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prudislav
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Posts: 29148
Location: The land of beer and porn
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 Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 16:09 Post subject: Epic announces the Epic Games $tore |
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| Quote: | Epic Games, developer of titles like Fortnite, the first Gears of War trilogy, and Unreal Tournament, has announced the creation of a new digital PC store that hopes to compete with Steam by offering an unprecedented revenue split for developers.
The Epic Games Store is launching as a full-fledged game marketplace supporting all sorts of titles. The Fortnite developer hopes to incentivize developers to come over to the Epic Games Store by pushing the revenue split for software further than any platform holder has before, giving developers 88 percent of the revenues while keeping 12 percent for overhead. This is a big change considering the traditional industry standard for digital revenue split usually gives 30 percent to the store owner, whether it be Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Apple, Android, or Valve. Perhaps anticipating this move, Valve recently made adjustments to Steam's revenue model, but only above certain thresholds that most games won't hit.
“As a developer ourselves, we have always wanted a platform with great economics that connects us directly with our players,” Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said in a press statement. “Thanks to the success of Fortnite, we now have this and are ready to share it with other developers.”
The absurd amount of money that Fortnite makes every day clearly allowed Epic to invest the money into making this more developer-friendly store. The company also made this change with its Unreal asset store earlier this year, again citing the massive profits from Fortnite as the reason they can afford a thinner profit off store purchases.
Another prong of Epic's developer-friendly approach is waiving all Unreal Engine royalty fees for revenue generated on the store. If a developer's game uses UE4, copies sold on Epic's store don't give a separate percentage to Epic, encouraging developers and publishers to direct their fans to the Epic Game Store and buy there. To get anywhere close to the same revenue split on Steam, a creator would have to make $50 million in revenue on Steam alone before getting to an 80/20 split, with engine fees still on top.
Despite Epic being the creators of the Unreal Engine, there's no limitations for what kind of games can appear on the store. Whether developers use Unity, GameMaker, or any other engine to make your games, Epic is willing to sell those titles under its umbrella.
In tandem with the store announcement, Epic also plans to launch a Support-A-Creator program, which connects developers to YouTubers, streamers, etc. These developers can share a percentage of their revenue with video producers who make content about their game, with Epic covering the jumpstart costs for the first five percent.
Epic plans to hand-curate its store, which might entice both developers and consumers away from competitors, especially with many expressing frustrations about the poor visibility for software in crowded marketplaces. How that looks in practice is still anyone's guess, but if executed correctly it could answer some complaints that have been boiling for years.
The Epic Game Store is launching soon and is being built out of Epic's current launcher. We got a chance to talk with Epic founder Tim Sweeney and ask him a few things about the store, including questions about DRM, how games are curated, and whether the store will be home to any exclusive games |
https://www.gameinformer.com/2018/12/03/epic-launches-digital-games-store-with-88-percent-revenue-going-to-developers |
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 16:12 Post subject: |
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 16:13 Post subject: |
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More competition against Steam is good, with all their money grab® practises lately. I don't see this really succeed though.
PC: Yes. Console: No.
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dethy
Posts: 3004
Location: Conclave of Shadows
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 16:15 Post subject: |
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And this is why competition is good. Steam responded by creating some kind of tier system and giving AAA publishers a bigger cut.
My specs:
Ryzen 5950x @ boosting 5ghz, Gigabyte x570 Aorus Master, 32gb G.Skill Trident Neo pc3600 ram, nVidia RTX 5080, SoundBlasterX G6, Samsung 980 Pro m.2 1TB and Hynix m.2 1TB storage SSD. Custom watercooling loop.
Derpsole: Nintendo Switch, Derpstation 5 Pro
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Sin317
Banned
Posts: 24322
Location: Geneva
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 16:17 Post subject: |
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If it makes Games cheaper, good, otherwise I don't give a damn lol.
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JBeckman
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Posts: 34653
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 16:18 Post subject: |
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Not a fan of exclusives but I can see them being useful for promoting your store front and client software.
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What sort of exclusive games are going to come to this platform? Is exclusivity something you are thinking about?
Epic’s own games are exclusive to the Epic Games Store on PC and Mac, and we’ll sometimes fund developers to release games exclusively through the store.
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https://www.gameinformer.com/2018/12/03/tim-sweeney-answers-questions-about-the-new-epic-games-store
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The PC game distribution business could experience a giant shakeup in the coming months and years following the news that Fortnite creator Epic Games has built its own store. This new developer-friendly model offers a dramatically more favorable revenue split than rival marketplaces like Steam, but beyond that, we still have questions about how this Epic Games Store operates. Who better to answer our questions than Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney?
The PC marketplace already offers a lot of choice to gamers with Steam, GOG, the Microsoft store, etc. What market conditions led you to believe there is an opportunity for another storefront?The 70/30 percent split was a breakthrough more than a decade ago with the advent of Steam, the Apple App Store, and Google Play. But today, digital software stores have grown into a $25,000,000,000+ business worldwide across all platforms, yet the economies of scale have not benefited developers. In our analysis, stores are marking up their costs 300 percent to 400 percent. We simply aim to give developers a better deal.
How did you determine the revenue split percentage, and is this a locked number moving forward?While running Fortnite we learned a lot about the cost of running a digital store on PC. The math is quite simple: we pay around 2.5 to 3.5 percent for payment processing for major payment methods, less than 1.5 percent for CDN costs (assuming all games are updated as often as Fortnite), and between 1 and 2 percent for variable operating and customer support costs. Fixed costs of developing and supporting the platform become negligible at a large scale. In our analysis, stores charging 30 percent are marking up their costs by 300 to 400 percent. But with developers receiving 88 percent of revenue and Epic receiving 12 percent, this store will still be a profitable business for us.
The Epic Games store is a long-term effort that we’ll be extending and improving for years. Ultimately, we hope competition between stores means better deals for all developers!
What other platforms are you trying to extend the store to? Are you talking about mobile and console?
The Epic Games store is launching on PC and Mac in 2018, and Android later in 2019. We’d like to launch on iOS in 2019, however, that is in apparent conflict with current Apple policy.
We believe all general purpose computing devices, such as PCs, smartphones, and tablets, should be open to competition between stores.
Consoles are a different market, with dedicated game machines whose hardware costs are often partly subsidized by software revenue. Epic doesn’t seek to operate a storefront on console platforms, but as an engine maker we do everything we can to enable cross-platform interoperability.
Will the Epic Games store be a dedicated website, a part of the Epic Games launcher, or another distinct launcher?
The store will be accessible both through Epic Games launcher and on the web. A user will need to install Epic Games launcher to download and update games from Epic Games store.
From the gamer's perspective, why should they shop at the Epic store as opposed to the marketplaces they already buy from?
It’s a lightweight storefront that’s convenient to use, and gives developers a better deal.
How important is curation to this new platform? Does Epic plan to be fastidious to not overwhelm the marketplace with every game under the sun or do you want an ocean deep pool of games where quality isn't necessarily a factor for a game to appear on the platform?
The Epic Games store is launching with a small selection of handpicked games and will grow over time. As we work toward opening up generally to developers in mid-2019, we plan to set a reasonable quality threshold.
How does the economics of the Support-A-Creator program work? Could you provide an example?Creators earn a share of revenue from each attributable sale (either by link or by manual creator tag entry, like in Fortnite). Developers set the rate of the revenue share and Epic pays the first 5 percent for the first 24 months. Developers get immediate access to thousands of creators who can promote their titles with no friction, and they can automatically give creators free access to their games if they choose so.
We believe this will make a more direct and sustainable connection between game developers and content creators such as streamers and video makers.
Does the store use any style of digital right management, and can players play these games offline or is an internet connection required?
We do not have any store-wide DRM. Developers are free to use their own DRM solutions if they choose.
Does the store have any sort of achievement system?
Not at launch, but we’re working on these kinds of features.
Is there a mechanic in place that allows users to sell or trade used games?
No.
What sort of exclusive games are going to come to this platform? Is exclusivity something you are thinking about?
Epic’s own games are exclusive to the Epic Games Store on PC and Mac, and we’ll sometimes fund developers to release games exclusively through the store.
Will the store have a virtual reality component to it as well? If so, which headsets are supported?
The Epic Games store doesn’t have any sort of VR user interface, however, games released on the store can support VR if they choose.
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Could be a interesting alternative, more clients isn't bad but we'll see how it goes.
Giving Steam some real competition wouldn't hurt either but that's going to take time.
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prudislav
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Posts: 29148
Location: The land of beer and porn
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 16:23 Post subject: |
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seems like galoyiking was so pisseed at Steam's GDPR changes killing steamspy that he went to create his ownm store  
| Quote: | Epic Games just announced a store with 88/12 split (no tiers), access to the audience, and Support-A-Creator program.
I've been working on this project at my day job for the past several years. |
https://twitter.com/Steam_Spy/status/1069970381715501056
Also it totally explains his anti-steam tweets recently
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 16:36 Post subject: |
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| Lutzifer wrote: | | and yes, mine is only average |
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Roach_666
Posts: 1299
Location: Hell in its Alpha Build
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 16:43 Post subject: |
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| dethy wrote: | | And this is why competition is good. Steam responded by creating some kind of tier system and giving AAA publishers a bigger cut. |
+1
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 16:43 Post subject: |
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 16:55 Post subject: |
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| VGAdeadcafe wrote: | There  is no room for more stores in the market |
Why not? Let there be... stores!
One day I am gonna create a platform that will unite all stores. Steam, Origin, Ubi and all the rest of stores accessible from one single spot / button.  |
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 17:05 Post subject: |
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There is plenty of room for stores. The problem is stores tying products to launchers. Epic at least seems to be taking a fairly minimalist approach here, but something like GOG with standalone installers would be far preferable.
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 17:59 Post subject: |
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So as I understand games will be just as expensive on it and only the developers benefit, in other words it makes no difference to me.
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
~ WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO SAY CAN ONLY BE SEEN ~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHTUOgYNRzY
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 18:25 Post subject: |
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I don't want more stores. Gog galaxy and steam is more than enough
3080, ps5, lg oled
Sin317-"im 31 years old and still surprised at how much shit comes out of my ass actually ..."
SteamDRM-"Call of Duty is the symbol of the true perfection in every aspect. Call of Duty games are like Mozart's/Beethoven's symphonies"
deadpoetic-"are you new to the cyberspace?"
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 18:58 Post subject: |
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More stores the better.
Steam has the monopoly so no thanks.
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 19:07 Post subject: |
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So devs get a bigger cut than on Steam. Great, but why would the customer use their store?
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prudislav
VIP Member
Posts: 29148
Location: The land of beer and porn
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 19:10 Post subject: |
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| madness wrote: | | but why would the customer use their store? |
Forknife? |
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 19:18 Post subject: |
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They say they will have a 14 days "no questions asked" refund. Dunno how will that work but if it's successful Steam will follow up and probably change their Refund policy for better. The more stores, the better. Monopoly is never good.
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Roach_666
Posts: 1299
Location: Hell in its Alpha Build
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 19:31 Post subject: |
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Good. I don't care for Epic Games, but fuck Valve. I less I have to buy from Steam, the better.
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Morphineus
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Posts: 24883
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 19:41 Post subject: |
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'competitition is good'
| Quote: | From the gamer's perspective, why should they shop at the Epic store as opposed to the marketplaces they already buy from?
It’s a lightweight storefront that’s convenient to use, and gives developers a better deal.
What sort of exclusive games are going to come to this platform? Is exclusivity something you are thinking about?
Epic’s own games are exclusive to the Epic Games Store on PC and Mac, and we’ll sometimes fund developers to release games exclusively through the store.
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Oh my, look at all that good competition that brings all the goodness for them consumers. :>
Last edited by Morphineus on Tue, 4th Dec 2018 19:51; edited 2 times in total
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 19:44 Post subject: |
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| cyclonefr wrote: | More stores the better.
Steam has the monopoly so no thanks. |
Not true. I want everything in one place and even with steam only, the prices are cheap as fuck. There are a lot of key stores fighting for prices for on steam keys. We don't need fighting stores. Just fighting key sellers. Cheapshark.com exists for a reason.
Even now I have multiple games on gog and steam and I have to do research in order to check out which version is better.
I never installed Uplay. if the game comes out on it, I would more likely buy it on ps4 rather than deal with their shit or origin or whatever
3080, ps5, lg oled
Sin317-"im 31 years old and still surprised at how much shit comes out of my ass actually ..."
SteamDRM-"Call of Duty is the symbol of the true perfection in every aspect. Call of Duty games are like Mozart's/Beethoven's symphonies"
deadpoetic-"are you new to the cyberspace?"
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 19:51 Post subject: |
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As long as i dont have to install their client i'm good.
I have enough spyware thanks.
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 19:51 Post subject: |
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So what if there are games on different stores? Just don't buy the games or don't visit the store. The buyers will cut out the bad/weak stores. Do you want only one store filled with bloat- and shovelware like Google Play? Where refunds aren't an option and customer support is almost never working. Because that's what Steam is going to look like in 2-3 more years without any competition.
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tonizito
Posts: 51201
Location: Portugal, the shithole of Europe.
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 19:57 Post subject: |
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That's fine, think we'll live with fortnite2 being exclusive to this store
| boundle (thoughts on cracking AITD) wrote: | | i guess thouth if without a legit key the installation was rolling back we are all fucking then |
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prudislav
VIP Member
Posts: 29148
Location: The land of beer and porn
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| Posted: Tue, 4th Dec 2018 20:52 Post subject: |
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| PredOborG wrote: | | Monopoly is never good. |
as if steam ever was monopoly
... oh wait
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Love how twitter is in flames about this 
and WTF Sweeny
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ixigia
[Moderator] Consigliere
Posts: 64985
Location: Italy
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| Posted: Wed, 5th Dec 2018 02:10 Post subject: |
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While I appreciate the effort, I've been a Steam member for way too long (14 years, 1k+ games) to consider adopting another store as the default one at this point in time. Plus, there's GOG for them saucy DRM free classics that's been serving me nicely as well. 
I do hope though that every single new interesting competitive move can tickle the Gabeian beast, maybe maybe it can even wake up from its lazy torpor. |
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| Posted: Wed, 5th Dec 2018 08:59 Post subject: |
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While Steam does need serious competition, this will most likely fail because they're targeting developers instead of players.
Most players will stick with Steam if it's an option.
Gustave the Steel
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