Epic Games introduces $100 Million Epic MegaGrants initiative, investing in devs, enterprise, education, and beyond

Let's just see what happens. This can either have a very good outcome in making Steam budge, or go horribly wrong due to boycotting resulting in developers go bust due to lack of sales.

more games i won't ever buy lol

vbetts:

Please do not turn this into a debate on National and Political issues. But on topic, imagine that developers actually want to get paid for their product. They have employees to pay. Who would have thought!

Sorry you're right, but I think it's fair to point out that they don't follow EU data rules, this is something as consumers we should be careful of how our data might be used, sold or otherwise. Same way many were worried about spectre hacks. I do think steam need to lower the percentage they take off of companies, as yes developers deserve more. But I ask the question do you really think going to the epic store will give them more money? Or will it just go to the top (ceo's) making them richer than most of them already are

Epic is taking less than Steam, and in previous post giving $100 M worth of grants. So they're really investing in gaming and that's very good to see a company too that. Now don't get me wrong, Valve is investing in gaming in their own way as well. But it's just fresh to see someone as big doing the same.

TheDeeGee:

Don't forget the main reason why this is happening. 70/30 vs 88/12 65/35 with UE even. People are mad at Epic, but it's Steam which has caused this to happen.

Valve did change this a bit but it's driven by sales and profits, 25% at 10 million and 20% at 50 million so mostly aimed at big selling larger titles. From info provided by users who have shared details on Epic and using their store then it looks like Epic is also covering a set amount of sales which the figure I saw mentioned was 50k units so for something priced at 40$ that's 20 million $ directly. Plus waving the Unreal Engine 4 fees from what I've understood should the game be running on this. (Above figure is a indie game too I believe, figure and amount is probably on a per title basis and would also differ for larger publishers.) Ubisoft recently extending the deal likely speaks volumes for how well it worked out for them and it helps Epic's own store front grow too even if it probably helps UPlay even more.

I will never give a single penny to these greedy ****! TENCENT, the chinese shareholding monster is rich enough!

vbetts:

Epic is taking less than Steam, and in previous post giving $100 M worth of grants. So they're really investing in gaming and that's very good to see a company too that. Now don't get me wrong, Valve is investing in gaming in their own way as well. But it's just fresh to see someone as big doing the same.

EPIC is partly owned by the billionaire shareholding company, TENCENT... They have the money... Now, go read about tencent, you will see how disgusting and greedy they are! They have litterally destroyed gaming in china with their ****** P2W cancerous games... They are buying big names like CoD and transform it into P2W games FYI ..............

ManuKey:

EPIC is partly owned by the billionaire shareholding company, TENCENT... They have the money... Now, go read about tencent, you will see how disgusting and greedy they are! They have litterally destroyed gaming in china with their ****** P2W cancerous games... They are buying big names like CoD and transform it into P2W games FYI ..............

Tencent is not Epic though, and Epic is not Tencent. Epic is operating on their own basis and scale, even if Tencent is directing them. But you act as if Valve is completely innocent? Also, Activision is what made COD P2W.

Backstabak:

I don't get their strategy. Why the hell would I as a customer want exclusives that are tied to a specific store, on PC of all places ? I could understand it if they were a publisher like EA or Ubisoft, but they're not and this approach makes me not want to even try their store in the first place. I am very interested i Outer Worlds, but being forced into a platform isn't something I can support.

Outer Worlds is being released on Epic games store and windows store, so you do have options there, that being said, it'll be on steam and likely other places 1 year after release. This is only a timed-exclusive.

Ricepudding:

Brick and motar shops took more % and the games companies were doing fine...

Not sure where you live or if it even changes depending on where you live, but this is not the case anywhere i have ever worked that sells video games. Quite literally, not figuratively, the most i have ever seen a retailer make on a video game is 10%, and that's typically for a brand new game where the developers/publishers want sellers to have more of their product and give them an incentive to do so. After a few months, it goes down to 5-7%, sometimes less, but typically 5-7% depending on publisher and popularity of the game. This is why gamestop and similar companies focus so much on used products, since they make, percentage wise, so much more from it. Now before someone says "That's not true!", if you work retail, and can actually view costs for products (not all retailers give their employees this information), and your retailer has better profit margins, great! But of the 3 places i have worked that sell video games, from small mom and pop like retailer to top 20 in the fortune 500, i personally have not seen this deviate, doesn't mean it doesn't, but if a top 20 in the fortune 500 company has 10% as the max i have ever seen on a game, i'd find it hard to believe any other company would have higher.

vbetts:

Tencent is not Epic though, and Epic is not Tencent. Epic is operating on their own basis and scale, even if Tencent is directing them. But you act as if Valve is completely innocent? Also, Activision is what made COD P2W.

I talked to a Chinese gamer that explained me how it works in China. Tencent is buying major licence and they transform it into real P2W games... Ex.: They have to BUY the best weapons in order to be able to win.. this is not just about cosmetic things... They are just there to make more and more profit while litterally destroying gaming... Furthermore, they are linked to the communist Chinese government and they are acting like one of the worst corporation on earth. They actually worth MORE THAN 500 Billion $... Tencent facts It is ironic that a company worth over $500bn happens to be called Tencent, which translates into English as “soaring information”. Co-founder Ma Huateng, nickname Pony Ma, is the 14th richest person in the world with a fortune of almost $50bn, one place below Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Befitting its status as a global tech giant the company is aping its Silicon Valley rivals with a new $600m twin skyscraper headquarters. Tencent is one of three Chinese internet behemoths, including Baidu and Alibaba, known collectively as BAT. China’s answer to Silicon Valley’s power club known as the FANGs - Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google. Each year every Tencent employee, more than half of whom are employed in research and design, is given the chance to participate in a company-wide singing competition and to “shine brightly on stage”. Pony Ma is deputy of the National People’s Congress, China’s legislative branch of government, politically useful in a country renowned for cracking down on businesses that get offside with Beijing. Then, go read this, you will puke, trust me: https://lotusruan.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/the-ugly-truth-behind-huawei-and-tencents-showdown-over-user-data-privacy/ https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/13/tencent-the-500bn-chinese-tech-firm-you-may-never-have-heard-of

So more and more this is you turning this into a political issue, I am going to ask that you not do that here.

vbetts:

So more and more this is you turning this into a political issue, I am going to ask that you not do that here.

Only voluntary ignorants do not want to know the truth ... BTW, YOU want to give money to these people, really ??? I personally have too many values and beliefs for that...

ManuKey:

Only voluntary ignorants do not want to know the truth ... BTW, YOU want to give money to these people, really ??? I personally have too many values and beliefs for that...

You don't understand what "poking the bear" means, do you?

TheDeeGee:

Don't forget the main reason why this is happening. 70/30 vs 88/12 65/35 with UE even. People are mad at Epic, but it's Steam which has caused this to happen.

Yes an no. What you do think would be the situation if Epic had the market share of Steam? It reminds me when MS came into the console market selling a 400-500$ XBox for 300$ and then undercutting the PS3 by no less than 100$ with the 360 and losing lot of money in the process. Back then one of my friend who is not into computer and doesn't know MS much was applauding them. Back then i told him to just wait for them to grab the market share and the price would raise. This is exactly what happened when MS tried to sell the One at 500$ while strangely Sony did the opposite selling the PS4 100$ less than the PS3. I welcome more competitions and i don't mind having many launchers installed. But Epic is not a charity and as soon as they'll have the market firmly in their hands (if it happens) they'll raise the price. I agree with INSTG8R if the games are not cheaper why would i be happy about having to buy my games on an inferior service? I know lot of people hate Steam for a reason i have yet to understand but while it has its flaws it's imo the best service out there for new games (for old games i prefer gog). I welcome more competitions but not more exclusivities. Epic should try to grab the market by offering a better product not by securing exclusivities.

Gaming platform exclusivity is anti consumer: it usually disbenefits financially the game development team in the long run, excludes gamers by not having a new game available to play and doesn't offer any benefits for the consumer in any way. Why this is not a hot topic, I have no clue. Having to download a free software that doesn't harm you to play a game is not platform exclusivity. If you are eager to play a game and have waited for one, then downloading a free and beneficial software should not be a problem. By beneficial I mean the software gives you more or less handy tools beside gaming, like downloading latest updates, chat, whatever is there now or will be added. There is nothing greedy in this practice if you don't disbenefit the consumer anyway. Epic Games Store doesn't take any extra fees, the software itself is free, you get all you basically need to fully experience your purchased game. Sure, Steam offers more tools and features that don't directly relate to the gaming experience and many want those, but they have never been a necessity to enjoy a video game. Even though Steam probably hasn't made any contracts to make many games exclusive to their store, there is still no complaints about many games being only available on Steam. Now I myself like the idea that the developers benefit more and the distributing store less when I purchase a game and I have complete right to think this way and act this way now when Epic Store exists. I emailed Codemasters recently and asked if their Dirt Rally 2.0 would come to Epic Store and they denied this, which disappoints me, since I'd like to support the competitor more because of their principles that meet my own, but in the end this is a loss for Codemasters rather than anyone else. Back on the trails though: There seems to be zero issue with games being exclusive on Steam, but a problem if anyone else does the same. Steam basically rose from making Half-Life 2, their own game, exclusive to Steam. Many people didn't like this at all, but still bought the game nonetheless. Now why this same resistance has to be witnessed again is beyond me. It's clear that many considerably good games are going to be exclusive to Epic Store, so why not just accept this practice when Epic itself doesn't take any game as an experience away from you, unlike Sony or Nintendo with their console exclusives, when in reality Xbox or PC could run those games very well (not including motion controlling). Epic doesn't block you from playing the game in any way, they do just the same like any of the game launchers. Now comes the bang: the true reason why people hate Epic Store is because they support monopolies. Was it Nvidia, Steam, Sony or whatever company and their product, they for some wicked reason support greed and monopolies. Epic is less greedy than Steam, numbers do confirm this. Steam is currently taking a big slice from game sales, numbers confirm this. Whatever game launches, it has to be on Steam or people complaint very audibly, but always without reasoning. You most often hear that Epic Store is anti consumer, but they really don't aim to hamper your gaming experience in any way, they just want to make deals with developers who clearly think that they should get more revenue from sales than they would get with other stores. Internet is insane these days and it is all because of these raging fanatics. It's always the same: whine and rage, no real conversation, attacking those who disagree, (in this case) they claim they won't buy games from Epic Store and they still do, and finally when everything settles you find that is was all about this twisted dream of having world controlled by monopolies or whatever is crucially bad for everyone, themselves included. I am really glad that Epic Store exists especially now when we will see Quantic Dream's games there which I have waited for so long. I'm aiming to buy every new game from Epic Store that I'm interested in, if it's available there and no other store sells it cheaper. I really like this competition and I'm thankful that developers get their fair sale from sales now. I have nothing against Steam either though.

GamerNerves:

Gaming platform exclusivity is anti consumer: it usually disbenefits financially the game development team in the long run, excludes gamers by not having a new game available to play and doesn't offer any benefits for the consumer in any way. Why this is not a hot topic, I have no clue. Having to download a free software that doesn't harm you to play a game is not platform exclusivity. If you are eager to play a game and have waited for one, then downloading a free and beneficial software should not be a problem. By beneficial I mean the software gives you more or less handy tools beside gaming, like downloading latest updates, chat, whatever is there now or will be added. There is nothing greedy in this practice if you don't disbenefit the consumer anyway. Epic Games Store doesn't take any extra fees, the software itself is free, you get all you basically need to fully experience your purchased game. Sure, Steam offers more tools and features that don't directly relate to the gaming experience and many want those, but they have never been a necessity to enjoy a video game. Even though Steam probably hasn't made any contracts to make many games exclusive to their store, there is still no complaints about many games being only available on Steam. Now I myself like the idea that the developers benefit more and the distributing store less when I purchase a game and I have complete right to think this way and act this way now when Epic Store exists. I emailed Codemasters recently and asked if their Dirt Rally 2.0 would come to Epic Store and they denied this, which disappoints me, since I'd like to support the competitor more because of their principles that meet my own, but in the end this is a loss for Codemasters rather than anyone else. Back on the trails though: There seems to be zero issue with games being exclusive on Steam, but a problem if anyone else does the same. Steam basically rose from making Half-Life 2, their own game, exclusive to Steam. Many people didn't like this at all, but still bought the game nonetheless. Now why this same resistance has to be witnessed again is beyond me. It's clear that many considerably good games are going to be exclusive to Epic Store, so why not just accept this practice when Epic itself doesn't take any game as an experience away from you, unlike Sony or Nintendo with their console exclusives, when in reality Xbox or PC could run those games very well (not including motion controlling). Epic doesn't block you from playing the game in any way, they do just the same like any of the game launchers. Now comes the bang: the true reason why people hate Epic Store is because they support monopolies. Was it Nvidia, Steam, Sony or whatever company and their product, they for some wicked reason support greed and monopolies. Epic is less greedy than Steam, numbers do confirm this. Steam is currently taking a big slice from game sales, numbers confirm this. Whatever game launches, it has to be on Steam or people complaint very audibly, but always without reasoning. You most often hear that Epic Store is anti consumer, but they really don't aim to hamper your gaming experience in any way, they just want to make deals with developers who clearly think that they should get more revenue from sales than they would get with other stores. Internet is insane these days and it is all because of these raging fanatics. It's always the same: whine and rage, no real conversation, attacking those who disagree, (in this case) they claim they won't buy games from Epic Store and they still do, and finally when everything settles you find that is was all about this twisted dream of having world controlled by monopolies or whatever is crucially bad for everyone, themselves included. I am really glad that Epic Store exists especially now when we will see Quantic Dream's games there which I have waited for so long. I'm aiming to buy every new game from Epic Store that I'm interested in, if it's available there and no other store sells it cheaper. I really like this competition and I'm thankful that developers get their fair sale from sales now. I have nothing against Steam either though.

And for all that you’re just part of the problem. Supporting an inferior platform that’s locking in games leaving you no choice to use said inferior product. There’s no benefit to the consumer it benefits them by pulling the console exclusive tactics you mention yourself. They may not be hampering your game experience but they are most certainly forcing your choice and you’re quite happy to let them and pay the same price it would be anywhere else. They dangled some money in front of some worthy titles which in turn they’re dangling in front of you and you bought it hook line and sinker. Enjoy trying to make a friends list that’s gonna mine your Steam and Facebook data. Enjoy your absolutely featureless platform enjoy supporting monopolistic behaviour you just can’t seem to see you’ve fallen for and are happy to support. Frankly I wouldn’t trust it enough to put my payment information into it.We’re talking about a platform that cams out in December that was just a Fortnite Launcher with m anybe another 10-12 unknown games you’d never buy anyway and in this platforms short life it’s already been breeched once already. I certainly wouldn’t trust it with my payment information. Epic is NOT your friend and you’re complacency is exactly what they want so they can boost they’re numbers. http://gamergamut.com/epic-games-security-breach/online-game/

Valve doesn't stop companies from releasing games on other stores, it doesn't stop them selling their game on steam and from launching another launcher. Valve games aren't on other stores because it's their own store and they don't make games. (Same reason why Blizzard,Ubisoft and EA have their own platforms). Valve give you and the developers the choice. They don't lock in anything. That's a big difference compared to just throwing money around to take away the user's choice (Because these aren't first party self made games like with those other examples) and calling it "Competition" and you can't even bring a client to the table with a fraction of the features. Purposefully leaving out features (Like the community which usually is the one picking up the slack for the complete lack of support by the publisher/developer and fixing their broken junk) "Developers" aren't getting more money unless they are self publishing. That money is all going to the publishers, especially the big ones that already save a shit ton of money on PC by not having console certification processes, patches and physical manufacturing that all cost a lot of money on top of the profit split. And they still ask a full 60$ for their games often. They almost have me at Detroit Become Human. I love that game and it would be amazing at 4k60. So I might buy that one when it comes out. But in general I am staying far away.

Exclusivity deals will just revive piracy and given the situation the publishers are attempting to force on PC gamers I just can't bring myself to care.

People are mad at Epic, but it's Steam which has caused this to happen.

This is not how this works. Steam is not the cause that Epic games is buying exclusivity deals, that's entirely on EPIC. The only thing Steam is responsible for is having an unattractive cut in comparison. No one is stopping publishers from putting games up on Steam and EPIC and just have the two compete based on their actual merrits.

They almost have me at Detroit Become Human.

This was actually surprising to hear. I wonder if this acquisition was a direct attack on Sony and third party console exlusives.

moeppel:

Exclusivity deals will just revive piracy and given the situation the publishers are attempting to force on PC gamers I just can't bring myself to care. This is not how this works. Steam is not the cause that Epic games is buying exclusivity deals, that's entirely on EPIC. The only thing Steam is responsible for is having an unattractive cut in comparison. No one is stopping publishers from putting games up on Steam and EPIC and just have the two compete based on their actual merrits. This was actually surprising to hear. I wonder if this acquisition was a direct attack on Sony and third party console exlusives.

Who says Epic Games is buying developers out? For all we know they knock on Epics door for help.