Hasn’t been a whole lot of Epic related news lately, but this just came in…
Will be FREE for 24 hours upon its initial release on Epic (Aug. 13th)…
https://www.totalwar.com/blog/a-total-war-saga-troy-on-epic-games-store/
Also of note: a month old Eurogamer article I just wandered onto says that Epic revealed that it is sporting over 61 million monthy active users with an “average peak concurrent users on PC figure of 13 million.”
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-06-23-epic-games-store-hits-61m-monthly-active-users
So It seems they are doing well with their tactic, whether you are a fan of it or not. Sure, I imagine a good number are showing up for all those free goodies - then again when you are pulling those numbers you can easily infer that a sizable percentage are also purchasing on the platform.
While Steam still edges them out, the gap is closing. Going to be interesting to see where things stand another year from now.
Im becoming a huge fan of the Epic Games Store, its becoming a powerhouse of a distribution and hopefully one day it will be as good if not better than Steam.
Also Crate needs to sell their games on the Epic Games Store, I want to make Epic Games my main platform from now on… I have faith that they will dominate Valve and put it into submission one day…
Steam needs to dethroned for the betterment and welfare of the players and the buying public
I don’t really agree with that statement el_critico, While Steam is very dominant at the moment. By dethroning steam, Epic will then be a single dominant platform, and will have a monopoly that will be even more then steam is now. both platforms can coexist. you have one single platform, you will will start to hate Epic then as much as you hate steam now.
I dont understand your hatred of steam, at least steam is still a good platform for the most part. while epic is still a long way on even been that good. sure they have money, but everything else, they fall behind on.
Competition is healthy, a single entity isn’t. And plenty of examples on that, on why its bad. Microsoft windows for example, and how bad they have become, including their latest windows 10 updates that end up breaking stuff.
Steam needs to survive. and I hope it does. All this trying to throw money at getting games, isn’t doing Us the consumer much good. I have yet to buy anything on epic, and I may not. But I really don’t like the way they been doing business over the last few years, But if they do become top dog, they will just become a powerhouse that will control the market, and the consumer will suffer. And again, plenty of evidence on that too. Again M$ is a great example of that.
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I agree that there isn’t much “wrong” with Steam/Valve beyond the fact that they have utterly dominated the market. Steam’s popularity makes it hard for any similar service to come up and outright challenge that dominance and survive. It’s akin to a black hole that has sat there and gotten fatter and fatter, accumulating more and more resources (money) that further enables them to remain King of the Hill.
GOG? Heh. GOG survives intact for 2 reasons - their DRM-free approach, and the fact that they don’t openly antagonize Steam - at least not like Epic does. This has allowed them to fly under the radar and slowly build up their own userbase and resources. Plus they also have IP’s like the Witcher series and the coming Cyberpunk game which lends them a rather strong hand. Galaxy 2.0 is promising as well.
In the end tho GOG is still not trying to openly compete/go-to-war with Valve, opting for the “we exist but we’re not trying to step on too many toes” tactic. Leaving Valve to their throne.
So what’s a startup to do that wants to enter the market and have a chance and not only that but also has aspirations to be a true Steam rival? That’s where Epic comes in. I don’t view their exclusives tactic as anti-competitive at all. That’s just a catch-word that Epic haters like to use, it helps validate their feelings and their loyalty to Steam to be seen saying such things.
The reality is that it’s a viable tactic - evidenced by the fact that it is clearly working. Everything Epic is doing is working. Everytime an Epic hater rants on the internet about Epic, it is working. Everytime an article is written about Epic, it’s working. Everytime their name is talked about in the public domain, it’s working. Their userbase has amplified and they are indeed selling games. They are still shy of “taking” the hill but the proof is in the pudding by the fact that not only did they manage to kick the door open, they’ve fully entered into the front lobby of the mansion and are making it their home. They won’t fade into irrelevance like the others that have tried to stand up to Steam.
Note: I’m not an Epic “fan”, I like all the various stores for different reason and I actually do like Steam alot. But it has been long past due for Steam to get some real competition and it showed up in the form of Epic. Think of it like mainstream wrestling, WWF-type shit. Steam is widely seen as the “good” guy while Epic is touted as the “bad” guy. Bad guys still have their fans as well.
I also don’t ever expect Epic will actually take Steam’s position over except in the most bad luck of situations. I do, however, fully expect them to be a thorn in Steam’s side for a long-time to come.
Now having a go at Apple Store
Now Google store involved too
Epic isn’t the only circumventing the likes of Apple…
Oof… Apple tsk tsk. With Epic you have an argument but this is just what? And not the best timing either methinks.
Microsoft backs Epic against Apple in latest spat.
ah yes put apple in a dark room with 20 reapers.
Several monopolies fighting one and another. I personally not a fan of any of them. They could all learn a few lessons with this. But then again, the consumer will be the one that will be hit the hardest.
Just hope Crate aren’t using the Unreal Engine for any future projects.
Getting more hilarious. Now Mac users won’t be able to play the latest version of Fortnite. 
Yup, Epic pretty much knew that it would be like this before they went down this road - and they are willing to sacrifice that for the time being. Most PC playerss will just chant that “Macs sux for gaming” mantra anyway 
I’m kinda on the fence on whether they can convince a court to force Apple to change the 30% fee structure. It’s a steep hill to climb and in the end it feels like Apple would need to be pressured from many developers simultaneously to convince them to make that change themselves.
The ruling could go in apple’s favour, now if that happens, things could get interesting, or very bad news for gamers everywhere. Also, it could very well backfire on Epic, if game publishers decide to drop support for the epic store as a result. especailly if Epic also demands a 30% cut from online purchases made through it’s games. so the ruling could change things.
Well, if we are talking about Fortnite (which the case is about) then technically (and normally) Epic doesn’t have to demand a percentage at all since it would normally only go thru them - thus, they get all the profit since it is all their game.
Other than that - taking less a profit from their store (less than the standard 30%) has been Epic’s schtick the entire time. They only take like 12%.
I find the whole thing funny and interesting cause Epic fancies themselves the good guys while a sizable portion of people look at them as the bad guys (primarily because of the exclusive tactics) and I’m sure that Epic is well aware of that outlook and they revel in it. In the end it all works in their favor. The more they keep creating media surrounding their actions, the more they stay in the limelight, the more they keep selling.
I didn’t realise that epic only took a 12% cut, I stand corrected. But my point remains.
IF this goes in apples favour, then those games that pay epic its cut, might turn around and say, “why should we pay you 12% cut, when apple was ruled not to pay you anything?”
And this could have a bit impact on other platforms too, steam, MS store, and others.
Like I said, this could very well backfire, and it will be the consumer who will ultimately be the ones that will be paying the price, regardless of the outcome.
I get the feeling you might not know what all is going on here by your wording - Epic is suing Apple because they don’t want to submit to Apple taking 30% of the cut. This has nothing to do with any developers under Epic or Unreal engine and everything to do with Apple and how much it charges.
Also, Epic isn’t trying to “pay nothing” - I’m sure they would love that but it is also unrealistic and they know it. They are simply trying to force Apple to go lower and stop the “standard” 30% practice that the industry started using however long ago.
But this may effect other platforms, as others might want to try the same.
so if apple stops paying epic its cut, then others might say, if apple can do it, so can we.
So that might effect say steam, and its free clickers, as those games might look at the ruling with interest.
it it works for one, it might work for others too. That is what I mean.