Epic store: great for developers, meh for consumers
Epic Games announced they would be opening up a new storefront on PC to compete with the likes of Steam. I haven’t really been following it too closely, being busy with the holidays, but the response among the gaming community has certainly been interesting.
Epic’s main selling point is a generous revenue sharing agreement with publishers. While Valve takes a 30% cut from each game sold, Epic will only take 12%. This has been enough to get some indie developers to at least consider making future titles exclusive to the platform. Most notably the makers of Rebel Galaxy 2, who have signed up for a 1 year exclusivity agreement.
Getting more revenue from each game sold doesn’t matter though if Epic can’t attract customers.
So far, the reaction from PC gamers has ranged from lukewarm to apprehensive. More competition is certainly a net positive as it will drive prices down and hopefully result in better products for the end user. However, in their attempt to appeal to developers, it seems Epic has forgotten to add any features that might actually entice consumers. Based on what I’ve read so far, it seems to be quite the opposite.
Consider their convoluted refund policy as one example. Those seeking to return a game had to go through a bizarre checklist like handing over IP addresses, invoice numbers, lists of games, their credit card number, location, and the names of any console accounts they had linked with their Epic games account. It seems like the entire process was deliberately setup to make refunds as much a hassle as possible. The store also lacks user reviews and message boards to even discuss the game.
Compare this to Steam where you simply click one button to submit a refund request, select a reason from a drop down, and they’ll usually refund you no questions asked. For their part Epic says they are streamlining the process, but this stands as one of the reasons why consumers are so wary.
Steam, of course, is far from perfect, but there’s a reason why it has become the de facto retailer for PC games. Valve has spent years refining the platform, adding new features, and even turning their atrocious customer service into something more palatable. They’ve also made huge strides to advance Mac and Linux gaming, something no other retailer has done. Their focus has been to make a consumer friendly platform. So has rival GOG. Plus while Steam’s 30% cut seems greedy, it’s really no more than what console makers charge when you factor in licensing fees and their own retail cuts.
It appears that Epic is really only concerned with catering to developers and developers alone, and seems to be actively trying to shield them from customers. Which is certainly what some developers want. After all, we’ve seen many temper tantrums thrown by so called “professionals” whenever their game is criticized or bombs.
Lastly, I want to address the issue of what I’ll call “launcher fatigue”.
The problem now is that everybody and their brother wants to create their own store and game launcher to rival Steam. There’s GOG, UPlay, Origin, Battle.net, Bethesda.net, Twitch, etc. Someone on Redddit had counted ten in total. It reminds me of that old XKCD comic on competing standards.
Judging by the comments online, most PC gamers don’t see these platforms as actual competitors. No advantages for them, just more clutter on their desktop. I could be wrong, but something tells me Steam will be just fine.
