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Say what you will about the Epic Games Store, their free game offerings and coupon system is pretty sweet

Although I get the concerns regarding Tencent's sizable investment in Epic Games, in addition to the lingering issues with the Epic Games Store itself, such as the obscenely slow downloader, I really like their free game offerings. I haven't spent more than twenty dollars on the Epic Games Store, yet I have over 20 games in my library just by redeeming the free games that show up every week (or in this case every day during their holiday promotion). In addition to that, the $10 coupon system is also very cool, especially during big sales. I paid 14 bucks for Disco Elysium (very cool game btw), which was already on sale to begin with. It honestly feels like I'm stealing money given the value proposition Epic is offering. Give it a few months after periodically redeeming the free games and BOOM you got a healthy library of games. Sometimes getting those free games even gives you the coupon.

While Steam and adjacent platforms like GOG still run circles around EGS with their feature set alone, EGS does at least literally throw free games at you and you don't need to do anything other than log in and click "get". It basically does the bare minimum of being alright in my book. What do you guys think?
 

Tschumi

Member
I'm just glad that they appear to be set to bring kena to PC sometime next year

Edit: they also have anno 1800 which is a fantastic game
 
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TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
I’m always surprised at the fanatical loyalty to Steam around here. Epic has exclusives but they are always time limited so who cares. I mainly use steam and Gog but I have never had a problem with what epic has been doing and I appreciate the free games.
Oh but it's not only around here. The are fat people all around the world that almost go on a jihad against the Epic Store.

I don't get the complaints either. The more stores, the better for the consumer, right? More competency between them means more sales and deals.

I guess there's fanatism of every shape and color.
 

InDaGulag

Member
I’m always surprised at the fanatical loyalty to Steam around here. Epic has exclusives but they are always time limited so who cares. I mainly use steam and Gog but I have never had a problem with what epic has been doing and I appreciate the free games.

I do not have an Epic account and prefer Steam, but the hysteria over EGS has reached heights that are beyond parody. The FuckEpic subreddit is filled with people who need honest to god therapy.

I also find the whole fearmongering over connections with China thing to be absurd when every major video game companies has connections to China. Even beloved Steam is partnering with a Chinese company to release a censored Chinese version of Steam for when China finally blocks international Steam.

It's the law in China for any foreign company looking to set up operations in China that they have to partner with a Chinese firm. Companies will gladly do that when dealing with the largest market on Earth. Business only concerns itself with making money. No company should be seen as your friend.
 
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Guilty_AI

Member
It honestly feels like I'm stealing money given the value proposition Epic is offering.
You kinda of are in a way, they're adopting loss leader tactics.
With the free games and coupons the store is likely going into the red, they gain users in exchange for money.

I can understand people being attracted by it, but personally i don't like that way of doing business, it brings up a lot of red flags.
 
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You kinda of are in a way, they're adopting loss leader tactics.
With the free games and coupons the store is likely going into the red, they gain users in exchange for money.

I can understand people being attracted by it, but personally i don't like that way of doing business, it brings up a lot of red flags.
Yeah, but you have to consider the profits Epic is making from Fortnite, Unreal Engine, Rocket League, and their storefront. I think them giving away some free games and coupons leave a negligible impact on their larger moneymakers.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
Yeah, but you have to consider the profits Epic is making from Fortnite, Unreal Engine, Rocket League, and their storefront. I think them giving away some free games and coupons leave a negligible impact on their larger moneymakers.
Thats exactly where the red flag is. They can have as much losses as they want for as long as they want with EGS, since they have other venues for making money.

To give you an example of why thats a dangerous practice, imagine Steam started doing the same as Epic (free games all the time and infinite $10 coupons), suppose money isn't an issue (from Dota 2 profits or whatever), what do you think it would happen?
 
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e&e

Banned
Thats exactly where the red flag is. They can have as much losses as they want for as long as they want with EGS, since they have other venues for making money.

To give you an example of why thats a dangerous practice, imagine Steam started doing the same as Epic (free games all the time and infinite $10 coupons), suppose money isn't an issue (from Dota 2 profits or whatever), what do you think it would happen?
I’m not following. What would happen?
 

Guilty_AI

Member
I’m not following. What would happen?
Steam is already the dominant platform, they also have advanced features, and now in this hypothetical scenario they're offering much better cost-benefit than competitors like GOG, in the case of EGS an equal cost-benefit but in a better platform.
What do you think users would do?
 
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theclaw135

Banned
Not if one of the competitors is using anti consumer practices to buy it's way into relevancy.

That may be, though it makes no practical difference for the user. An exclusive is exclusive whether Epic commissioned a developer to produce the game, or paid a publisher to only release it on EGS.
 

Korranator

Member
Money hating games seems to be the big one.

I also like Steam vast support for linux gaming, they've played a big part of making it possible.
Money hating games?? No sure what you mean by that. Are you saying paying for exclusives? Companies have been paying for exclusives for the longest time. Look at the consoles. Look at EA, Ubisoft, Blizzard, Apple, etc. It's part of business and it's not unique to this industry.
 
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TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Not if one of the competitors is using anti consumer practices to buy it's way into relevancy.

You mean epic games exclusives? Those games are only a few clicks away, it's not lile you have to buy another system or paying any fee to access those games.

I really can't see that hurting the consumer in any way man.
 

RedVIper

Banned
Money hating games?? No sure what you mean by that. Are you saying paying for exclusives? Companies have been paying for exclusives for the longest time. Look at the consoles. Look at EA, Ubisoft, Blizzard, Apple, etc. It's part of business and it's not unique to this industry.

Paying not to release on other stores yes.

Just because it's on consoles doesn't mean it's good.

You mean epic games exclusives? Those games are only a few clicks away, it's not lile you have to buy another system or paying any fee to access those games.

I really can't see that hurting the consumer in any way man.

See above. Paying to keep games off other stores is clearly an anti consumer practice.
 

nordique

Member
Literally my entire pc collection is via the free games on EGS

totally fine with it lol

getting ready for my gaming pc one of these days
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
See above. Paying to keep games off other stores is clearly an anti consumer practice.
Sorry dude but I still don't get it. :messenger_grinning_sweat:

All you have to do is install another client. That's all that's affecting the consumer.

And in exchange you end with Steam's monopoly on the digital pc gaming sales. Isn't that good?
 

theclaw135

Banned
Paying not to release on other stores yes.

Just because it's on consoles doesn't mean it's good.



See above. Paying to keep games off other stores is clearly an anti consumer practice.

Well that's the entire reason consoles still exist today.
 
The ccp thanks you for your personal info

maxresdefault.jpg
 

Fbh

Member
When the store launched and their main sales pitch was "Devs get a bigger cut!" my main takeaway was "ok, but what are you offering me as a buyer?".

2 years later it turns out the answer was lots of free games, aggressive regional pricing and decent sales that turn into great sales thanks to coupons.

I still prefer GOG and Steam and if a game is available on either of those stores for a similar price I'll get it there.
But I don't mind epic. I've gotten to play some great games they have given out for free and every now and then they have much lower prices than anywhere else. Between the regional pricing and the Christmas coupon I just got Dragon quest XI definitive for a bit over $8 some days ago.
 
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RedVIper

Banned
Sorry dude but I still don't get it. :messenger_grinning_sweat:

All you have to do is install another client. That's all that's affecting the consumer.

And in exchange you end with Steam's monopoly on the digital pc gaming sales. Isn't that good?

It's not my fault you don't get why money hating games is bad, that's on you not me.

What monopoly? There's always been competitors to steam, and steam has never forced games to be exclusive to steam. You can put your game on steam and sell it on your own store if you want to.

So no, epic money hating games to buy it's way into the the pc market isn't good. That's not competition, epic didn't get market share because it's better than steam, it got market share by making it so you have to have to epic to play certain games.

Well that's the entire reason consoles still exist today.

No it isn't.
 

Korranator

Member
Steam is already the dominant platform, they also have advanced features, and now in this hypothetical scenario they're offering much better cost-benefit than competitors like GOG, in the case of EGS an equal cost-benefit but in a better platform.
What do you think users would do?
Sorry I still don't get what your are saying. How is competition a bad thing? If anything its lowering prices and given consumers more options.

You never want one company to control the market. Hell I remember when Steam sales used to have the best prices. Those flash sales, and bundles were insane. Now....yeah disappointing.
 

Shrennin

Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
I don't have a problem with the Epic Games Store. I wouldn't say I'm a fan of timed exclusives for PC, but that's competition. Steam will just have to do better and they won't have to worry about it.

I'm more a fan of Steam than EGS, but I won't protest EGS or not buy from their store. And I'll certainly accept any free games coming my way.
 

theclaw135

Banned
Steam has astronomically more exclusives than any other storefront ever. Every game whose activation keys solely redeem on steam, you have to use steam.
 

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
Steam has astronomically more exclusives than any other storefront ever. Every game whose activation keys solely redeem on steam, you have to use steam.

Those are by publishers’ choice. The main difference is Steam doesn’t forbid them to release on other platforms day one. That’s something to keep in mind.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
It's not my fault you don't get why money hating games is bad, that's on you not me.
You sure? Maybe you are not very good explainong yourself, because after all that I still don't see the issue.

I don't think paying money to have exclusives is a bad thing. It's just an investment: the devs get more money to develop and improve their game, and EGS has a nice shiny new exclusive. Yeah, this could be bad for Steam but, is it really bad for the consumer? How?
 

Guilty_AI

Member
You never want one company to control the market.
Yes... we dont. Keep that in mind.

Sorry I still don't get what your are saying. How is competition a bad thing? If anything its lowering prices and given consumers more options.
Fine, lets forget the hypothetical scenario and go for a more realistic one.

Suppose EGS keeps growing, until they become a significant portion of the market. Even then, they still keep making the same deals as they're doing now. Free games, infinite coupons, temporary exclusives, nobody says anything because they've been doing it from the start. As i said, those deals put the store in the red, but it doesn't matter because they can keep injecting money from other venues. Meanwhile, for its competitors such as Steam and GOG, the store is their main source of income, meaning they have to make a profit from them no matter what, meaning they cannot give the same deals as Epic since it'd mean potentially going bankrupt.

Now, users would just keep flocking to EGS because of the free stuff, low prices and lack of alternatives. Other stores could do nothing but watch as their userbase slowly decreases until breaking point, eventually closing down.
Now, just one company controls the market, which as you said...

BTW, this is a well record anti competitive strategy adopted by monopolistic companies, so i'm not just taking a conspiracy theory out of my ass. Amazon does it for example, and even managed to get out of lawsuits scott free thanks to the power of money. So even if its illegal and can be a cause for lawsuits, that doesn't exactly gives me peace of mind.

Naturally, i'm not saying thats really Epic's endgame, I also believe for a number of reasoms they might be after third party F2P games for their store. However, the possibility is already high enough to justify making me unconfortable with them.
 
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theclaw135

Banned
It frankly doesn't add up. Why is Epic money hatting games they don't control? If they were playing the long game, they'd invest in studios and build up ongoing franchises to monetize.
 
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InDaGulag

Member
It frankly doesn't add up. Why is Epic money hatting games they don't control? If they were playing the long game, they'd invest in studios and build up ongoing franchises to monetize.

Duh. Investing in studios eats up more time and revenue than simply writing cheques for timed exclusives.
 

ClosBSAS

Member
their free games are nice if you are new to pc gaming and never played a game...they are all old ass games from 10 years ago that everyone has on steam already.
 

RedVIper

Banned
You sure? Maybe you are not very good explainong yourself, because after all that I still don't see the issue.

I don't think paying money to have exclusives is a bad thing. It's just an investment: the devs get more money to develop and improve their game, and EGS has a nice shiny new exclusive. Yeah, this could be bad for Steam but, is it really bad for the consumer? How?

Let me flip this around for you.

You think it would be ok for steam, that you called a "monopoly", to use their money to make sure other stores can't get games? Would this benefit the consumer?
 
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TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Let me flip this around for you.

You think it would be ok for steam, that you called a "monopoly", to use their money to make sure other stores can't get their games? Would this benefit the consumer?
No, it wouldn't, but... would that harm the consumer? I think not.

In the end, me as a consumer, just don't care in which store a certain game is, specially single player and non-community focused ones.

Of course that's just my opinion, and I appreciate that you take your time to express yours. :]
 

Korranator

Member
Yes... we dont. Keep that in mind.


Fine, lets forget the hypothetical scenario and go for a more realistic one.

Suppose EGS keeps growing, until they become a significant portion of the market. Even then, they still keep making the same deals as they're doing now. Free games, infinite coupons, temporary exclusives, nobody says anything because they've been doing it from the start. As i said, those deals put the store in the red, but it doesn't matter because they can keep injecting money from other venues. Meanwhile, for its competitors such as Steam and GOG, the store is their main source of income, meaning they have to make a profit from them no matter what, meaning they cannot give the same deals as Epic since it'd mean potentially going bankrupt.

Now, users would just keep flocking to EGS because of the free stuff, low prices and lack of alternatives. Other stores could do nothing but watch as their userbase slowly decreases until breaking point, eventually closing down.
Now, just one company controls the market, which as you said...

BTW, this is a well record anti competitive strategy adopted by monopolistic companies, so i'm not just taking a conspiracy theory out of my ass. Amazon does it for example, and even managed to get out of lawsuits scott free thanks to the power of money. So even if its illegal and can be a cause for lawsuits, that doesn't exactly gives me peace of mind.

Naturally, i'm not saying thats really Epic's endgame, I also believe for a number of reasoms they might be after third party F2P games for their store. However, the possibility is already high enough to justify making me unconfortable with them.
Ok now I get what your are saying. The problem though is your scenario has a major flaw in it. I bolded it for you because that statement is simply not true. Value owns Steam, and CDPR owns GOG, so their store fronts are not their only means of income.
 
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RedVIper

Banned
No, it wouldn't, but... would that harm the consumer? I think not.

In the end, me as a consumer, just don't care in which store a certain game is, specially single player and non-community focused ones.

Of course that's just my opinion, and I appreciate that you take your time to express yours. :]

So why did you complain about Steam being a "monopoly" in the first place? Clearly you think it's bad?

My problem isn't the game being on a different store, I've always had different stores on my computer.

My problem is anti consumer practices being done by a gigantic corporations and gamers eating it up because they can't see past 2 feet ahead.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
Ok now I get what your are saying. The problem though is your scenario has a major flaw in it. I bolded it for you because that statement is simply not true. Value owns Steam, and CDPR owns GOG, so their store fronts are not their only means of income.
They're not their only means but its one of their main ones. EGS is basically a side business for Epic, they can pour as much money as they want in it without feeling a dent. Valve made the fortune it has today because of steam, its their main moneymaker and not something they could just happily go in the red with. As for GOG, you could argue they're primarely a publisher and thats their actual main source of income, but with only making money off a single game every 5 years or so aside from GOG, its easy to see they don't have the same kind of financial leisure Epic has to lose millions upon millions for years.

Anyway, thats my case. People are free to agree or disagree with it. Free stuff and heavy discounts are tempting after all so i can understand people going to do business with Epic. And as i said, this endgame might not be actually what they're trying to do, its just a realistic and scary possibility.
 
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TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
So why did you complain about Steam being a "monopoly" in the first place? Clearly you think it's bad?

My problem isn't the game being on a different store, I've always had different stores on my computer.

My problem is anti consumer practices being done by a gigantic corporations and gamers eating it up because they can't see past 2 feet ahead.

Maybe I'm failing big time in seeing your point man. I really can't see how one corpo dumping a ton of money on another corpo for some months of exclusivity is bad for me.

All I think is, for the consumer, the more number of available options, the better.
 
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01011001

Banned
I only use epic for the free games and some free to play stuff.

and as long as they don't support fanily sharing I will continue to not buy anything from their store

I refuse to pay for 2 licenses just so we don't have to share a single account ON THE SAME DAMN PC!

fuck that. same goes for Uplay or Origin... or Ubisoft Connect and EA Desktop app or whatever they're called now
 

Goro Majima

Kitty Genovese Member
Basically pricing everything $10 less than Steam is a pretty killer deal. Steam is great but I’m not lighting money on fire out of loyalty.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
And therefore epic reducing options is good?

You need some internal logic consistency.
Well, you also have the option of waiting and buying it later on Steam, so the number of options remains the same. :^]

Sorry mate. Yeah if the title is exclusive you'll only be able to buy those on their store. But what about all the other titles? You have more options regarding those, and also more sales.
 
Well, you also have the option of waiting and buying it later on Steam, so the number of options remains the same. :^]

Sorry mate. Yeah if the title is exclusive you'll only be able to buy those on their store. But what about all the other titles? You have more options regarding those, and also more sales.
And if having multiple storefront applications is bothersome, then GOG Galaxy could help keep your library in one place and treat the launchers as middlemen.
 
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