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Tim Sweeney: Epic Games will cover future refunds and work with other stores to ensure key availability for crowdfunded games that go Epic exclusive
- Thread starter vestan
- Start date
One thing to keep in mind that it's very possible Epic did NOT specifically buy the exclusivity of Shenmue III. Look at the publisher Shenmue developers went with, Deep Silver - the same publisher who had already gone exclusive with Metro. What if Deep Silver has an exclusivity contract with Epic, all games for the next XXX time are exclusive? Then Ys Net came along with Shenmue III and Deep Silver offered to publish their game, giving them enough development funds to make the open-world game that was originally intended?
Just speculation, but it would make sense, and the Ys Net developers may not have even known about the exclusivity deal when they signed up (nor cared - a Japanese developer probably wouldn't have been following the online antics of a digital storefront).
Just speculation, but it would make sense, and the Ys Net developers may not have even known about the exclusivity deal when they signed up (nor cared - a Japanese developer probably wouldn't have been following the online antics of a digital storefront).
I know Tim doesn't have to answer to anyone, and I really wish that wasn't the case.
If I was vice-president at Epic or something, I'd have dragged him aside and asked "What the fuck are you doing?!?!?!"
Seriously, what the fuck was the point of all this?
Epic made a deal where everyone loses, including Epic.
It makes no fucking sense.
If I was vice-president at Epic or something, I'd have dragged him aside and asked "What the fuck are you doing?!?!?!"
Seriously, what the fuck was the point of all this?
Epic made a deal where everyone loses, including Epic.
It makes no fucking sense.
Tim Sweeney said the other day their strategy to compete with Steam was to buy up exclusivity of games so I've no idea why you'd think this.
That was before EGS. Now these projects can be made possible by Tim Sweeney. He cares about developers, right?
I'm sure he'll help these young up and comers realize their dreams!
Did you read my post? They could have bought up the exclusivity of every game Deep Silver publishes over the next X amount of time. Which would mean they didn't specifically target Shenmue III or even know they were buying the exclusivity of a Kickstarter game until the shit hit the fan.
No they'll definitely be targetting Kickstarted games simply because they know there's interest in them and they'll be good gets for their exclusive push.
Good on Epic! But it's bad no matter what apparently...
Holy exaggeration Batman! Calm down, Kickstarter games will be fine...
Didn't say wasn't legitimate, said that there were things more legitimate especially when it comes to reasons as to why people shouldn't trust kickstarters and Epic killing it. And yes, I'm a hell of a lot less concerned if they're giving a refund especially since Bloodstained could cancel their wii u/vita ports while giving a refund. Things aren't set in stone in kickstarter.
Kickstarter has always been an interest free loan and projects have also received outside funding before (some even use it as proof of interest). I see projects that continue to sell what are essentially pre-orders after the campaign for the same price as what I backed it for. Meaning that I didn't necessarily have to put money in the first place and could've waited instead to see how the project progresses. I'm not sure if the money from kickstarter is ever really enough to actually cover the costs when it comes down to it.
At this point, I wonder why Epic doesn't just go the Netlfix route and greenlight pitches thrown at them.
Can't really complain about a game they paid to exist versus the current swoop-in that just annoys customers expecting one thing until it becomes another.
Can't really complain about a game they paid to exist versus the current swoop-in that just annoys customers expecting one thing until it becomes another.
I feel like a lot of people stopped backing games because of all the failures and scandals, now people will be afraid of Epic buying shit up. Crowdfunding for games will probably die. That is assuming enough people care about this issue.
I dont why you people are giving them credit for 'fixing' a problem they themselves created.
Maybe, but Deep Silver released Outward after Metro Exodus, and that wasn't exclusive to EGS, it was available on Steam too.
The win scenario is you getting the game on the promised store front, that is still happening in some cases
It has happened piecemeal, but no major publisher has ever announced a blanket policy to simply intercede on projects as a matter of general strategy. It removes the core motivation to back.
It really does raise the question of why backers should bother. Before the answer was because the game may not get made otherwise, but now since Epic will foot the bill and effectively buy you out at the end of the process (by refunding you), a potential backer may as well keep their money and see what ends up happening when the game's released, unless IDK they really want a backer reward or something.
Legit question, no trolling, derailling, trying to offend you or whatever: so in order for me to have a talk about something, or in this case a statement, i first have to search ERA and "educate" myself by reading every thread with "EGS" in it?
I mean to me at least this man/woman didn't insult anyone and tried to reason his answers. I'm a console player too (i assume he/she is) and this obviously big discussion about steam/EGS blew by me (not that Epic is fucking up big time, but why does it matter technically). Why can't you guys, who are better informed, not just have said: check out thread xyz and then come back please, or, as some did, explain why it matters (no linux support f.e.). That would have been totally fine. Instead it's mocking a person, who propably is using ERA not as extensive as others / you yourself do with "here we go again". Thats not helping.
If this is the norm, epic should be shelling 6 million dollars upfront the next time they want a game to release on Epic store first while funding home consoles as well.
You guys are right. It feels dirty everyone helped fund this just so Epic comes near the release date with their money hat for their bs exclusivity.
You guys are right. It feels dirty everyone helped fund this just so Epic comes near the release date with their money hat for their bs exclusivity.
Tim Sweeney out here doing everything he can to make EGS catch on, even if it ends up harming the industry as a whole.
successfully crowdfunded games have a guaranteed built in audience, their only objective is getting people onto the store
because that's riskier than scooping up a title that thousands of people have already shown they'll pay for
Because Timmy wants the games now. He doesn't like to grow things, he likes to harvest.
Exactly. Their strategy is so difficult because they basically have to guess what games that will be heading to Steam they should be scooping up.
It's almost impossible to grab the sleeper hits that come from nowhere like Mordhau before they make it to Steam, and it's very expensive and probably impractical to make deals across the board to grab big AAA titles like Total War Three Kingdoms, since SEGA would want more than they'd be willing to offer.
So they're stuck doing this thing where they sort of have to pick up Kickstarter games, because at least they know people are interested in those and they can probably wave enough money in front of the developer or publishers face to get them onboard.
That takes time. Look at how long it took Valve to get Steam to where it is, look at how long its taken Microsoft and still not as good. It is much quicker to go after known titles or known developers. To be fair the Epic Store has imporved a bit, regional pricing, refunds, an actual search. So I imagine by this time next year if they are still around it will be even better but most likely still far from Steam.
Whether or not they deliver has no bearing on it being an interest free loan. It always was.
Someone please tell me how epic keep getting away with this scummy shit, gaming news outlets need to start going against epic on this. The way they are going rn they are destroying any kind of goodwill they ever had. I am amazed the PR shot show on each of these moves doesn't seem to effect them either.
Is there any chance of me now ever buying a game on epics store now, no.
Is there any chance of me now ever buying a game on epics store now, no.
I'm talking the most basic things of a storefront. They should have launched with that. They have no good will right now anyway so I doubt they'll get a lot more customers just because their store starts to resemble a basic one.
people complained about Bayonetta 2, so it's certainly doable
also everything about the EGS comes across as rushed, half-baked, and poorly thought out. they're spending money in what seems like crazily inefficient ways to reach short-term numbers, while the deals they make have to be done so quickly that they end up spending even more money after to clean up messes made along the way.
taking pitches and publishing games a year or two down the line doesn't jive with that strategy, buying kickstarted titles does.
taking pitches and publishing games a year or two down the line doesn't jive with that strategy, buying kickstarted titles does.
Sounds like what people said when Microsoft pushed their crappy Windows 10 store as some kind of brand new platform even though they had been selling digital games for many years under Games For Windows Live. Just as it was with MS, Epic isn't competing against launch-Steam, they're competing against Steam as it is today.
Clearly, Epic doesn't care about building a competitive product feature-wise. They'd prefer to moneyhat Valve out of existence with non-sustainable giveaways. Fuck em.
And then they still sell out to Epic anyway and play the "hey guys game development is hard so..." card.
What's really going to be fucked is if the Fortnite money continues to dry up and Epic has these massive overheads on all these projects where they've "guaranteed" refunds to backers, and eventually they don't have the cash to meet their commitments and a bunch of projects and backers get left in limbo.
This makes me not want to take part in any future kickstarter. For fear the same thing happening again.
Ha! No... oh no... the gaming news oulets feels that it's just another launcher, only Valve should drop their cut (not the consoles storefronts nor mobile - just Valve), and a solution is Valve cutting down on their rank and file employees trip to Hawaii to be able to lower their cut. Consumer outrage over Epic's fuckery is a tired old story. Epic is doing the lord's work and is just misunderstood. Stop me if you heard this one.
But why do people continue to fund a game after it hit its goal especially when it is obvious that they didn't plan on any real stretch goals? Because people believe in the project. You could always wait after a project was funded, Epic didn't change that. They aren't inherently making it harder for Kickstarters to succeed. There's also the fact that not all buyers are targeting PC or actually care to get a refund.
I just find it crazy that this is the kickstarter breaking point when there were so many bad campaigns beforehand and acting like a refund/going to Epic is worse than getting nothing at all. And it's not like Epic will buy literally every kickstarted game either.
Why do people like monopolies so much? Like, Epic is actually doing something that they should be doing by covering the developer's expenses and refunding money from backers who don't want to install a different launcher to play a game they "waited decades to play".
It feels like the priority is not the success of a hard-working team or the development of a healthy PC gaming market, but just the convenience of not having a new icon on the desktop.
It feels like the priority is not the success of a hard-working team or the development of a healthy PC gaming market, but just the convenience of not having a new icon on the desktop.
Nobody knows how long the Fortnite revenue stream will last and that's why they are trying to brute-force invest their current profits to create another source of income in the form of the EGS. If the Fortnite revenue dries up then they can't buy that many exclusives anymore, causing them to having an even harder time etablishing the EGS as a valuable store, and that's the reason why everything seems so rushed and / or in hurry: because they actually are in a hurry.
People have never cared (beyond 'net venting) about games failing to come out, or failing to come out on specific platforms in the past. The vast majority of KS backers aren't going to care about a game not coming out on a specific store.
As an example, Bloodstained never shipped the planned Vita or WiiU copies, and there was no mass swearing off of KS.
KS isn't a preorder. KS isn't an investment. KS is a donation to help a project along. No one who wants a guarantee of any sort should ever use KS or any other crowdfunding site.
Era isn't representative of the market at large. Most users are going to go "Can I play it on PC? Cool" and that'll be the end of it.
Epic is willing to cover refunds, because those demanding refunds will very likely be a small group.
I didn't back Shenmue 3 and have nothing against Epic Games, but I've backed some games that already released and a handful that have yet to release, and I would personally feel used if this happened to me. Even with a refund, they still used your money for the purpose of betraying the purpose of your support.
The games I have backed are probably either too low-profile for or too close to release for Epic to snatch them up, but it's definitely making me more hesitant to use Kickstarter in the future.
The games I have backed are probably either too low-profile for or too close to release for Epic to snatch them up, but it's definitely making me more hesitant to use Kickstarter in the future.
People definitely care about failure. People expect to receive something even if they shouldn't. Era is always wrong and doesn't represent any part of the industry, I wasn't talking about Era.
Thanks for your obvious statements by the way.
I mean they're at war with valve. This is what you have to do to win. If Epic can't get exclusives they will die because they can't beat valve in any other way that matters to users.
This is so crazy disingenuous.
Steam isn't a monopoly. They just happen to provide the best service 90% of the time.
I have EGS and a couple games on it, but that doesn't change the fact that it's probably the worst launcher on the market by a country mile. If they weren't moneyhatting exclusives, nobody besides Fortnite players would touch it.
They could, you know, try?
I hope they are saving or investing some of this money because the Fortnite money probably won't last forever lol
If Epic is saying they're effectively going to become a stakeholder post Kickstarter with a conflict of interest with the backer, that is going to deter a certain amount of backers.
Some because they dislike the EGS, some because they don't see the point in funding a game that Epic is funding, some because they don't trust Epic, some because they'll just wait and see what happens, might as well since Epic is footing the bill anyway. Of course, some people won't care or back console versions.
And yeah it's nice and all that Sweeney is saying they'll refund backers who don't want EGS, but that guarantee is essentially worthless since the backers can't really hold him accountable.