Because depriving them of their ability to gaslight customers is a great thing.
Maybe it's because I've a very personal experience with abusers and narcissists, but to me it's clear that people like these will never let you be right. They will spin, lie, refuse to look at facts, deflect, and at the very last resort say it wasn't that bad and that the consumer base deserved it. Their toolbox is bottomless.
It's not about validation, especially from journalists and the industry. I am fully aware of the disdain they have for their audience. The customer base at large isn't. Like it or not the press has the power to influence casual or mainstream PC gamers towards a position that will make the fight against exclusivity that much harder. So for me, the press having no way of spinning things into something that is positive for Epic is not just good, it's great. An EGS exclusive flopping on Steam gives them an easy out: "Everyone already bought it on EGS". People waiting and buying on Steam has them stumped because what kind of argument could they possibly make?
That's kind of my point, you are anticipating their bad-faith arguments but I'm afraid they'll just whip out another one instead. I disagree with you that they'll have no way of spinning things, if anything else the spinning will become more transparent and obscene or they'll just fall silent entirely. Make no mistake, I'd like to see them forced to admit that exclusivity doesn't work, that people didn't behave like docile cattle shepherded by the press on one side and the games on the other. I just don't think they will. It's still a very good outcome, putting the press aside, and I'm glad exclusivity practices and Epic got the flak they deserved.
The kind of argument they could make would be moving the goalposts : "Exclusivity tactics are harmless and really necessary after all. Despite all that, people
still bought on Steam, meaning that Epic was right, successful [with vague metrics] and should keep going." It's kind of the bullshit rehash of what they were saying before. I mean, you've seen the hate they have toward Valve. To them, Steam's continued state of being in the PC gaming's good favors is unacceptable.
I think it's reasonable to say that my position amounts to throwing my hands up in the air and giving up against the press, but given the personality types and behaviors involved, I can't help think it's the healthy thing to do. I'm thankful if you and others still want to hold them accountable and I will enjoy at least watching them squirm.
That is not a realistic outcome, which is why I wrote "best possible outcome". Most of the studios Epic courted are established and big enough to be able to handle lower than expected sales.
I probably misspoke but what I meant was for the games to sell really badly, resulting in a clear-cut financial failure for the products labeled with the stigma of exclusivity. I just wish that that stigma extended over to their lifetime on Steam so that the message that they can't have their cake and eat it was painfully clear. Hindsight is 20/20 and the realism of it becomes apparent when the outcome is observed, I still think it is the right thing to do.
