon, and Wal-Mart proceed to use their wealth to fuck with their choices.

The fact that this is common on consoles isn't an excuse, it's just sad. Closed-platforms are designed to take advantage of you for the platform-holder's benefit.

These next few years will be a turbulent time for the industry, whether it's PC platforms, streaming services, or developer acquisitions.

If you let corporations fuck with you because you just care about the games, the industry will only get worse for you, the consumer.

So we actually did see what happens when a choice is removed from console gamers with the Xbox One announcement. They all collectively lost their shit at Microsoft for trying to make an always online console and remove used games as an option for cheaper games.

I feel like it's a somewhat similar scenario. You had a company with a huge warchest trying to change the way people buy and play games. Some were saying the same things about game prices and being able to afford new games only because of used game trade-ins. On the PC, we don't have used games as an option to reduce prices but we do have other game resellers that help to reduce prices. But if Epic have their way they want to completely remove them as an option. They want to discourage games going on sale on their store.

The same types of arguments were also used as a way to defend Microsoft's decision as well. "This is good for the developers." "Don't you care that used games are destroying developers livelihoods? Why wouldn't you want developers to make more money"? were commonly said.

Console gamers do care when their choice is affected as was seen with the backlash to the One's announcement. But as was also seen during that backlash, many people will defend limited choices or draconian practices if it doesn't affect them in anyway.

Paxton25 · Mar 21, 2019

PogChamp said:
I was under the impression that Obsidian wasn't doing too well financially right? I can understand their decision.

Owned by Microsoft so how did you come to this conclusion?

Cecil · Mar 21, 2019

Rodjer · Mar 21, 2019

https://www.reddit.com/r/theouterworlds/

People are not happy here.

Sei · Mar 21, 2019

Cecil said:

OOF.

Stagen · Mar 21, 2019

The Epic game launcher is truly shaping up to be the bad boy of the game launchers. Once it was Origin, but today, it's most certainly Epic with the exclusive releases.

Plasma · Mar 21, 2019

Cecil said:

I wonder how much Obsidian had to do with this, wouldn't it be down to the publisher Private Division?

derFeef · Mar 21, 2019

So sad about Control, what the hell, Remedy :-(

duckroll · Mar 21, 2019

Anything Chris Avellone has to say about Obsidian management is tainted and should be viewed not from the perspective of him having any inside information about business decisions made after his departure, but as him trying to continue to attack the leadership of a company he had a falling out with and left under totally inamicable conditions. He's been shittalking and trash talking them since he left and taking every opportunity to take cheap pot shots at anything and everything. So.... shrug.

ChemicalWorld · Mar 21, 2019

Epic Moneyhating = Benefit of All

/s

Psamtik · Mar 21, 2019

I'd sooner buy it on the Microsoft's store than Epic's, honestly.

Lucifonz · Mar 21, 2019

I understand why it makes sense for developers - clearly the financial incentive is a good one alongside the financial cut. But man does it completely suck for consumers. The Epic Store is simply a bad product in its current state when compared to the competition, it lacks so many basic features - it's closer to a basic launcher right now.

Competition is good, and maybe Epic will get there one day, but right now it's not a good situation. Steam are to blame too for their large % cut.

It certainly makes what Tim Sweeney said back in 2016 extremely ironic - money talks.

Stock · Mar 21, 2019

Does the Windows Store have any issues to be aware of before buying The Outer Worlds on that platform? Been looking forward to this game since its announcement, and not really willing to wait a year for the eventually Steam release.

Fanta · Mar 21, 2019

Worth mentioning according to Steam DB achievements were added yesterday morning only a few hours before the announcement.

Hentailover · Mar 21, 2019

Stock said:
Does the Windows Store have any issues to be aware of before buying The Outer Worlds on that platform? Been looking forward to this game since its announcement, and not really willing to wait a year for the eventually Steam release.

From what I've seen it's still a dumpster fire. They promise improvements this year, but words are cheap.

CthulhuSars · Mar 21, 2019

Stock said:
Does the Windows Store have any issues to be aware of before buying The Outer Worlds on that platform? Been looking forward to this game since its announcement, and not really willing to wait a year for the eventually Steam release.

Windows store is hit or miss some have no issues with it (I am in this group as I have honestly never had any problems) others have had massive issues with it and it is a dumpster fire.

cowbanana · Mar 21, 2019

Stock said:
Does the Windows Store have any issues to be aware of before buying The Outer Worlds on that platform? Been looking forward to this game since its announcement, and not really willing to wait a year for the eventually Steam release.

I have Gears of War: UE, Gears of War 4 and Dead Rising 4 on the Windows Store (got DR4 for 25 bucks at launch, including season pass, due to a pricing error). I never had any problems installing or playing games from the store. It's not a store I generally use, but I've had no issues with it.

duckroll · Mar 21, 2019

Joshii said:
Worth mentioning according to Steam DB achievements were added yesterday morning only a few hours before the announcement.

The game is eventually going to be on Steam, so it makes sense that they won't change their process. The only difference is that it won't go on sale and be released this year. They'll just finish up prepping the release like they've been planning for, and let it sit for a year. So it doesn't mean anything that they were tweaking the Steam DB stuff yesterday, or today, or even tomorrow.

Stock · Mar 21, 2019

Hentailover said:
From what I've seen it's still a dumpster fire. They promise improvements this year, but words are cheap.

CthulhuSars said:
Windows store is hit or miss some have no issues with it (I am in this group as I have honestly never had any problems) others have had massive issues with it and it is a dumpster fire.

cowbanana said:
I have Gears of War: UE, Gears of War 4 and Dead Rising 4 on the Windows Store (got DR4 for 25 bucks at launch, including season pass, due to a pricing error). I never had any problems installing or playing games from the store. It's not a store I generally use, but I've had no issues with it.

Thank you all for the responses. The Windows Store menus look super messy to navigate for PC gaming, but glad to hear that installing/running games are for the most part functional.

ara · Mar 21, 2019

I've had no problems with the Windows store so far and they already have my credit card information etc., so I'll likely get TOW from there too.

e: and yeah, the Avellone tweet is stupid.

Valdega · Mar 21, 2019

Cecil said:

I appreciate Avellone's work but this is nonsense. The Outer Worlds is being published by 2K. As such, 2K decides how it gets distributed. This EGS deal is entirely on 2K, not Obsidian.

Joshii said:
Worth mentioning according to Steam DB achievements were added yesterday morning only a few hours before the announcement.

I'm not sure it's worth mentioning. The game is still coming out on Steam. It's just been delayed for a year.

Dandy · Mar 21, 2019

I'm tempted to buy it on the Windows store as well, even though I've never used it before... I just feel like doing so is rewarding bad behavior. Then again, so is buying it on Steam in a year. The developers/publishers are already fine if the game doesn't sell well on EGS, so if we all buy it on Steam in a year they are still rewarded for taking the moneyhat. The only way it sends a message is if the game is discounted when it launches on Steam after the exclusivity.

Fall Damage · Mar 21, 2019

I rarely buy anything at release due to my backlog and a preference to wait for a patch or two, but TOW is the one exception in recent years. So much hype for this game. Windows Store it is.

Revolsin · Mar 21, 2019

Era users be like "Well too bad for them, I just won't play games anymore"

Gpur · Mar 21, 2019

Komo said:
Yeah but do you support their scummy practices? Because that's my big deterrant on using the platform. I literally uninstalled their launcher when I saw the first moneyhats

Well, I think that it's normal in the beginning, they're trying to create a fanbase, is not much different to what Valve did with Half Life 2 and the Orange box.

Nugnip · Mar 21, 2019

Stock said:
Thank you all for the responses. The Windows Store menus look super messy to navigate for PC gaming, but glad to hear that installing/running games are for the most part functional.

The biggest issue I've had with the Windows Store is downloads losing progression. Multiple times, downloads got stuck, and restarted from the beginning, which is super frustrating on my crappy Internet. The "lost" downloaded data is still on the hard drive, taking dozens and dozens of gigs of hard drive space, and is a pain to delete (hidden files, files that windows won't let me touch because of admin privilege bullshit that doesn't work). I'd chose Epic a thousand times over Windows Store if given the choice.

tuxfool · Mar 21, 2019

Stock said:
Does the Windows Store have any issues to be aware of before buying The Outer Worlds on that platform? Been looking forward to this game since its announcement, and not really willing to wait a year for the eventually Steam release.

I can't install any of the games I bought. It refuses to install them

Arsene no Kiseki · Mar 21, 2019

Correct me if this has been posted but apparently Obsidian didnt find out about the Epic deal until the day before? Its Metro Exodus all over again

I wonder how much of that Epic money will actually go to Obsidian.

Alexandros · Mar 21, 2019

Lucifonz said:
Competition is good, and maybe Epic will get there one day, but right now it's not a good situation. Steam are to blame too for their large % cut.[/QUOTE]

Are they? Is there any valid reason to single out Steam from the rest of the industry?

tuxfool · Mar 21, 2019

Gpur said:
Well, I think that it's normal in the beginning, they're trying to create a fanbase, is not much different to what Valve did with Half Life 2 and the Orange box.

That's not the way to do it.

Valve created their own fanbase with their own games and with store features. Epic did with Fortnite, but they're antagonizing customers when they keep indicating they have no regard for the latter.

No carrots for customers, only sticks.

SteveWinwood · Mar 21, 2019

Ryna said:
Correct me if this has been posted but apparently Obsidian didnt find out about the Epic deal until the day before? Its Metro Exodus all over again

look it's good for the devs okay

the devs good

good devs

SteveWinwood · Mar 21, 2019

Rodjer said:
https://www.reddit.com/r/theouterworlds/

People are not happy here.

subreddits for somewhat smaller games like the outer worlds or phoneix point spend months being free pr and hype machines with people just endlessly talking about how they're excited for the game

announced for egs it just turns into a shitshow with the entire page either talking about how active people on the subreddit aren't going to buy it anymore or a reminder that saying you're going to pirate it is against the rules

it's just super sad man

SurrenderDorothy · Mar 21, 2019

Ryna said:
Correct me if this has been posted but apparently Obsidian didnt find out about the Epic deal until the day before? Its Metro Exodus all over again

I wonder how much of that Epic money will actually go to Obsidian.

Damn, this sucks for them.
Some are popping off at Obsidian as well, which I think is misguided.

But hey, this is good for the devs /s.

tuxfool · Mar 21, 2019

Should have seen this coming. Its Obsidian's lot in life to get fucked over by their publishers.

Arsene no Kiseki · Mar 21, 2019

SurrenderDorothy said:
Damn, this sucks for them.
Some are popping off at Obsidian as well, which I think is misguided.

But hey, this is good for the devs /s.

Yeah it really sucks. Obsidian cant catch a fucking break.

Sausage Handler · Mar 21, 2019

Fuck this shit, just fuck it. Half of my most anticipated games this year are seemingly going to this shit featureless launcher, so looks like PS4 it is for me. Thanks for ruining PC gaming for me Epic.

Kolibri · Mar 21, 2019

God fucking damnit.
The Outer Worlds was legit my most hyped game confirmed for this year.

texhnolyze · Mar 21, 2019

Ryna said:
Correct me if this has been posted but apparently Obsidian didnt find out about the Epic deal until the day before? Its Metro Exodus all over again

I wonder how much of that Epic money will actually go to Obsidian.

Well, yeah. They just added Steam achievements yesterday, as can be seen on Steamdb. Those were the devs, they were still working on the Steam version without knowing anything.

Luna said:
https://steamdb.info/app/578650/history/

Given achievements were added less than an hour ago to the Steam version, chances are developers might not even know.

Leonsito · Mar 21, 2019

Control, The Outer Worlds, The Sinking City... that's three games I won't buy then, I'm not giving my money to a digital store that moneyhats exclusives, I have a lot more games to play.

This EGS deals seem to be only good for publishers, not devs, if it was good for them I'm pretty sure they would have been at the negotiations of this exclusivity deals.

MrCow · Mar 21, 2019

i honestly don't see any problems with this. first there was origin and then soon every publisher had it's own launcher and everyone was somewhat ok with this. now epic has it's own launcher that actually pays the devs more and people are complaining and even boycotting the launch? seriously?

obsidian deserves this chance to shine with their own IP and the move was probably not even decided by them!

derFeef · Mar 21, 2019

MrCow said:
i honestly don't see any problems with this. first there was origin and then soon every publisher had it's own launcher and everyone was somewhat ok with this. now epic has it's own launcher that actually pays the devs more and people are complaining and even boycotting the launch? seriously?

obsidian deserves this chance to shine with their own IP and the move was probably not even decided by them!

Epic is not a publisher.
And how can they now shine? By limiting the target customers in the first year? Also probably no one was okay with EA games being exclusive to Origin, same with Ubi games now being exclusive to uPlay and Epic Launcher. while skipping Steam.

Arsene no Kiseki · Mar 21, 2019

MrCow said:
i honestly don't see any problems with this. first there was origin and then soon every publisher had it's own launcher and everyone was somewhat ok with this. now epic has it's own launcher that actually pays the devs more and people are complaining and even boycotting the launch? seriously?

obsidian deserves this chance to shine with their own IP and the move was probably not even decided by them!

Publishers releasing a game on their own launcher is fine.

Epic paying developers to cancel or delay their announced steam releases to make them exclusive to a launcher with none of the features Steam has is not.

Theres no benefit to the consumer. Its actually a downgrade, and if you're on Linux or in China you're shit out of luck.

Lucifonz · Mar 21, 2019

Alexandros said:
Are they? Is there any valid reason to single out Steam from the rest of the industry?

Partially simply due to a fairly uncompetitive % cut for developers - I can see the developer's side of the puzzle.

MrCow said:
i honestly don't see any problems with this. first there was origin and then soon every publisher had it's own launcher and everyone was somewhat ok with this. now epic has it's own launcher that actually pays the devs more and people are complaining and even boycotting the launch? seriously?

obsidian deserves this chance to shine with their own IP and the move was probably not even decided by them!

It's simply because the product (EGS) is poor combined with Epic not being the publisher of these games - instead paying off games for a 1yr exclusivity period. Therefore those interested in the game are forced to purchase on the platform, with no cloud saves, streaming, community features etc, or wait a year. It's a 'platform war' in the PC space that's always been an open platform - something ironically the founder of Epic, Tim Sweeney, used in 2016 when expressing unhappiness with the Windows Store / UWP. Whilst fairly normal in the console space this has never been a thing to this degree in PC Gaming.

The Outer Worlds, Control, Dauntless, SpellBreak, The Cycle, Ancestors & More Coming As Timed Exclusives To Epic Games Store; TOW also on MS Store

Chicken Chaser

Self-requested ban.

Usage of alt-account.