Tim Sweeney: "Battles will be won on the basis of game supply, consumer prices, and developer revenue sharing"

[qrac]

https://www.mcvuk.com/business/tim-...more-in-the-next-five-years-than-the-past-ten

Tim Sweeney talks about EGS and how it will compete aginst other stores, among other things. More in the link. Some quotes below.

"We're giving game developers and publishers the store business model that we've always wanted as developers ourselves," says Sweeney.

"It's nearly perfect for consumers already… There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience. These battles will be won on the basis of game supply, consumer prices, and developer revenue sharing," Sweeney reckons.

"I think the game business will change more in the next five years than the past ten," predicts MCV's Person of the Year. "The last remnants of the old retail model of gaming are falling apart, and the biggest successes are fast-moving indies and fast-moving big competitors – exemplified by Fortnite and Apex Legends. All of the old decisions need to be revisited."

But delivery is only half the deal, so is Epic offering financial incentives, above and beyond the superior revenue split, to games which move exclusively to the store?

"Yes, we've worked to ensure it's genuinely worthwhile for developers to move to the Epic Games store," Sweeney replies openly. That's because Battle Pass has given the company one hell of a war chest, or as Sweeney puts it: "Fortnite's success has given Epic significant latitude to help developers."

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[Rodjer]

"It's nearly perfect for consumers already… There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience

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AHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH

No.

 

[Armaros]

'It's so perfect for consumers already we need to backtrack about 15 years in our services'

 

[Pillock]

We all know that internet shouting is the best way to win anything!

 

[Danzflor]

At this point, I just enter this threads out of pure morbid curiosity to read some hot spicy takes from all the parts involved.

 

[Deleted member 249]

AHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH

No.

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'It's so perfect for consumers already we need to backtrack about 15 years in our services'

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Is he referencing EGS or Steam in that quote? Because if Epic, ell oh fucking ell

 

[prudis]

love how they went from "competition" to "storefront war" ,
their true intentions are finally showing even in PR speak

Q: But delivery is only half the deal, so is Epic offering financial incentives, above and beyond the superior revenue split, to games which move exclusively to the store?
A: "Yes, we've worked to ensure it's genuinely worthwhile for developers to move to the Epic Games store," Sweeney replies openly.

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and even moneyhat is confirmed straight out of his mouth

 

[Deleted member 1759]

"It's nearly perfect for consumers already…

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[Zafir]

These battles will be won on the basis of game supply, consumer prices, and developer revenue sharing,

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Maybe they should actually be competitive on consumer prices then. They certainly aren't at the moment.

 

[Era of not Yakuza]

"It's nearly perfect for consumers already… There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience. These battles will be won on the basis of game supply, consumer prices, and developer revenue sharing," Sweeney reckons.

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"These things are not important" - Company that does not offer such services.

 

[neon_dream]

These battles will be won on the basis of game supply, consumer prices, and developer revenue sharing...

... financial incentives, above and beyond the superior revenue split, to games which move exclusively to the store...

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Summary:

+ Paid exclusivity
+ Distribution control (likely interpretation: no 3rd party key selling)
+ Price control
- Features
- Customer service

Great. Fuck off.

 

[Deleted member 4044]

AHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH

No.

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He's talking about the status quo of the current marketplace in general, not Epic's own Game Store. It's nearly perfect for consumers right now with a number of options and feature-rich clients (Steam), so trying to play catch up by adding a new feature every few months isn't going to get them significant traction. They're playing the other side of the equation (developer relations, payouts, revenue) instead as they feel that's the area that can be disrupted.

 

[Zoon]

LMAO

 

[Armaros]

Ye

He's talking about the status quo of the current marketplace in general, not Epic's own Game Store. It's nearly perfect for consumers right now with a number of options and feature-rich clients (Steam), so trying to play catch up by adding a new feature every few months isn't going to get them significant traction. They're playing the other side of the equation (developer relations, payouts, revenue) instead as they feel that's the area that can be disrupted.

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Yes it's so perfect for consumers elsewhere, the EGS decided to launch 15 years ago with zero features.

So EGS isn't doing anything for developers or Anything like that, they are only doing this because they only know how to throw money at something and pretend they are doing 'good'

 

[Sedated]

Steam is just so superior. Epic needs to do a loooot of work.

 

[TheRaidenPT]

Summary:

+ Paid exclusivity
+ Distribution control (likely interpretation: no 3rd party key selling)
+ Price control
- Features
- Customer service

Great. Fuck off.

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Now that I think about it.. It sounds like the "console" version of PC.. Minus the subscription...

 

[YuSuzzune]

So great people need to pay a fee when they purchase a game if they don't save their cc info.

 

[RionaaM]

It's nearly perfect for consumers already… There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience.

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This quote is so bad that it almost makes me regret being a huge Jazz Jackrabbit and Jill of the Jungle fan.

 

[CrusoeCMYK]

Let's GO Apex!

 

[.exe]

They'll only see my support once they get features and services making it worth my while. Until then, I'll wait. Sweeney trying to downplay the value of quality service is really transparent. The strategy is to drag you into their ecosystem rather than invite you in. Players last is the motto, evidently. Well good luck with that.

 

[Doskoi Panda]

It's weird seeing 'social curation' being pointed at as an alternative to 'only' using a storefront to find new games, when that's been the way of things across nearly the entire industry since like 2002.

Has Tim Sweeney used Steam or any competing storefront recently or does he just assume they're just like the Google Play Store

 

[OrdinaryPrime]

This quote is so bad that it almost makes me regret being a huge Jazz Jackrabbit and Jill of the Jungle fan.

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Eh, you can still like and appreciate someone's creativity even if the person is a moron or an awful person. See Michael Jackson.

 

[Kthulhu]

"It's nearly perfect for consumers already… There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience. These battles will be won on the basis of game supply, consumer prices, and developer revenue sharing," Sweeney reckons.

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But aside from Metro all of the games I'm aware of have been the same price as Steam or consoles.

Also, wouldn't exactly call at lot of the features EGS is missing marginal.

 

[Mifec]

Tim Sweeney: I openly admit unlike other corps that consumers are just cattle to me.

 

[alr1ght]

This guy is such a joke. Enjoy all that tencent money and please go away.

 

[Asriel]

There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience. These battles will be won on the basis of game supply, consumer prices, and developer revenue sharing," Sweeney reckons.

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No lies detected. I'm guessing they've done their research and come to the conclusion that Steam's features are mostly fluff to PC gamers. And to ultimately compete in the market, that's what they need to do.

 

[MrBob]

Well at least we know for certain now money hats are the reason devs are deciding to go epic store exclusive.

 

[Deleted member 249]

You know what's really ironic is that this is the man who used to cry foul at Microsoft's perceived "closing down and poaching" of Windows and Windows content, and now he is doing the same. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

 

[Demacabre]

Well... good thing we finally got the search function. Marginally more store features... Marginal.

Also:

Apex vs Fortnite

 

[Yukinari]

You can write a book with all the material concerning the Epic Store and its negative impact on PC gaming. Even though its only been a few months.

I wish someone like Jim or Angry Joe would step up but they clearly wont.

 

[oni-link]

He's an ass, but this:

There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience. These battles will be won on the basis of game supply, consumer prices, and developer revenue sharing

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Is hard to argue with

Still sucks for consumers though

 

[qrac]

Is he referencing EGS or Steam in that quote? Because if Epic, ell oh fucking ell

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I think he is referecing EGS with this in mind:

We believe the ultimate vector for players to discover new games will not be our storefront but creators, which is why Epic's 'Support a Creator' program is integrated into store operations," says Sweeney, adding: "Viewership of creator channels has greatly outgrown any storefront. In Korea and China, the primary game distribution vectors are social: WeChat, KakaoTalk and QQ, rather than storefronts. As with the twists in Fortnite's evolution, one shouldn't necessarily project the Steam or App Store paradigm onto its final form," he cautions.

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[AmFreak]

This quote is so bad that it almost makes me regret being a huge Jazz Jackrabbit and Jill of the Jungle fan.

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Bad or not, he isn't wrong.

 

[Duxxy3]

When they let keys to be sold anywhere. When they enable cloud saves. Maybe then I'll consider Epic as a potential alternative.

Until then the store isn't even half baked. It's raw.

EGS is good for publishers and bad for consumers. Hopefully that story changes, but right now that's the story.

 

[Deleted member 32374]

"Game supply"

Gee, that's a funny way of saying "money hatting". Huh.

I'm all for Devs getting paid and choosing where you to release their games. We consumers have our freedom to choose too.

We'll see if "game supply" and free game giveaways are enough to keep your store/launcher successful in the coming years....

 

[Dinjoralo]

"Marginal" features. Because universal controller support and making games playable on an entirely different platform is "Marginal".
This guy is such a chode. Talking total, hypocritical nonsense.

 

[Deleted member 1759]

Minus the subscription...

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Don't give them any ideas lol

"We care about developers and we don't think they should have to carry the burden of keeping online game servers running. And we aren't able to provide an adequate online infrastructure with the developer-friendly low cut we take. So we think it's only fair that the players do their part to keep the online games they love running. With that in mind, we are happy to announce the Super Epic Games subscription service for online gaming."

 

[ramoisdead]

"It's nearly perfect for consumers already… There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience. These battles will be won on the basis of game supply, consumer prices, and developer revenue sharing," Sweeney reckons.

Click to shrink...

So basically, it's too much effort to put in features and a better install experience for consumers to your store at the moment. Therefore, it's better to allow for dirty tactics and rip the games that were so close to launch on one storefront and then say it's exclusively on just your own storefront. Also, robbing folks from shopping for a better deal like they are doing with The Division 2 when it is released. From multiple storefronts to just two... doesn't sound consumer friendly yet that's how Tim stated Epic will win consumers.

But delivery is only half the deal, so is Epic offering financial incentives, above and beyond the superior revenue split, to games which move exclusively to the store?

"Yes, we've worked to ensure it's genuinely worthwhile for developers to move to the Epic Games store," Sweeney replies openly. That's because Battle Pass has given the company one hell of a war chest, or as Sweeney puts it: "Fortnite's success has given Epic significant latitude to help developers."

Click to shrink...

And there it is. To those who still argue Epic aren't moneyhatting devs to release their games only on EGS, there's your proof. I mean, cool Epic wins and the developer getting the bag of money wins. Gee, I wonder who this leaves out...riiiiight, the consumer that will still pay full price for a game on a client that has less features than other clients. Also, what if Fornite's Battlepass wasn't a money printing factory machine for Epic...you really think they would be helping out developers at that point??

Say what you will about Steam's problems...and yes they are worth criticizing. However, Epic is just playing the snake oil salesman into thinking you're better off shopping on their store.

 

[SteveWinwood]

yeah I dunno how you beat horses they're already pretty good you cant make a better one of those

you need to just make people buy your horses instead of the other person's

said henry ford a very unimaginative person

 

[oni-link]

Tim Sweeney: I openly admit unlike other corps that consumers are just cattle to me.

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Corporations are not your friend, that goes for both Epic and Valve

 

[cowbanana]

I hate everything about this hypocrite and his lame tencent store. Any developer going Epic exclusive is dead to me.

 

[Armaros]

Bad or not, he isn't wrong.

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I guess what's why he pays his developers to claim this is actually good for consumers?

Because he knows he can't say it with a straight face?

 

[m_dorian]

If your battles mean that you ll use consumer ease as cannon fodder then i wish you to lose them badly.

 

[Deleted member 32374]

Corporations are not your friend, that goes for both Epic and Valve

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No they aren't. Valve isn't my friend, it just likes getting money from me and hey, they make it worth my while.

 

[Armaros]

Corporations are not your friend, that goes for both Epic and Valve

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One has consumer friendly features, the other doesn't.

 

[TheRaidenPT]

You know what's really ironic is that this is the man who used to cry foul at Microsoft's perceived "closing down and poaching" of Windows and Windows content, and now he is doing the same. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

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You know the problem here is that Tim really thinks he's helping out developers and gamers alike with this situation.

Current situation is that the consumers are the ones who lose.

 

[Deleted member 42]

I just wanna sleep q.q

I had a really good post in the Jimquisition thread too and then this one pops up, I don't have any energy!

 

[machinaea]

Is he referencing EGS or Steam in that quote? Because if Epic, ell oh fucking ell

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Referring to the overall overall options, not EGS store specifically:


He's not wrong though; competition by "featureset" often does not work and is not only expensive, but due to the direct cost as well the time needed to see any results, extremely risky. Yes, trying other avenues quickly might not result in the best first experience and both internally/externally it's easy to blame bad experience or bad results on the lack of those features, but it will show them whether their strategy is viable and their assumptions about consumer and developer behaviour right - and of course allow them to make course corrections on based on real life data rather than assumptions and somewhat relevant experience.

 

[Deleted member 15395]

"There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience "

What I've been saying all along. Regardless of how inconvenienced customers are in the short/long term, this is really the only viable strategy if you are going after Steam with any semblance of seriousness.

 

[LewieP]

"There is no hope of displacing a dominant storefront solely by adding marginally more store features or a marginally better install experience" So they aren't even going to bother trying?

Edit: Really infuriating seeing this rhetoric that it's good for developers when Deep Silver specifically stated that 4A had absolutely no say whatsoever in the deal.