I've had a Steam account long enough to know how terrible and annoying Steam can be. I've also seen how much Steam has done for the PC gaming community over the years, and I originally hoped Epic would push them into accelerating some of their timelines. There is value in Steam having competition, but that value diminishes as soon as someone comes along and competes for games instead of users. It took Steam a long time to become both useful (Workshop, Sales, Forums), and generally good for the customer (Returns, Curation, Support), and Epic isn't even trying to compete in those areas.
Epic isn't making a marketplace where I want to spend my money by being better than Steam, they're just trying to make a place where I have to spend money if I want to play certain games. Good luck with that one.
> There is value in Steam having competition, but that value diminishes as soon as someone comes along and competes for games instead of users.
Content platforms always compete on availability of content. Steam did the exact same thing early on with Half Life. Look at what's happening in the streaming video space. Look at console gaming.
Ultimately, people aren't making Steam accounts because of the Steam workshop or Steam forums or Steam chat or what have you—they're making Steam accounts because there's a game on Steam that they want to play.
If Epic's store had better features but the same games, existing Steam users would still continue to use Steam, because that's where their existing game libraries are. The only way Epic could compete on features alone is if it were possible to migrate Steam purchases to the Epic Store. Since Valve will never let that happen, Epic has to entice users with exclusive games.
And that could be great for everyone—if it caused games to be made that would otherwise never get developed. Consider how much great content the video streaming wars have produced. As annoying as it is to switch between subscriptions, I'd say TV viewers are winning right now.
The problem, of course, is that Epic isn't developing original content—they're paying for existing content to be removed from Steam. My great hope is that this will change in time. Original games take several years to develop, so if any are under way, we wouldn't have heard about them yet. In the meantime, we're getting PC ports of Journey and Detroit, so that's pretty neat!
Exactly, it’s the Netflix problem all over again. Rather than competing on the quality of the platform, they’re just divvying up monopolies and fracturing the customer experience.
A different streaming platform for Netflix, Hulu, Disney, Universal, HBO, Amazon
A different gaming platform for Steam, Epic, Origin, UPlay
Epic isn't trying to directly make players' lives better via competition; they're trying to make devs lives better via competition. Their main differentiator there is taking a significantly lower cut of revenue, as well as funding the devs in exchange for exclusivity or timed exclusivity.
I understand the vitriol from many gamers: the Epic Store is a worse experience as a consumer than Steam. But I think that a more-viable funding model for game development is pretty significant: there are plenty of games that just barely eke out enough to keep studios alive/independent, or that almost do but then result in the studio closing or being sold to a megacorp like EA. A 30% cut for what was effectively a hosting and payments processing service was ridiculous, monopolistic behavior, and needed to be shaken up. As such I support Epic's move into the store space: more money for devs means more, and more interesting, games getting made.
Realistically, exclusive deals were the only way Epic could've made that work. For most people, if they could buy a game on Steam, they would, rather than using yet another launcher, and that fact means that Steam would still have most of their monopoly intact. Multiple launchers (and fewer features) is annoying but IMO worth it to get Steam to give a bigger cut to devs (which they immediately started doing after the Epic Store launched, although the Epic Store is still often a better deal for devs).
I just recently went down a nostalgia rabbit hole when the last of RockPaperShotgun's founders writers left the site. The writing on that site was always far and above any other gaming site, so it's a little bittersweet to read about its history at the end of an era: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/the-secret-history-of-r...
In one of those articles, they talk about Gabe and Valve employees giving encouraging words (and opportunities that no other indie site got), which also includes this interview with Gabe right before The Orange Box released: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/11/21/rps-exclusive-ga...
Valve has had a lot of issues since then. Steam went through horrible growing pains. Steam support is awful. Valve hasn't released a game in years. But, they are where they are because they had passion, and a cavalier DIY sensibility.
Whatever Epic is doing, I want no part of. Every press release I've seen from them since opening their store has given me the willies. Gamers can get really passionate about this stuff, but for me it just boils down to my gut reaction. Epic and any company that signs exclusivity deals with them do not get my money. And I bought Rocket League on three different platforms.
Epic has plenty of time to work out making their market more compelling, and I'd bet money they're working on mirroring a lot of steam features. They basically already have a Workshop model in place via their Unreal Engine market which also serves to get people making more games in their engine.
Gamers rage a lot, but they don't do much or stick to their guns often, so this strategy will be fine so long as Epic is working to address some issues. A few updates and patches, a few more games people simply must have, and nobody will remember why they raged.
I'm not thrilled with this, but I'm not going to stop playing Rocket League. I'm going to buy Borderlands 3 (and so are all my friends that grumbled about it being a time exclusive, and they'll buy it from Epic because we all want to play right out the gate together). I still remember people raging against Origin - most of them use it for the EA games they swore they'd never play again.
> Epic isn't making a marketplace where I want to spend my money by being better than Steam, they're just trying to make a place where I have to spend money if I want to play certain games. Good luck with that one.
The irony in this statement is kind of ridiculous. You can't play many games without owning a Steam account right now. How is that any different in principle?
Overall, I recognize the Epic Store has some large issues and it definitely deserves criticism, but I just don't see why this shift is such a big deal in the long run. It's a good thing that Valve is getting competition, whose customer support has been a complete joke since its inception and monopoly allowed them to take huge bites from studio profits for years.
I don't believe anyone should be tied to one company's products like we have with Steam and there should never be a monopoly over this kind of stuff; Valve's dominance of the PC gaming marketplace is plain scary. I'm fine with Valve having to prove that people should use their product over the newcomers.
Right now the most frustrating thing will definitely be the split among ecosystems (chat, etc) and feature parity for things like Steam Workshop. That will smooth out over time, but yeah for now that's definitely an annoyance. I think we'll see an intermediary app like Discord fill the social space, just like how XFire used to dominate in the 2000's.
> Epic isn't making a marketplace where I want to spend my money by being better than Steam, they're just trying to make a place where I have to spend money if I want to play certain games. Good luck with that one.
Seems to be working ok for EA's Origin store, Battle.net and Mojang though.
They’re known for products that service hardcore gamers. Limited appeal twitch shooters, and face melting new graphics. Not exactly known for their emotional thinking relative to Valve.
Not hard to see similar limited appeal moves to amass popularity with a particular type of eyeball.
Played rocket league for years, really miffed here. At some future point all the steam workshop and custom content wont work for players, so anything there is now DOA.
Splitting the install base effectively across another platform just spits in the eye of people who've bought RL and want to make it easy to see/join their friends. They've had years of problems getting a unified platform going, and its still not nearly as simple and straightforward as using steam friends.
Probably going to ask for a refund on Steam when this game is no longer for sale.
Rocket League pretty much pushed cross-platform play to consoles. How would this split the community when they're pushing in precisely the opposite direction? Why wouldn't they do the same now that they're under Epic Games?
I really wish the gaming community in general would cool it with the aggressive hyperbole. In no way is a developer being acquired equivalent to someone spitting in your eye.
> In the meantime, it will continue to be available for purchase on Steam; thereafter it will continue to be supported on Steam for all existing purchasers.
So it sounds like nothing will suddenly stop working?
I'm cautiously optimistic about this. I've played Rocket League for a long time and I think it's an incredible opportunity for esports. It's exciting, extremely fast-paced, the meta is easy to understand for traditional sports fans, and the skill curve is more forgiving at the lower tier than many games.
If Epic can use its reach and resources to promote larger tournaments and higher stakes for Rocket League as an esport, I think that'd be a win for the game.
If they overrun it with more loot crate/f2p stuff and make the game all about the meta, and just use it as an exclusive for their own platform, that will suck.
Congrats to the Psyonix team though. They seem like genuinely great, passionate devs.
I will stop playing this game if I have to make an Epic account. Their security is a joke. Some Russian made a fake account using my email address without Epic ever actually verifying that the email address they used belonged to the individual that made the account.
There are several people in this thread who don't understand a lot about modern PC videogame distribution. Just because "you don't care" or "you don't use" certain of Steam's many features it doesn't mean they aren't important or essential.
Thousands of developers rely on Steam, Epic, GOG, etc. for multiplayer networking/matchmaking features (all digital stores offer this type of service, AFAIK, but it's not the same service). In Steam's case this isn't limited to services provided in-game, but also inviting people or joining people directly through the Steam interface, which is invaluable.
Achievements are not unimportant. Millions of players play for the achievement; they are an essential part of their entertainment. In addition, they provide important metrics for developers, players and researchers.
The Steam Workshop is the best system out there for players to publish and obtain custom content and mods for games integrated with Steam. It's an essential part of several games; they literally couldn't exist in their current form without it.
The Steam Inventory can be used for holding a collection of meta-items provided by games to other games or for trading with other players who own the same game. It's not just used for trading cards. It would for example allow a Pokemon game to exist on Steam with tradeable Pokemon. It's used by SteamVR for allowing games to provide assets for SteamVR homes (not very important, but still quite interesting).
Steam's categorization, organization and search features are not excessive but insufficient. I want more of those, not fewer.
Family sharing is important for me to share some of my games with a small number of people from my family or close friends. GOG also allows me to share my games in this manner, since they are DRM-free.
Steam community pages/forums are often nowadays the best place to interact with developers and find important information regarding issues, upcoming patches, difficult bits of gameplay, and generally other people talking about that problem you just had.
I'm not saying Epic can't do all of this, and do it well. But saying that "all you need in a game store is to buy games" is incredibly naive. Any digital retailer that requires all of these services to be nonstandard and dispersed is doomed to lose.
people have gone to ridiculous lengths to get the steam version of their games before.They treat it like a profile page. I don't think this thread realizes that
Is what Epic Games doing with their exclusivity deals legal? It's one thing if they pay a developer to exclusively release on their store, but they are paying developers not to release on Steam, even though it's fine for them to put their game on other stores, like the Windows Store, Humble Bundle, etc. That seems super non-competitive, like if Google paid Microsoft to prevent users from installing Firefox, even if though there aren't any technical limitations preventing it.
The same thing is happening with NetFlix. There are no FRAND rules for this sort of thing, as far as I'm aware. If Congress weren't... well, Congress... they might look at this sort of thing.
Exclusivity arrangements certainly seem like potential trust issues, but Steam is a de facto monopoly, as is Amazon, and NetFlix is the clear leader in it's domain.
There's a pretty big difference between just releasing a new game on a new storefront, and pulling a game (or games) from an existing storefront so it can be exclusive to that new storefront. Weak approach to "competition" if you have to buy your way to relevancy with zero other value to the customer.
To be fair I have basically zero trust of digital storefronts - for example, Steam will no longer run on my still-very-recent MacBook (OS X 10.10), so I can't play any of the hundreds of games I "own" on there anymore.
Isn't steam the reason thousands of windows games work out of the box on mac and linux though? Wine wasn't as awesome as it is now without valve's involvement
Sad news. They have a 50 million (!) player base, 350k+ online right now. That means over a billion USD in revenue, probably way more with crates/keys taken into account.
Unless the cost of their server infrastructure got wildly out of control, why would a company that is raking in cash sell out?
Epic bought publisher of a highly popular game their users.
Psyonix sold out, because at everything is has its price.
Expect Epic to forcibly migrate Rocket League Steam users. They will turn RL Steam into an Epic launcher and all current RL Steam users are suddenly Epic users.
For Psyonix and Epic there is no real downside. If you care about this decision, you're not in their demographic, and probably didn't help them generate their F-You Money.
Its really time for Steam to respond. Eventually the Epic store will match the features of Steam, and open more broadly to upper-tier Indie games. What will be left on Steam? There has already been a notable lack of launches this year.
Steam needs to halve its 30% commission to 15% for all games, and increase the Steam Direct fee to $2,000 to increase average quality. Developers aren't just leaving because of the high commission, they are leaving because of the deluge of junk launching on the store daily.
Great.. another installer to download. I play RL on the lower (very low) pro levels, I just hope it doesn't spark a wild shift. RL has been pretty solid for it's ESports partners and I hope this only brings good things to come. Psyonix deserves it for all their hard work.
I usually appreciate Steam competition, but the Epic launcher is just bad. I agree with you that RL has been great as an ESport, and I really am rooting for Psyonix here, they do definitely deserve it. If anything, I hope this succeeds in spite of Epic.
EDIT2: "Epic clarified to Variety that continued patches, DLC and all other content that hits the PC version of the game through the Epic Game Store will also appear on Steam for those who already own the game."
I'm not sure why I even asked, because no matter what they say, it's not going be accurate, what I want to hear, or within my control. 2 games I've paid for that go against my rule of not buying centralized or DRM'd, Rocket League and 7 Days To Die. 1 now has a very uncertain future. I have 51 games on GOG, all of them work on Linux, multiplayer servers can run on any machine, and I can back up my standalone installers in cold storage. I have no concern any of them will ever be unplayable. I'm sticking to the rule from now on.
> Editor’s Note: We wanted to clarify something for you after today’s news: Rocket League is and remains available on Steam. Anyone who owns Rocket League through Steam can still play it and can look forward to continued support. Thanks!
I am not sure how I feel about this. So long as I can continue to play without interruption then its all good. However, if they try to force me to pay more I am going to be very upset.
Epic is paying boat loads of money so they don't have to compete, that's the issue. Their store is objectively worse than Steam in almost every way, they know they can't compete, so instead they're throwing money at the publishers and telling customers to suck it up and use their store, or don't play the game.
I guess I will go against the grain and state that I don't really mind Epic's aggressive foray into the marketplace, it seems like their best bet against incumbents and a prove strategy in the marketplace.
People had the same reaction to Uplay (No exclusive games but you still need to have an account) and Origin (Only way to play EA Games) and while the services still don't compare to Steam they were absolutely hated when they came out and now people mostly tolerate them to get access to the big AAA games (Apex Legends came and went but few people complained about Origin Exclusivity).
I'm pretty ambivalent when it comes to Steam, the client has become quite bloated with tons of unused / deprecated features and Steam Marketplace feels super scammy full of bots and phishing attempts, and their Chat leaves a lot to be desired but I still use it daily.
Only other services I can think of that has exclusive games and people have a positive / non negative reaction to is the Blizzard one but that has like 8 games in total.
I have read that Epic has no plans to remove the game from Steam so we shall see about that, but I for one am fine with more competition if it means that:
A) Exclusivity deals result in more stability for the devs in terms of receiving large cash inflow
Epic Games seem to be making a gambit that if they can become a marketplace that has significant market share compared to steam all the bad will will be worth it and people will forget. Since they know this Fortnite thing is kind of a limited windfall. So they are going HARD.
Awesome to see the Epic Game Store continuing to make waves. Hopefully the beatings will continue until Valve stops taxing game developers so hard.
Epic gets a lot of flack for being a fairly simple store at the moment, but Steam's had ten years to get where it is. Competition was sorely needed and we're finally getting it.
The CEO of Epic is a big fan of open platforms and cross-platform gaming and a loud and outspoken opponent of walled gardens. If there's anyone who will move us out of this model as much as possible, it's probably him. But exclusives is the only way to fight the Stockholm Syndrome people seem to have with Steam.
"Editor’s Note: We wanted to clarify something for you after today’s news: Rocket League is and remains available on Steam. Anyone who owns Rocket League through Steam can still play it and can look forward to continued support. Thanks!"
[+] [-] AcerbicZero|6 years ago|reply
Epic isn't making a marketplace where I want to spend my money by being better than Steam, they're just trying to make a place where I have to spend money if I want to play certain games. Good luck with that one.
[+] [-] Wowfunhappy|6 years ago|reply
Content platforms always compete on availability of content. Steam did the exact same thing early on with Half Life. Look at what's happening in the streaming video space. Look at console gaming.
Ultimately, people aren't making Steam accounts because of the Steam workshop or Steam forums or Steam chat or what have you—they're making Steam accounts because there's a game on Steam that they want to play.
If Epic's store had better features but the same games, existing Steam users would still continue to use Steam, because that's where their existing game libraries are. The only way Epic could compete on features alone is if it were possible to migrate Steam purchases to the Epic Store. Since Valve will never let that happen, Epic has to entice users with exclusive games.
And that could be great for everyone—if it caused games to be made that would otherwise never get developed. Consider how much great content the video streaming wars have produced. As annoying as it is to switch between subscriptions, I'd say TV viewers are winning right now.
The problem, of course, is that Epic isn't developing original content—they're paying for existing content to be removed from Steam. My great hope is that this will change in time. Original games take several years to develop, so if any are under way, we wouldn't have heard about them yet. In the meantime, we're getting PC ports of Journey and Detroit, so that's pretty neat!
[+] [-] Jorge1o1|6 years ago|reply
A different streaming platform for Netflix, Hulu, Disney, Universal, HBO, Amazon
A different gaming platform for Steam, Epic, Origin, UPlay
The real loser is the consumer
[+] [-] reissbaker|6 years ago|reply
I understand the vitriol from many gamers: the Epic Store is a worse experience as a consumer than Steam. But I think that a more-viable funding model for game development is pretty significant: there are plenty of games that just barely eke out enough to keep studios alive/independent, or that almost do but then result in the studio closing or being sold to a megacorp like EA. A 30% cut for what was effectively a hosting and payments processing service was ridiculous, monopolistic behavior, and needed to be shaken up. As such I support Epic's move into the store space: more money for devs means more, and more interesting, games getting made.
Realistically, exclusive deals were the only way Epic could've made that work. For most people, if they could buy a game on Steam, they would, rather than using yet another launcher, and that fact means that Steam would still have most of their monopoly intact. Multiple launchers (and fewer features) is annoying but IMO worth it to get Steam to give a bigger cut to devs (which they immediately started doing after the Epic Store launched, although the Epic Store is still often a better deal for devs).
[+] [-] ukyrgf|6 years ago|reply
In one of those articles, they talk about Gabe and Valve employees giving encouraging words (and opportunities that no other indie site got), which also includes this interview with Gabe right before The Orange Box released: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/11/21/rps-exclusive-ga...
Valve has had a lot of issues since then. Steam went through horrible growing pains. Steam support is awful. Valve hasn't released a game in years. But, they are where they are because they had passion, and a cavalier DIY sensibility.
Whatever Epic is doing, I want no part of. Every press release I've seen from them since opening their store has given me the willies. Gamers can get really passionate about this stuff, but for me it just boils down to my gut reaction. Epic and any company that signs exclusivity deals with them do not get my money. And I bought Rocket League on three different platforms.
[+] [-] libraryatnight|6 years ago|reply
Gamers rage a lot, but they don't do much or stick to their guns often, so this strategy will be fine so long as Epic is working to address some issues. A few updates and patches, a few more games people simply must have, and nobody will remember why they raged.
I'm not thrilled with this, but I'm not going to stop playing Rocket League. I'm going to buy Borderlands 3 (and so are all my friends that grumbled about it being a time exclusive, and they'll buy it from Epic because we all want to play right out the gate together). I still remember people raging against Origin - most of them use it for the EA games they swore they'd never play again.
[+] [-] philipov|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aeriklawson|6 years ago|reply
The irony in this statement is kind of ridiculous. You can't play many games without owning a Steam account right now. How is that any different in principle?
Overall, I recognize the Epic Store has some large issues and it definitely deserves criticism, but I just don't see why this shift is such a big deal in the long run. It's a good thing that Valve is getting competition, whose customer support has been a complete joke since its inception and monopoly allowed them to take huge bites from studio profits for years.
I don't believe anyone should be tied to one company's products like we have with Steam and there should never be a monopoly over this kind of stuff; Valve's dominance of the PC gaming marketplace is plain scary. I'm fine with Valve having to prove that people should use their product over the newcomers.
Right now the most frustrating thing will definitely be the split among ecosystems (chat, etc) and feature parity for things like Steam Workshop. That will smooth out over time, but yeah for now that's definitely an annoyance. I think we'll see an intermediary app like Discord fill the social space, just like how XFire used to dominate in the 2000's.
[+] [-] kibibu|6 years ago|reply
Seems to be working ok for EA's Origin store, Battle.net and Mojang though.
[+] [-] LanceH|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kro92kfmrzz|6 years ago|reply
Not hard to see similar limited appeal moves to amass popularity with a particular type of eyeball.
[+] [-] hobs|6 years ago|reply
Splitting the install base effectively across another platform just spits in the eye of people who've bought RL and want to make it easy to see/join their friends. They've had years of problems getting a unified platform going, and its still not nearly as simple and straightforward as using steam friends.
Probably going to ask for a refund on Steam when this game is no longer for sale.
[+] [-] sorenjan|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] VectorLock|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] deminature|6 years ago|reply
I really wish the gaming community in general would cool it with the aggressive hyperbole. In no way is a developer being acquired equivalent to someone spitting in your eye.
[+] [-] zapnuk|6 years ago|reply
2. If you played the game for years you cannot get a refund from Stream
[+] [-] ChrisSD|6 years ago|reply
> In the meantime, it will continue to be available for purchase on Steam; thereafter it will continue to be supported on Steam for all existing purchasers.
So it sounds like nothing will suddenly stop working?
[+] [-] beager|6 years ago|reply
If Epic can use its reach and resources to promote larger tournaments and higher stakes for Rocket League as an esport, I think that'd be a win for the game.
If they overrun it with more loot crate/f2p stuff and make the game all about the meta, and just use it as an exclusive for their own platform, that will suck.
Congrats to the Psyonix team though. They seem like genuinely great, passionate devs.
[+] [-] the_trapper|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Havoc|6 years ago|reply
Haha
Meanwhile I can’t even update my NVIDIA driver without loging into whatever their GeForce platform thing is now called.
Can’t remember your password? Stuck on old driver
[+] [-] sspyder|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pteraspidomorph|6 years ago|reply
Thousands of developers rely on Steam, Epic, GOG, etc. for multiplayer networking/matchmaking features (all digital stores offer this type of service, AFAIK, but it's not the same service). In Steam's case this isn't limited to services provided in-game, but also inviting people or joining people directly through the Steam interface, which is invaluable.
Achievements are not unimportant. Millions of players play for the achievement; they are an essential part of their entertainment. In addition, they provide important metrics for developers, players and researchers.
The Steam Workshop is the best system out there for players to publish and obtain custom content and mods for games integrated with Steam. It's an essential part of several games; they literally couldn't exist in their current form without it.
The Steam Inventory can be used for holding a collection of meta-items provided by games to other games or for trading with other players who own the same game. It's not just used for trading cards. It would for example allow a Pokemon game to exist on Steam with tradeable Pokemon. It's used by SteamVR for allowing games to provide assets for SteamVR homes (not very important, but still quite interesting).
Steam's categorization, organization and search features are not excessive but insufficient. I want more of those, not fewer.
Family sharing is important for me to share some of my games with a small number of people from my family or close friends. GOG also allows me to share my games in this manner, since they are DRM-free.
Steam community pages/forums are often nowadays the best place to interact with developers and find important information regarding issues, upcoming patches, difficult bits of gameplay, and generally other people talking about that problem you just had.
I'm not saying Epic can't do all of this, and do it well. But saying that "all you need in a game store is to buy games" is incredibly naive. Any digital retailer that requires all of these services to be nonstandard and dispersed is doomed to lose.
[+] [-] throwawaywhynot|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dx87|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] da_chicken|6 years ago|reply
Exclusivity arrangements certainly seem like potential trust issues, but Steam is a de facto monopoly, as is Amazon, and NetFlix is the clear leader in it's domain.
[+] [-] amatecha|6 years ago|reply
To be fair I have basically zero trust of digital storefronts - for example, Steam will no longer run on my still-very-recent MacBook (OS X 10.10), so I can't play any of the hundreds of games I "own" on there anymore.
[+] [-] throwawaywhynot|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ricardobeat|6 years ago|reply
Unless the cost of their server infrastructure got wildly out of control, why would a company that is raking in cash sell out?
[+] [-] asciimov|6 years ago|reply
Epic needs users.
Epic bought publisher of a highly popular game their users.
Psyonix sold out, because at everything is has its price.
Expect Epic to forcibly migrate Rocket League Steam users. They will turn RL Steam into an Epic launcher and all current RL Steam users are suddenly Epic users.
For Psyonix and Epic there is no real downside. If you care about this decision, you're not in their demographic, and probably didn't help them generate their F-You Money.
[+] [-] user5994461|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Creationer|6 years ago|reply
Steam needs to halve its 30% commission to 15% for all games, and increase the Steam Direct fee to $2,000 to increase average quality. Developers aren't just leaving because of the high commission, they are leaving because of the deluge of junk launching on the store daily.
[+] [-] HelloFellowDevs|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] canadaj|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kgwxd|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] minimaxir|6 years ago|reply
EDIT2: "Epic clarified to Variety that continued patches, DLC and all other content that hits the PC version of the game through the Epic Game Store will also appear on Steam for those who already own the game."
https://twitter.com/crecenteb/status/1123690436604960771
[+] [-] kgwxd|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pier25|6 years ago|reply
> Editor’s Note: We wanted to clarify something for you after today’s news: Rocket League is and remains available on Steam. Anyone who owns Rocket League through Steam can still play it and can look forward to continued support. Thanks!
[+] [-] Circuits|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] minimaxir|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] msie|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dx87|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] XzAeRosho|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] timdorr|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bliblah|6 years ago|reply
People had the same reaction to Uplay (No exclusive games but you still need to have an account) and Origin (Only way to play EA Games) and while the services still don't compare to Steam they were absolutely hated when they came out and now people mostly tolerate them to get access to the big AAA games (Apex Legends came and went but few people complained about Origin Exclusivity).
I'm pretty ambivalent when it comes to Steam, the client has become quite bloated with tons of unused / deprecated features and Steam Marketplace feels super scammy full of bots and phishing attempts, and their Chat leaves a lot to be desired but I still use it daily.
Only other services I can think of that has exclusive games and people have a positive / non negative reaction to is the Blizzard one but that has like 8 games in total.
I have read that Epic has no plans to remove the game from Steam so we shall see about that, but I for one am fine with more competition if it means that:
A) Exclusivity deals result in more stability for the devs in terms of receiving large cash inflow
B) Forces both parties to improve their services
[+] [-] soup10|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xtracerx|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ocdtrekkie|6 years ago|reply
Epic gets a lot of flack for being a fairly simple store at the moment, but Steam's had ten years to get where it is. Competition was sorely needed and we're finally getting it.
The CEO of Epic is a big fan of open platforms and cross-platform gaming and a loud and outspoken opponent of walled gardens. If there's anyone who will move us out of this model as much as possible, it's probably him. But exclusives is the only way to fight the Stockholm Syndrome people seem to have with Steam.
[+] [-] pier25|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Aquillo|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] caprese|6 years ago|reply