News Epic Games Publishing label announced - Projects from Remedy, Playdead and genDesign | moving IrregCorp deals to EGS

texhnolyze · May 5, 2020

What does this mean?

Are games coming from those studios will be forever locked to EGS? Or is it the opposite, they will be on multiple platforms?

derFeef · May 5, 2020

Remedy nnooo.

lashman · May 5, 2020

derFeef said:
Remedy nnooo.

unfortunately

gabbo · May 6, 2020

Is it just me, or does Remedy (post MP2) always seem like they're just on the verge of going under - always making publishing decisions that seem so shortsighted?

NarohDethan · May 6, 2020

gabbo said:
Is it just me, or does Remedy )post MP2) always seem like they're alwasy just on the verge of going under - always making publishing decisions that seem so shortsighted?

As much as I love Remedy, their games don’t have a mainstream appeal, but they have the price tag of one.

ISee · May 6, 2020

Sounds like epic is giving out a zero percent credit for development, but demands that sales go 100% to them until said credit is paid off. After that they demand 50% from every sale till forever.
Sounds like a relatively low risk deal for Epic tbh, because they'll probably make most of their money back. The developer is still screwed if sales are not fantastic though.

But it is hard to judge without further knowledge, so a serious question: How does the average publishing contract looks like? Like for example between 505 game and remedy for control?

Ge0force · May 6, 2020

I'd be extremely surprised if Epic allows these games to be released on Steam or GoG.

I'm baffled that Epic considers 50/50 a fair share by the way. I wonder how mucj "tax" other publishers take.

curi0usBystander · May 6, 2020

Ge0force said:
I'm baffled that Epic considers 50/50 a fair share by the way. I wonder how mucj "tax" other publishers take.

I mean as a publishing deal is pretty good, assuming they really fund 100% as they claim and don't keep the IP, but without seeing the full contract who knows what the fine print says.

Aelphaeis Mangarae · May 6, 2020

Remedy's project is likely Alan Wake 2 + Alan Wake Remaster. Remedy signed a deal for two games. They are the same IP. One is a big AAA project. The other is smaller scale, which would fit a remaster. Both projects are "based on the company's own game brands", which narrows options somewhat.

Epic are also in discussions with Hideo Kojima to publish his next game. This is the "deal he couldn't refuse" that some people have alluded to. (So the Silent Hill VR project is likely on ice for now.) The conditions are a lot better than Sony are offering. Sony helped fund Death Stranding, but in exchange he lost control of the IP. This is not a desirable situation for any independent developer. (There are also rumours that Sony meddled in the development of Death Stranding to make it less horror focused, and Epic offer full creative freedom.)

FROM and a few other companies have been approached as well.

ISee · May 6, 2020

Aelphaeis Mangarae said:
...FROM...

Ge0force · May 6, 2020

ISee said:

It was to be expected that Epic will go for the most successful devs out there. They are litterally trying everything to force people into using their store. This is capitalism at it's worst.

FROM's games becoming permanent EGS exclusive will be the moment that I'm returning to piracy. I will not support what Epic is doing in any way.

Le Pertti · May 6, 2020

Now this seems a thing "for the devs" and I think its good.(if it wasnt tied to egs) When they say devs have full control, that would mean they can release on steam, otherwise its not full control.

Ge0force · May 6, 2020

Monooboe said:
Now this seems a thing "for the devs" and I think its good.(if it wasnt tied to egs) When they say devs have full control, that would mean they can release on steam, otherwise its not full control.

Devs have "full creative control", not "full control".

Le Pertti · May 6, 2020

Ge0force said:
Devs have "full creative control", not "full control".

Haha good point and thats some shitty shit then.

Joe Spangle · May 6, 2020

The problem I have is that i can be a petty small man and Epic have burnt any and all goodwill with me so whatever they do now ill probably be like....meh....and just buy other games instead.

lashman · May 6, 2020

Joe Spangle said:
The problem I have is that i can be a petty small man and Epic have burnt any and all goodwill with me so whatever they do now ill probably be like....meh....and just buy other games instead.

yeah, same

LEANIJA · May 6, 2020

hey cool. another Epic thread for my ignore list

I put the EGS on ignore a while back, its just better for my sanity not to care about what that fucking company is doing.

sk2k · May 6, 2020

50/50 profit sharing. Developers earn a fair share for their work -- once costs are recouped, developers earn at least 50% of all profits.

What does that mean? Devs only get money after Epic got their investment back? What if the game sells like shit? The devs get nothing?

lashman · May 6, 2020

sk2k said:
What does that mean? Devs only get money after Epic got their investment back? What if the game sells like shit? The devs get nothing?

pretty much, yes

Ascheroth · May 6, 2020

sk2k said:
50/50 profit sharing. Developers earn a fair share for their work -- once costs are recouped, developers earn at least 50% of all profits.

What does that mean? Devs only get money after Epic got their investment back? What if the game sells like shit? The devs get nothing?

Yes.

Sounds fine to me. Only fair if its true that Epic is footing 100% of all bills. As a dev that means you have guaranteed job stability for probably a few years while working on whatever you want and keep all rights to whatever you work on. At that point additional revenue is more like a bonus I imagine.
And it's not like Epic doesn't take a risk here, if the game sucks and sells like shit they've lost money.

Ge0force · May 6, 2020

sk2k said:
What does that mean? Devs only get money after Epic got their investment back? What if the game sells like shit? The devs get nothing?

The devs get no profit in the game flops. But they get no loss either, because the development is fully paid by Epic. I don't know if other publishers also pay all costs during development.

Ascheroth said:
And it's not like Epic doesn't take a risk here, if the game sucks and sells like shit they've lost money.

Let's wait and see if Epic also offers this deal to devs who haven't released high quality games before

fantomena · May 6, 2020

Aelphaeis Mangarae said:
Remedy's project is likely Alan Wake 2 + Alan Wake Remaster. Remedy signed a deal for two games. They are the same IP. One is a big AAA project. The other is smaller scale, which would fit a remaster. Both projects are "based on the company's own game brands", which narrows options somewhat.

Epic are also in discussions with Hideo Kojima to publish his next game. This is the "deal he couldn't refuse" that some people have alluded to. (So the Silent Hill VR project is likely on ice for now.) The conditions are a lot better than Sony are offering. Sony helped fund Death Stranding, but in exchange he lost control of the IP. This is not a desirable situation for any independent developer. (There are also rumours that Sony meddled in the development of Death Stranding to make it less horror focused, and Epic offer full creative freedom.)

FROM and a few other companies have been approached as well.

Source(s) for this?

Ge0force said:
It was to be expected that Epic will go for the most successful devs out there. They are litterally trying everything to force people into using their store. This is capitalism at it's worst.

FROM's games becoming permanent EGS exclusive will be the moment that I'm returning to piracy. I will not support what Epic is doing in any way.

But isn't there a big difference between Epic moneyhatting games for timed exclusivity and Epic fully funding games for full exclusivity? Like any Epic funded game would basically be an Epic first party game.

Shahem · May 6, 2020

derFeef said:
Remedy nnooo.

Either Epic or Sony. I'm glad Epic got them I want their games to release on PC even through the EGS.

Aelphaeis Mangarae said:
Remedy's project is likely Alan Wake 2 + Alan Wake Remaster. Remedy signed a deal for two games. They are the same IP. One is a big AAA project. The other is smaller scale, which would fit a remaster. Both projects are "based on the company's own game brands", which narrows options somewhat.

Epic are also in discussions with Hideo Kojima to publish his next game. This is the "deal he couldn't refuse" that some people have alluded to. (So the Silent Hill VR project is likely on ice for now.) The conditions are a lot better than Sony are offering. Sony helped fund Death Stranding, but in exchange he lost control of the IP. This is not a desirable situation for any independent developer. (There are also rumours that Sony meddled in the development of Death Stranding to make it less horror focused, and Epic offer full creative freedom.)

FROM and a few other companies have been approached as well.

Now this is very good speculation. I honestly have no problem taking your word for it because it makes too much sense.
Someone "in the know" on Resetera hinted as such, that a certain someone sat at the table to sign Kojima.

It has to be Epic. I hope Epic gets Kojima too so his game is not PS5 exclusive.

I'd take Epic over Sony any day.

Swenhir · May 6, 2020

gabbo said:
Is it just me, or does Remedy (post MP2) always seem like they're just on the verge of going under - always making publishing decisions that seem so shortsighted?

As much as their fans love them, the feeling doesn't seem to be mutual. I don't see another explanation for forcing them to use such a horrible client, not to mention taking exclusivity deals that undermine the open platform said clients currently enjoy the benefits of.

This applies to any studio taking those deals.

This seems like yet another instance of publishers abusing the power that the leverage over studios their investment affords them. It's despicable, and I'm not sure 50/50 is such a good deal depending on how much they are funding.

Ge0force said:
FROM's games becoming permanent EGS exclusive will be the moment that I'm returning to piracy. I will not support what Epic is doing in any way.

Piracy is a service problem and with a waiter looking like Sweeney's EGS, I'm not sure I can blame you. I will never support such strong-arm tactics going against everything that makes the PC the thriving space they now want to appropriate.

Alextended · May 6, 2020

Deja vu? Wasn't this already announced?

Edit: oh, just new thread, not new news. I don't see how it's bigger than EGS, it seems to be strictly about getting games on there, not like they'll publish others' games on Steam if the developer doesn't want to be on EGS. They just expand from paying already/nearly done games to also partially funding some they like.

Or maybe not even that, last I checked the terms the investment needs to be paid back by the revenue so it's like a loan, Epic don't take on as much risk unless the game is such a total failure it never even makes enough money to cover their partial funding, but obviously they're wiser than to invest in 100% unknowns. If it does make at least that much back, then they once again got all the benefits for free, just like their EGS arrangements somehow no developer sees through.

Swenhir · May 6, 2020

prudis said:
i didnt mean bigger as in industry-wide sence ... just that this will actually result in games being made from the scratch , egs is just "another channel to sell" , but for chosen ones.

Ultimately made the thread purely just to monitor their publishing efforts outside of the store bullshit. Yes the publishing is absolutely extension of what they do with , but there is quite a difference bewteen being a publisher and being the "purchase channel" ,

Most publishers don't usually dictate where the game can and cannot be sold though. At least they didn't use to.

Ge0force · May 6, 2020

fantomena said:
But isn't there a big difference between Epic moneyhatting games for timed exclusivity and Epic fully funding games for full exclusivity? Like any Epic funded game would basically be an Epic first party game.

Yes of course, that's a huge difference. I don't mind fully funded exclusives. I've bought plenty of 1st party games on uPlay, Origin and Battle.net.

My only issue is with Epic's strategy for their store, which is still fully based on keeping games from 3rd party devs away from other storefronts instead of trying to build a better alternative for Steam. In my opinion, this is the most anti-consumer and anti-competitive way to compete and I don't want them to succeed.

So I'll be happy to buy Epic-published games on other storefronts than EGS, just like I don't mind buying games using the Unreal Engine. But I will not support EGS in any way.

Wok · May 6, 2020

Isn't this old news? Edit: yeah, video is from end of March!

lashman · May 6, 2020

Wok said:
Isn't this old news? Edit: yeah, video is from end of March!

yes ... as per OP:

prudis said:
made a separate thread for this publishing endeavor (doesnt really fit into the egs thread as its a bit bigger than that)

fantomena · May 6, 2020

Ge0force said:
Yes of course, that's a huge difference. I don't mind fully funded exclusives. I've bought plenty of 1st party games on uPlay, Origin and Battle.net.

My only issue is with Epic's strategy for their store, which is still fully based on keeping games from 3rd party devs away from other storefronts instead of trying to build a better alternative for Steam. In my opinion, this is the most anti-consumer and anti-competitive way to compete and I don't want them to succeed.

So I'll be happy to buy Epic-published games on other storefronts than EGS, just like I don't mind buying games using the Unreal Engine. But I will not support EGS in any way.

I get it. Im not happy about not being able to buy Epic funded games on Steam or GOG, but it's better than being exclusive only for consoles.

Just for note. I really hope it's Alan Wake 2 Epic is funding. Alan Wake is one of my favorite games of all time. I bought the collector's edition on the Xbox 360 launch and later bought the game on Steam and got the game free on EGS.

I have been crawing Alan Wake 2 for years and every time Remedy announced a new game I have been letdown by it not being Alan Wake 2.

If the Epic exclusive funding is the only way for me to play Alan Wake 2 then so be it. Alan Wake 2 is on par with Half-Life 3 to me.

I'd rather want to buy and play Alan Wake 2 on EGS than having to use a console to play it.

Myradeer · May 6, 2020

Funding the game is what I said Epic should do when I was criticizing their predatory practices in the past, so I will not move goalposts and say good on them for the deal. I still have serious issue with the storefront and Sweeney so won't bother using their client.

ISee · May 6, 2020

Epic funding and publishing games would have been the correct approach from the beginning. It would have been a long term vision and not a coup to strong arm themselves into leadership position. While bullying anybody criticizing them and buying good headlines to influence public opinion.
I always used other store fronts like Origin, Uplay and B.net. Though mostly for their respective, self funded exclusive games. With GOG being the big exception as I see a lot of value in supporting a DRM free store.

But that's not what happened: EGS had never good intentions, it treated costumers like sheep and antagonized everybody not immediately licking their shoes. That strategy made me draw a line: Do not buy from EGS, do not re-create an EGS account, do not accept their free games. That's my personal decision and I'm not going to change it because they decided a small course correction into a more PR friendly strategy, because bullying didn't work out as expected.

Let's be honest here: That's the only reason they are starting to fund, instead of to bribe. Because their original approach didn't work out as expected. This new strategy being reasonable is just a coincidence and not a change of heart.

Ge0force · May 6, 2020

fantomena said:
I get it. Im not happy about not being able to buy Epic funded games on Steam or GOG, but it's better than being exclusive only for consoles.

Just for note. I really hope it's Alan Wake 2 Epic is funding. Alan Wake is one of my favorite games of all time. I bought the collector's edition on the Xbox 360 launch and later bought the game on Steam and got the game free on EGS.

I have been crawing Alan Wake 2 for years and every time Remedy announced a new game I have been letdown by it not being Alan Wake 2.

If the Epic exclusive funding is the only way for me to play Alan Wake 2 then so be it. Alan Wake 2 is on par with Half-Life 3 to me.

I'd rather want to buy and play Alan Wake 2 on EGS than having to use a console to play it.

I understand you completely. And I agree that EGS exclusive Alan Wake 2 is better than console exclusive or no Alan Wake 2 at all.

It's just that Epic has done (and is still doing) way too many things that I don't like to pc-gaming, which is my passion for almost 30 years. What Epic is doing goes straight against the open nature of pc gaming, which is the major reason why pc gaming is what it is today. That's more important to me than any single game. Especially since there are so many other great games to play.

Of course I don't blame anyone for thinking otherwise. I'll be very happy for you if Alan Wake 2 is actually in development.

fantomena · May 6, 2020

Ge0force said:
I'll be very happy for you if Alan Wake 2 is actually in development.

And if it's any other game than Alan Wake 2 and Remedy could freely choose what game to develop with the Epic funding, but did not choose AW 2, then it's the biggest blunder in gaming history for me.

Fuck Remedy for not making AW 2 and fuck Epic for not forcing Remedy to make AW 2.

Ge0force · May 6, 2020

fantomena said:
And if it's any other game than Alan Wake 2 and Remedy could freely choose what game to develop with the Epic funding, but did not choose AW 2, then it's the biggest blunder in gaming history for me.

Don't shoot me, but I liked Quantum Break a lot more than Alan Wake. The atmosphere in Alan Wake was incredible, but the "flashlight" shooting and enemies constantly spawning out of thin air annoyed the f*ck out of me. Don't get me wrong: I'm glad I played it, but I don't want to play it again.

fantomena · May 6, 2020

Ge0force said:
Don't shoot me, but I liked Quantum Break a lot more than Alan Wake. The atmosphere in Alan Wake was incredible, but the "flashlight" shooting and enemies constantly spawning out of thin air annoyed the f*ck out of me. Don't get me wrong: I'm glad I played it, but I don't want to play it again.

Not gonna shoot you. Don't even like guns other than in video games and movies.

I know a lot of people didn't like AW or found it repetive and boring. Personally, I loved it (obviously)

Swenhir · May 6, 2020

Ge0force said:
Don't shoot me, but I liked Quantum Break a lot more than Alan Wake. The atmosphere in Alan Wake was incredible, but the "flashlight" shooting and enemies constantly spawning out of thin air annoyed the f*ck out of me. Don't get me wrong: I'm glad I played it, but I don't want to play it again.

Same here, out of all that Remedy has done, Quantum Break is the one I liked most.

Arsene · May 6, 2020

Swenhir said:
Same here, out of all that Remedy has done, Quantum Break is the one I liked most.

Honestly, I didn't like Quantum Break or Alan Wake. I beat Quantum Break in 5 hours and completely forgot about it less than a week later and I never even finished Alan Wake. Its a shame too because I was really excited for QB.

I really loved Control though. The movement abilities and combat are what I wanted from Quantum Break.

sk2k · Jan 21, 2021

prudis said:
seems like Playdead's project is getting teased

"Multiple platforms" EGS, XBOX and PS5?

EDIT: I know. EGS is just a launcher not a platform.

ExistentialThought · Jan 21, 2021

Open world genre and Playdead?

Having it open world just seems odd, but I suppose it is too early to say.

manchego obfuscator · Jan 21, 2021

ExistentialThought said:
Open world genre and Playdead?

Having it open world just seems odd, but I suppose it is too early to say.

I'm sure it's not open-world in the AAA sandbox sense; probably something much more compact and streamlined, like The Pathless.

still, going free-roaming 3D at all will be quite a big change from the extremely linear 2D cinematic platformers that Playdead is known for, so I'm certainly curious

ExistentialThought · Jan 21, 2021

manchego obfuscator said:
I'm sure it's not open-world in the AAA sandbox sense; probably something much more compact and streamlined, like The Pathless.

still, going free-roaming 3D at all will be quite a big change from the extremely linear 2D cinematic platformers that Playdead is known for, so I'm certainly curious

Thats a very good point that it could mean more 3D free roam open world. Anymore I hear open world and I assume it means something like Assassians Creed.

News Epic Games Publishing label announced - Projects from Remedy, Playdead and genDesign | moving IrregCorp deals to EGS

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