News Epic Games Store

[lashman]

i already heard from a few people that WWZ multiplayer is basically dead on PC ... people having to wait 15 minutes to get a full match ... and not getting them

kinda weird for a game that allegedly SOLD over 320k (i believe that was the last official number they gave) copies on PC

 

[NarohDethan]

i already heard from a few people that WWZ multiplayer is basically dead on PC ... people having to wait 15 minutes to get a full match ... and not getting them

kinda weird for a game that allegedly SOLD over 320k (i believe that was the last official number they gave) copies on PC

And we hadnt heard a peep about that, while Blops 1 got shut down yesterday and we already had some comments here and reddit lmao

 

[sk2k]

I wish Valve would nuke this announcement.

Valve should close EVERY community hub for these exclusive games until the official release date on Steam.

 

[Guilty of Being]

Valve should close EVERY community hub for these exclusive games until the official release date on Steam.

I agree. They are getting free publicity while getting shafted as the bad guy.

 

[unknownhero]

So it seems that EpicGamer is trying to astroturf for epic on some other sites. thankfully, no one is having it lol.

 

[Guilty of Being]

So it seems that EpicGamer is trying to astroturf for epic on some other sites. thankfully, no one is having it lol.

I tend to not even go to other sites these day, especially PC Gamer. The ONLY thing I like at PC Gamer is "Five new Steam games you probably missed," and I don't even follow that much anymore. Most of my PC game news comes from here on my Steam friend activity. Money can buy anything and we are at a point where that in trumping real news.

 

[NarohDethan]

MS is a GOG partner now, this is the part where we realize that Gears of War will be on GOG and not EGS and laugh.

 

[Kurt Russell]

I tend to buy and wishlist a lot based on my Steam friend activity. I didn’t even know Starlink was on Steam until I saw a friend purchased it—I believe Kurt Russell. I haven’t purchased it yet, but it’s on my wishlist. Where you at, EGS?

Same, the Activity feed is one of the biggest things I use when it comes to finding new games to buy (or even realizing something is on Steam, as you said). It's so weird that almost no other launchers have it, because it's a super useful feature.

 

[ISee]

MS is a GOG partner now, this is the part where we realize that Gears of War will be on GOG and not EGS and laugh.

I'd buy that for the DRM free glory.

 

[Guilty of Being]

Same, the Activity feed is one of the biggest things I use when it comes to finding new games to buy (or even realizing something is on Steam, as you said). It's so weird that almost no other launchers have it, because it's a super useful feature.

I turned some of my privacy options off so people can see my feed... because I depend so much on others.

Yeah, I'm looking at you, InquisitorAles!

 

[Ge0force]

Freelance games journalist who writes for pc gamer gets banned on Era because of "it's just another icon" posts:

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

lol. Well, looks like backers will get what they want: to click on one symbol instead of another before playing a game.

www.resetera.com

He also called the issues pc gamerd are having with Epic "based on nothing"

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

You're both right, happy to go into more detail instead of being reductive. The case that backers deserve a Steam version is thin to begin with, and mostly based on the pre-2019 assumption that if you're buying a game on PC, you're buying it for Steam. And I think this intersects with a separate...

www.resetera.com

Incredible

 

[NarohDethan]

Freelance games journalist who writes for pc gamer gets banned on Era because of "it's just another icon" posts:

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

lol. Well, looks like backers will get what they want: to click on one symbol instead of another before playing a game.

www.resetera.com

He also called the issues pc gamerd are having with Epic "based on nothing"

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

You're both right, happy to go into more detail instead of being reductive. The case that backers deserve a Steam version is thin to begin with, and mostly based on the pre-2019 assumption that if you're buying a game on PC, you're buying it for Steam. And I think this intersects with a separate...

www.resetera.com

Incredible

Imagine going through the hassle of verification and eat a ban just like that.

 

[Guilty of Being]

Freelance games journalist who writes for pc gamer gets banned on Era because of "it's just another icon" posts:

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

lol. Well, looks like backers will get what they want: to click on one symbol instead of another before playing a game.

www.resetera.com

He also called the issues pc gamerd are having with Epic "based on nothing"

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

You're both right, happy to go into more detail instead of being reductive. The case that backers deserve a Steam version is thin to begin with, and mostly based on the pre-2019 assumption that if you're buying a game on PC, you're buying it for Steam. And I think this intersects with a separate...

www.resetera.com

Incredible

 

[Ge0force]

The more I think about it the more I think I’m correct. It would make the Exodus situation make so much sense. Epic claims that Exodus sold “2.5x as much” as Last Light did at launch, but that’s an absurd number unless they overshot on their batch pre-orders at the beginning.

I'm not sure it's absurd. Last Light sold very mediocre at release, because many people (including myself) were pissed that the Rangers Mode (how the game was meant to be played according the devs) was paid dlc.

Also, Metro Exodus was the best selling game on Steam after EGS exclusivity was announced.

So 2.5x better may be correct. But the sales on EGS are probably not very impressive.

 

[lashman]

So 2.5x better may be correct. But the sales on EGS are probably not very impressive.

yeah, that HAS to be the case ... otherwise they'd just give an actual number like they did with WWZ and Satisfactory

... and since they haven't - we can kinda/sorta assume it sold less than 250k?

 

[m_dorian]

Freelance games journalist who writes for pc gamer gets banned on Era because of "it's just another icon" posts:

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

lol. Well, looks like backers will get what they want: to click on one symbol instead of another before playing a game.

www.resetera.com

He also called the issues pc gamerd are having with Epic "based on nothing"

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

You're both right, happy to go into more detail instead of being reductive. The case that backers deserve a Steam version is thin to begin with, and mostly based on the pre-2019 assumption that if you're buying a game on PC, you're buying it for Steam. And I think this intersects with a separate...

www.resetera.com

Incredible

I am not surprised but i am extremely disappointed because, judging from this "journalist" here, lack of empathy and understanding seems to be in all time high.

I am going to get my self a beer and belch in honor of his contribution to our hobby.

 

[lashman]

lack of empathy and understanding seems to be in all time high.

yeah, the most disappointing thing is that most of the people writing about that stuff aren't even trying to understand "the other side" ... they just automatically assume everyone complaining about egs is a steam fanboy and doesn't want to "click another icon"

like, i can kinda/sorta excuse them not knowing why people are angry .... but i certainly can't excuse them not even trying to understand why ...

 

[Ge0force]

... and since they haven't - we can kinda/sorta assume it sold less than 250k?

On EGS? Yeah definitely. I wouldn't be surprised if pre-orders on Steam were higher than the number of sales on EGS during launch week.

 

[Joe Spangle]

Its the brazen assumption that Im an idiot that bugs me the most regarding these "Game" "Journalists".

Gives the legitimate ones a bad name.

 

[Ge0force]

i already heard from a few people that WWZ multiplayer is basically dead on PC ... people having to wait 15 minutes to get a full match ... and not getting them

This is great news!

 

[inky]

They are not journalists, they are pundits.

 

[C-Dub]

yeah, that HAS to be the case ... otherwise they'd just give an actual number like they did with WWZ and Satisfactory

... and since they haven't - we can kinda/sorta assume it sold less than 250k?

Very possible they murdered the IP on PC going forward.

Should be a warning to anyone else who wants to try that shit.

I wonder how Borderlands 3 will do. Maybe since the delay is only six months, people might be even more inclined to wait for it.

 

[NarohDethan]

Very possible they murdered the IP on PC going forward.

Should be a warning to anyone else who wants to try that shit.

I wonder how Borderlands 3 will do. Maybe since the delay is only six months, people might be even more inclined to wait for it.

I will wait until BL3 is $2 on Steam. It is what I paid for 2, and much more money than Randy deserves.

 

[Digoman]

Unfortunately I think Borderlands 3 will sell "well" since the franchise is very big on PC. It will be a fraction of what it would have sold on Steam, but since BL2 impressive numbers also come from a very long tail they can probably still make some of those great "launch period" comparisons just as they did with Metro.

And speaking of Metro, the exact wording of the press release was:

Epic also revealed that Deep Silver’s Metro: Exodus sold more than 2.5 times as many copies in its first few weeks on the Epic Games store in comparison to the previous franchise release ( Metro: Last Light ) on Steam over the same period of time.

So it shouldn't include Steam pre-orders, but I guess they could include the EGS "guaranteed sales" in there... but of course Sweeney would never be this dishonest... right?

As usual, when they have good numbers, they will shout about them instead of hiding behind nebulous statements. For the big publishers is a good way to justify the backlash and the small indies will do anything Epic demands to try to ensure the next moneyhat.

Oh... and yes, I will admit to having a smile on my face after seeing the "journalist" getting a ban for a "it's just another launcher" post

 

[C-Dub]

I tweeted about how PCGamer is unreliable and one of their freelance writers unfollowed me. He’s an old pal from GAF and I didn’t realise he’d written for them, but he was doing the whole “EGS is no big deal, just another launcher” spiel on Twitter a month or two back and now it makes sense.

 

[Nabs]

I tweeted about how PCGamer is unreliable and one of their freelance writers unfollowed me. He’s an old pal from GAF and I didn’t realise he’d written for them, but he was doing the whole “EGS is no big deal, just another launcher” spiel on Twitter a month or two back and now it makes sense.

Was it the same person who just pulled the same thing in the Era Shenmue thread?

 

[Doctor Ironic]

Borderlands 3 is gonna be Epic’s ace in the hole and how long we’re gonna have to deal with it depends entirely on its success. To be clear, it absolutely will BE successful - the franchise has a ton of cache with people who don’t get angry and post on internet gaming boards. But visibility is the chief concern, because BL3 will be the first introduction to EGS for a lot of non-hardcore gamers out there.

So prepare for headaches when it hits. Pitchford and Sweeney WILL have a big old bragfest at launch. It’s just about mitigating the damage at this point.

 

[derExperte]

Freelance games journalist who writes for pc gamer gets banned on Era because of "it's just another icon" posts:

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

lol. Well, looks like backers will get what they want: to click on one symbol instead of another before playing a game.

www.resetera.com

He also called the issues pc gamerd are having with Epic "based on nothing"

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

You're both right, happy to go into more detail instead of being reductive. The case that backers deserve a Steam version is thin to begin with, and mostly based on the pre-2019 assumption that if you're buying a game on PC, you're buying it for Steam. And I think this intersects with a separate...

www.resetera.com

Incredible

Wow. And that 3 day ban will surely make him reconsider his life choices.

 

[C-Dub]

Was it the same person who just pulled the same thing in the Era Shenmue thread?

Surprisingly, no.

 

[Hektor]

/r/fuckepic is really getting to him

 

[Cordelia]

The more I think about it the more I think I’m correct. It would make the Exodus situation make so much sense. Epic claims that Exodus sold “2.5x as much” as Last Light did at launch, but that’s an absurd number unless they overshot on their batch pre-orders at the beginning. THQ Nordic’s CEO said in their investor call that Exodus had a “strong start” on PC but eventually tapered off to a disappointing result, and didn’t want to talk about EGS. Phoenix Point investors on Fig saw a return as if the game had sold copies (that they wouldn’t see if they had just been invested in by another party,) and the Samurai Shodown devs are saying that they were promised exclusivity in accordance of “hundreds of thousands of pre-orders.” This would also explain why Epic felt so comfortable putting everything on their store on sale - because they owned the vast majority of the keys.

It’s all speculation, and we’ll likely never see the truth because getting accurate sales data when it’s not legally required in our system is like pulling teeth. But SO MUCH makes sense when you think of it that way. I don’t wanna be a conspiracy theorist but I think I’ve cracked the code.

This makes me wonder what if out of 507,374 Satisfactory's copies sold, 500k of them are "pre-ordered" by Epic?

 

[gabbo]

Borderlands 3 is gonna be Epic’s ace in the hole and how long we’re gonna have to deal with it depends entirely on its success. To be clear, it absolutely will BE successful - the franchise has a ton of cache with people who don’t get angry and post on internet gaming boards. But visibility is the chief concern, because BL3 will be the first introduction to EGS for a lot of non-hardcore gamers out there.

So prepare for headaches when it hits. Pitchford and Sweeney WILL have a big old bragfest at launch. It’s just about mitigating the damage at this point.

Wonder how it will go over if the game is a mess at launch. How's the refund system at the moment?

 

[lashman]

Wonder how it will go over if the game is a mess at launch. How's the refund system at the moment?

still handled entirely manually

 

[derExperte]

This makes me wonder what if out of 507,374 Satisfactory's copies sold, 500k of them are "pre-ordered" by Epic?

Don't know about all of that, wouldn't they then be gloating about sales numbers all the time instead of only.... three times until now?

 

[Doctor Ironic]

This makes me wonder what if out of 507,374 Satisfactory's copies sold, 500k of them are "pre-ordered" by Epic?

Probably not as many as 500k. Samurai Shodown is a bigger title than Infinifactory and they were already in the “hundreds of thousands” range, but for Infinifactory I’d say maybe 100-200k are bought by Epic?

 

[JMTHEFOX]

Chivalry 2 devs are now advertising the Epic Game Store on Steam:

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare :: Chivalry 2 announced

They really have no shame...

Christ... Adding another developer to my avoid list.

 

[lashman]

Christ... Adding another developer to my avoid list.

might as well add Tripwire as a whole ... they seem to be fully sold out to epic

 

[Guilty of Being]

They are not journalists, they are pundits.

And with places like N4G, anybody can be a game journalist.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

Imagine going through the hassle of verification and eat a ban just like that.

Idiot.

There's a huge threadmark that says "STEAM KEYS WERE PART OF THE DEAL. DO NOT DENY THIS."

SMH, game journalism has lost its mind with EG$. It's gone full on fake news.

Yeah, it's EG$ from now on. Just like it was M$ when they were buying up companies like Rare.

 

[SRossi]

We’re talking about just not being a twat and educated on what’s happening to the consumer side of your industry, and reporting and discussing that news accurately and responsibly.

Freelance writer or influencer, what's the difference at this point anyway.

I was already convinced a year ago that pc gamer was essentially bought by epic, too bad there is no hard proof but to get that I guess you have to depend on whistleblowers (who whistleblow to whom exactly, the press?) or illegal activities. And it's just a advertising publication so they don't have to adhere to a press codex.

 

[Firewithin]

Freelance games journalist who writes for pc gamer gets banned on Era because of "it's just another icon" posts:

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

lol. Well, looks like backers will get what they want: to click on one symbol instead of another before playing a game.

www.resetera.com

He also called the issues pc gamerd are having with Epic "based on nothing"

Ys net has heard the concerns regarding Epic Games Store exclusivity for Shenmue III and will assess the situation [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

You're both right, happy to go into more detail instead of being reductive. The case that backers deserve a Steam version is thin to begin with, and mostly based on the pre-2019 assumption that if you're buying a game on PC, you're buying it for Steam. And I think this intersects with a separate...

www.resetera.com

Incredible

oh a checks notes PC Gamer contributor

 

[FunnyJay]

I just thought of something.
So, if Epic bought 500k preorder keys from a publisher, and that is used to bolster their sales numbers, what exactly happens to the keys?

Are they sold "again" through the store? Who gets the cash? Epic or the publisher? I mean, Epic does own them now, not thr publisher...
Or are they only "metaphorical" keys?

 

[Nabs]

I just thought of something.
So, if Epic bought 500k preorder keys from a publisher, and that is used to bolster their sales numbers, what exactly happens to the keys?

Are they sold "again" through the store? Who gets the cash? Epic or the publisher? I mean, Epic does own them now, not thr publisher...
Or are they only "metaphorical" keys?

The pub doesn't make an extra dime until those 500k are sold. They're basically getting paid upfront for exclusivity.

 

[gabbo]

I just thought of something.
So, if Epic bought 500k preorder keys from a publisher, and that is used to bolster their sales numbers, what exactly happens to the keys?

Are they sold "again" through the store? Who gets the cash? Epic or the publisher? I mean, Epic does own them now, not thr publisher...
Or are they only "metaphorical" keys?

They're metaphorical sales. I highly doubt any keys are generated. The publisher/dev is just paid the equivalent of that number of sales
edit: at least this is how I understand the agreements

 

[FunnyJay]

So Epic pockets all the cash from those sales?

 

[lashman]

So Epic pockets all the cash from those sales?

that seems to be the case, yes ... until whatever they paid for exclusivity is earned back by them

 

[Phoenix RISING]

And with places like N4G, anybody can be a game journalist.

I literally just posted an article about Saladin's Conquest on N4G last night.

 

[Guilty of Being]

that seems to be the case, yes ... until whatever they paid for exclusivity is earned back by them

Yeah, what Epic makes has to go back to what they spent, but with 20%, right? There ain’t no way they are making the sales for Epic to come out above. It isn’t sustainable... and it won’t catch on.

 

[C-Dub]

So Epic pockets all the cash from those sales?

Basically, yes. It’s an advance on future sales.

 

[NarohDethan]

So if your game never hits, let's say, 500k, you are basically tied to whatever Epic paid you
Lmao good luck with that.