News Epic Games Store

Arsene

On a break
Apr 17, 2019
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Just came across the PR mail for LiS 3 and the EGS release was indeed an afterthought as the official PR announcement mail does not have the EGS logo and neither does the YouTube channel banner.

The official website, pre-order page, and announcement trailer(s) also only list Steam. The only mention of EGS is the Deep Dive trailer.
 
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Myradeer

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Apr 17, 2019
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Hey give Epic a break, they did say "random" top seller pages would be fixed soonTM.
Just need to give them the amount of time it took to add basic store functionalities.
 
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Ge0force

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Jan 12, 2019
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The top sellers page seemed to have been updated twice in the last week and today the new Oddworld is #1 (even though I think it was up for preorder before today and never was that high on the top sellers list).
As Mor said last week, Epic's moneyhatted games always seem to jump to the top of the top sellers page right before release. The only valid explanation I can think of is that this is the result of Epic paying popular streamers to play these games since there aren't any reviews at all, but it's more likely that the top sellers page is manipulated to prevent negative press.
 

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
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The top sellers page seemed to have been updated twice in the last week and today the new Oddworld is #1 (even though I think it was up for preorder before today and never was that high on the top sellers list).
Not only it wasn't that high but they put it in first place immediately, this is basically the pattern, new moneyhatted game released, they put it on first place.

As Mor said last week, Epic's moneyhatted games always seem to jump to the top of the top sellers page right before release. The only valid explanation I can think of is that this is the result of Epic paying popular streamers to play these games since there aren't any reviews at all, but it's more likely that the top sellers page is manipulated to prevent negative press.
Not even streamers, top is as for today still a manual process with some variation (mostly the top 15-25) but top 10 is almost the same each week, and SURPRISE, always timed exclusive content ;)
 

Arc

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Sep 19, 2020
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EGS being unprofitable at this point is no big surprise. The fact Sweeney expect to be profitable by '23 makes me think the free games and exclusives will eventually wane to some degree. The most interesting thing is the Fortnite numbers in my opinion. Looking at those console figures, it's no wonder Epic is hesitant to include them in their crusade for "open" platforms.
 

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
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EGS being unprofitable at this point is no big surprise. The fact Sweeney expect to be profitable by '23 makes me think the free games and exclusives will eventually wane to some degree. The most interesting thing is the Fortnite numbers in my opinion. Looking at those console figures, it's no wonder Epic is hesitant to include them in their crusade for "open" platforms.
You don't bite the hand that feeds you. :coffee-blob:
 

ZKenir

❀ Child of Raikou ❀
May 10, 2019
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The profitability stuff is why I kept saying it doesn't matter if they're burning cash or not at this stage every time the topic comes up, they want market share atm to capitalize on it later, also they want younger gamers to have a reason to purchase there in the future when they have the purchasing power to do so.
Just like it's harder to convince someone with a huge steam library to migrate to EGS, when those people will have an income and purchasing power it'll be harder to convince them to buy elsewhere when they'll have a big library of games already on EGS
 

fantomena

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Dec 17, 2018
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The profitability stuff is why I kept saying it doesn't matter if they're burning cash or not at this stage every time the topic comes up, they want market share atm to capitalize on it later, also they want younger gamers to have a reason to purchase there in the future when they have the purchasing power to do so.
Just like it's harder to convince someone with a huge steam library to migrate to EGS, when those people will have an income and purchasing power it'll be harder to convince them to buy elsewhere when they'll have a big library of games already on EGS
That's what they are going for, but will it work? I have pupils in my english class on the school Im teaching par-time on the side of my studies who are starting to play on PC and they either don't know or don't care about EGS, they just buy their stuff on Steam.

EGS needs an extremely strong and positive mindshare. When people think "buy PC games" they need to start thinking EGS as a store to purchase stuff, not just to grab free stuff. So far it doesn't seem to work based on my observations and EGS own numbers.
 
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Dec 5, 2018
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It could work long term, but unless they open up the store more and allow self-publishing (althought they didn't want crappy games, whatever that might mean) it's gonna be hard.
 

Arc

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Sep 19, 2020
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$444m for exclusivity in 2020.
I remember Sega saying in a financial report that they earned around $30 million for Troy Total War. At first I thought that number was exorbitant but apparently I was dead wrong. I wonder if giveaways are part of that $444m number. I imagine the GTA 5 giveaway probably cost tens of millions of dollars.
 

Line

meh
Dec 21, 2018
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I wonder what they hope to happen to be profitable in 2023? They expect more losses in 2021, and I can't imagine Timmy saying no more free games, no more temporary exclusives and for things to just suddenly be all fine and dandy?
 

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
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Mor should know
Wok which ones exactly I don't know because there are quite a few, however, they had less exclusives in 2020 than in 2019 but they were more expensive, probably due to promos like giving aways some of them for free the first day or first week like Total War Troy.

Check the spreadsheet tho.
 

Arc

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I wonder what they hope to happen to be profitable in 2023? They expect more losses in 2021, and I can't imagine Timmy saying no more free games, no more temporary exclusives and for things to just suddenly be all fine and dandy?
Probably opening the store to all developers so they have a larger library of games which gives more opportunities to collect transaction fees.
 

fantomena

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Dec 17, 2018
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I wonder when free games will stop, they will lose money as long as they give out free games.
 

EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
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I wonder when free games will stop, they will lose money as long as they give out free games.
It's not about money. If it was they would have invested in the store to make it a more compelling place to shop. They even have a built-in audience with the Fortnite & Unreal users which wouldn't be difficult to engage with and keep them onboard and in the ecosystem. You can't say that Epic and Tencent don't have the money to invest in a dev team for their fucking store and EGS ecosystem. They do, but it's not their goal.

This is about taking things away from Steam. That's it.
 

Arc

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It's not about money. If it was they would have invested in the store to make it a more compelling place to shop. They even have a built-in audience with the Fortnite & Unreal users which wouldn't be difficult to engage with and keep them onboard and in the ecosystem. You can't say that Epic and Tencent don't have the money to invest in a dev team for their fucking store and EGS ecosystem. They do, but it's not their goal.

This is about taking things away from Steam. That's it.
I'm going to sound like a broke record, but I would point to how Microsoft is competing on PC by trying to offer a better service instead of withholding games from other services. The Game Pass app is janky compared to Steam, but it provides enough value that I can tolerate using it.
 

ExistentialThought

Coffee Lover ♥☕
Feb 29, 2020
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Hearing Epic was breached and there was no news is not at all surprising. I mentioned before when I tried Fornite, before EGS was a thing, my account was hacked twice with the second time having 2FA. Never received any notice from Epic. I still maintain it was on Epic's backend completely. At the time 2FA was newly added and I question if they got it right, but will probably never know.

Also, I agree it is clear the free game giveaways are there to give folks a sizable library and become comfortable with using the store to make actual purchases. I am just extremely skeptical it is a good strategy. I suppose time will tell.
 

Ge0force

Excluding exclusives
Jan 12, 2019
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So it seems that Epic expects that their current strategy will lead to profit in 2023? I really hope that won't happen.

Still, I'm baffled they almost spent half a billion on moneyhatting last year. This means there must be LOTS of unannounced 3rd party exclusives. In combination with the games Epic published, this could make lots of people cave in, especially Alan Wake 2. Again, I really hope this won't happen, since it would open the door for more permanent exclusives. 😞
 

fantomena

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Dec 17, 2018
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So it seems that Epic expects that their current strategy will lead to profit in 2023? I really hope that won't happen.

Still, I'm baffled they almost spent half a billion on moneyhatting last year. This means there must be LOTS of unannounced 3rd party exclusives. In combination with the games Epic published, this could make lots of people cave in, especially Alan Wake 2. Again, I really hope this won't happen, since it would open the door for more permanent exclusives. 😞
I would rather have permanent epic exclusives than timed exclusives. Because with timed exclusives I have to wait.

Also, why are you afraid they will turn to profit at some point? And what makes you think they have lots of unannounced 3d party exclusives coming? We don't know how much they payed for what's currently announced and already out.
 

prudis

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Sep 19, 2018
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well they got 4 unkown publishing games announced ... so that must have been quite the dollar bill .... 2 games from Remedy (presumably AW2 and AW remaster) , 1 game from Gen-Design (Ueda) and 1 game from Limbo devs .... but who knows if their deals are counted in the half billion as its publisjing and not exlusivity deal per se
 

fantomena

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well they got 4 unkown publishing games announced ... so that must have been quite the dollar bill .... 2 games from Remedy (presumably AW2 and AW remaster) , 1 game from Gen-Design (Ueda) and 1 game from Limbo devs .... but who knows if their deals are counted in the half billion as its publisjing and not exlusivity deal per se
We know even know if games that have been exclusive and is already out on Steam is even counted in that number.

Feel like you are getting worried for no reason Ge0force

Also, I heavily doubt Alan Wake 2 is a game that will make people flock to the store. The original game is a niche game (sadly). They are aiming for people like me with Alan Wake 2 and I have no reason to use EGS for other things that permanent exclusives (like AW2).
 

Stone Ocean

Proud Degenerate
Apr 17, 2019
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So it seems that Epic expects that their current strategy will lead to profit in 2023? I really hope that won't happen.

Still, I'm baffled they almost spent half a billion on moneyhatting last year. This means there must be LOTS of unannounced 3rd party exclusives. In combination with the games Epic published, this could make lots of people cave in, especially Alan Wake 2. Again, I really hope this won't happen, since it would open the door for more permanent exclusives. 😞
I dunno about "lots". Epic exclusivity is inflated to hell and back, specially bigger name stuff. I would bet a very considerable chunk of those millions went to the KH games and Hitman, for example.
 

Alexandros

Every game should be turn based
Nov 4, 2018
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madjoki Is there a document online where you got these snaps from? I'd like to read the whole thing.

edit: nevermind, found it.
 
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Ge0force

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Jan 12, 2019
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I would rather have permanent epic exclusives than timed exclusives. Because with timed exclusives I have to wait.
Permanent exclusives will permanently prevent pc gamers to play a certain game in the ecosystem of their choice. So no, for me it's not better, especially since I'm a "patient" gamer. In fact it would actually convince me to return to piracy instead of buying games.

Also, why are you afraid they will turn to profit at some point? And what makes you think they have lots of unannounced 3d party exclusives coming? We don't know how much they payed for what's currently announced and already out.
"afraid" is a big word. It would just makes me sad if EGS would become successful by moneyhatting 3rd party games instead of providing a better experience than Steam. I would be extremely disappointed in the pc gaming community.

Also, half a billion dollars is A LOT of money. Epic "only" paid 9 million for Control for example. They also pay devs when they make the exclusivity deal. Since we barely saw announcements for exclusives in the past 12 months, I assume a lot more are on their way, which Epic also told pc gamer.
 

fantomena

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Permanent exclusives will permanently prevent pc gamers to play a certain game in the ecosystem of their choice. So no, for me it's not better, especially since I'm a "patient" gamer. In fact it would actually convince me to return to piracy instead of buying games.
Permanent EGS exclusivity appears to be the only way that makes Alan Wake 2 exist. Noone else than Epic seems to care about that game.

which Epic also told pc gamer.
Epic didn't tell PCgamer anything afaik, PC gaming made an article out of the already announced EGS exclusives. They seemed to have basically just checked the EGS store for upcoming exclusives and made and article out of what they saw.
 

Ge0force

Excluding exclusives
Jan 12, 2019
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I dunno about "lots". Epic exclusivity is inflated to hell and back, specially bigger name stuff. I would bet a very considerable chunk of those millions went to the KH games and Hitman, for example.
I'm not sure. As said above, Epic paid 9 million for Control, and the sales projections for Hitman 3 are probably similar.
Permanent EGS exclusivity appears to be the only way that makes Alan Wake 2 exist. Noone else than Epic seems to care about that game.
Is that a fact? Because I'm pretty sure I read that Remedy chose Epic out of 5 different publishers...
 

fantomena

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Is that a fact? Because I'm pretty sure I read that Remedy chose Epic out of 5 different publishers...
Alan Wake released over 10 years ago. Any publisher could have funded the game, but they went with Epic because they had a great publishing deal letting Remedy keep the IP.

Never read anything about any other publisher than Epic being interested in funding AW2. Only read about Remedy having 5 or so projects in the making.