What's on your mind?
08-07-2019, 01:41 AM
WARNING: Some of this post contains my opinions and thoughts on a sensitive subject-- the Epic Game Store and their exclusivity deals.
What's on my mind? What. Is. On. My. Mind?
Excessive punctuation as emphasis!!! Nothing's PARTICULARLY bad about it, but it was on my mind.
But... that's not all that's on my mind.
I've noticed a lot of people be mad at game devs for going Epic exclusive. In a lot of cases, they probably have good reason to be mad about it.
An Epic exclusive deal is where the Epic game store gives a large sum of money to developer in a usually secretive deal so they get that game exclusively for 6 months to a year or two-- or occasionally permanently exclusive. The issue is, a lot of devs promised their games will immediately be coming to Steam, and some even deny the possibility of an Epic exclusive deal... until the announcement comes that a deal has been struck. An Epic exclusivity deal is already lucrative, but they also offer a better split of revenue when the game is purchased than Steam, so it's even more enticing to get your game on their store, let alone the deal for extra money up-front.
A game that was crowdfunded by people can now survive without the crowdfunding because Epic picked them up, and sometimes... the developers mock the crowdfunders who helped them get the projects going in the first place. This leads to backlash from people who were promised a Steam version, but now they have to wait 6 months, a year, or more because they didn't want to download the Epic launcher. Steam is their go-to, or GOG is their go-to, and they were promised the game on that launcher! They threaten to ILLEGALLY PIRATE GAMES because they don't want to download the launcher, which they say is inferior to Steam. Objectively... it is inferior right now. There's no denying it. The launcher has issues, it has a lack of features, and there isn't even a shopping cart. You have to buy games one by one, and if you bought too many, your account can be locked for suspicious activity-- all because there was no shopping cart. But piracy is a big issue-- one I've noticed making the rounds on the internet freely without repercussion due to site owners being out of prosecutable jurisdictions. And the open BOASTING of people wanting to do such because their launcher of choice won't get a game for a while is sad.
But another big issue is that a promise is broken when a developer goes back on their word, and lies about the possibility of Epic exclusivity. They claim it's not gonna happen, and their game will be released on all platforms at the same time. Then, the announcement happens and they get understandable backlash for lying. As mentioned already, people are donating to a developer's crowdfunding page with the promise it'll be on all platforms at the same time and there will be no exclusivity... and then promptly receiving a kick in the face with a developer saying they are no longer needed. When it comes to developers refusing to give refunds after securing the funding they'll need for years to come... as someone who's actively working on a game, I find it abhorrent to lie to crowdfunders about that kind of thing. When they give you their money, they're also giving you their trust that what you have told them is the truth and nothing but the truth. Betraying that trust makes you a traitor. Someone who cannot be trusted in the future. And refusing to repair your trust by giving refunds due to a broken promise is shockingly bad practice that goes unchecked very often. Much of the time, they aren't obligated due to terms of their specific crowdfunding platform, but the mockery of not needing them anymore is even worse practice. But it happens, and Epic stands behind them every time.
There have been instances of game companies being on Steam, but signing exclusivity deals with Epic and getting themselves off of the Steam storefront and becoming only available on Epic, causing chaos and a huge rift between people who use either launcher and with Steam themselves. A war between PC gamers is caused by this kind of divisive practice. It's a business practice that is profitable for some, but an inconvenience for others. And in a lot of communities, being associated with Epic in any way is seen as a huge negative, and you are basically considered to be "condoning" this kind of behavior by the company if you sign a deal with them to fund your game.
Funnily enough, and here's the thing... if I had the opportunity, and if the money was right, I'd make Destiny of End and even its planned prequel an Epic exclusive for as long as necessary to secure funds and get development complete. There's something to be said about being open and honest about this kind of thing. I won't hide it. If the opportunity arises for Epic to fund my project, and I feel it's the best thing for development, I'd probably do it. There is always that possibility, and I'll probably mention this a few times in a future. Destiny of End is open to Epic exclusivity, and I don't even use the Epic launcher nor do I like their business practices... because being an indie dev is hard, and any support you can get would feel pretty good. But I feel as long as my thoughts about their practices are known, perhaps that'd mitigate most of any possible backlash. But it's not like they'd want to pick my game up anyway without much to show right now. That, and the fact that my thoughts are out in the open about the business practices probably puts me on some sort of stufflist to them. So even though I'm open to it, it'd probably never happen anyway, because I think the business practices are pretty abhorrent, and I assume Epic wants devs who receive exclusivity deals to tow the company line full-time. So boo.
Just figured I'd throw my thoughts out there, since there's a huge stigma right now with last-minute surprise deals and a lack of understanding as to WHY people hate exclusivity to the Epic store. And I figured giving a better understanding of the subject, and making a tiny announcement might be worth doing early so there's no surprise later.
P.S., I might start a crowdfunding for Destiny of End at some point soon. I just... need to research more on the subject before I decide on where/when/how/if/taco. If I do start the crowdfunding, the possibility of Epic exclusivity will be in plain text so there will be no surprises. The current plan is for DoE to be on any platform I can get it on, but again... as an indie dev, Epic's help could take the game to the next level and aid immensely in all aspects of development. But being open and honest about this kind of thing is, I believe, the key.
P.P.S, Friends will get a personal version of DoE when it's done free of charge, with updated versions as well. It's a vow I won't go back on, even if Epic tries to stop me down the line if exclusivity for some reason happens. Not sorry
(Did this turn into an ad? I have no idea if this is an ad for my game, maybe I should keep it to my thread next time
)
What's on my mind? What. Is. On. My. Mind?
Excessive punctuation as emphasis!!! Nothing's PARTICULARLY bad about it, but it was on my mind.
But... that's not all that's on my mind.
I've noticed a lot of people be mad at game devs for going Epic exclusive. In a lot of cases, they probably have good reason to be mad about it.
An Epic exclusive deal is where the Epic game store gives a large sum of money to developer in a usually secretive deal so they get that game exclusively for 6 months to a year or two-- or occasionally permanently exclusive. The issue is, a lot of devs promised their games will immediately be coming to Steam, and some even deny the possibility of an Epic exclusive deal... until the announcement comes that a deal has been struck. An Epic exclusivity deal is already lucrative, but they also offer a better split of revenue when the game is purchased than Steam, so it's even more enticing to get your game on their store, let alone the deal for extra money up-front.
A game that was crowdfunded by people can now survive without the crowdfunding because Epic picked them up, and sometimes... the developers mock the crowdfunders who helped them get the projects going in the first place. This leads to backlash from people who were promised a Steam version, but now they have to wait 6 months, a year, or more because they didn't want to download the Epic launcher. Steam is their go-to, or GOG is their go-to, and they were promised the game on that launcher! They threaten to ILLEGALLY PIRATE GAMES because they don't want to download the launcher, which they say is inferior to Steam. Objectively... it is inferior right now. There's no denying it. The launcher has issues, it has a lack of features, and there isn't even a shopping cart. You have to buy games one by one, and if you bought too many, your account can be locked for suspicious activity-- all because there was no shopping cart. But piracy is a big issue-- one I've noticed making the rounds on the internet freely without repercussion due to site owners being out of prosecutable jurisdictions. And the open BOASTING of people wanting to do such because their launcher of choice won't get a game for a while is sad.
But another big issue is that a promise is broken when a developer goes back on their word, and lies about the possibility of Epic exclusivity. They claim it's not gonna happen, and their game will be released on all platforms at the same time. Then, the announcement happens and they get understandable backlash for lying. As mentioned already, people are donating to a developer's crowdfunding page with the promise it'll be on all platforms at the same time and there will be no exclusivity... and then promptly receiving a kick in the face with a developer saying they are no longer needed. When it comes to developers refusing to give refunds after securing the funding they'll need for years to come... as someone who's actively working on a game, I find it abhorrent to lie to crowdfunders about that kind of thing. When they give you their money, they're also giving you their trust that what you have told them is the truth and nothing but the truth. Betraying that trust makes you a traitor. Someone who cannot be trusted in the future. And refusing to repair your trust by giving refunds due to a broken promise is shockingly bad practice that goes unchecked very often. Much of the time, they aren't obligated due to terms of their specific crowdfunding platform, but the mockery of not needing them anymore is even worse practice. But it happens, and Epic stands behind them every time.
There have been instances of game companies being on Steam, but signing exclusivity deals with Epic and getting themselves off of the Steam storefront and becoming only available on Epic, causing chaos and a huge rift between people who use either launcher and with Steam themselves. A war between PC gamers is caused by this kind of divisive practice. It's a business practice that is profitable for some, but an inconvenience for others. And in a lot of communities, being associated with Epic in any way is seen as a huge negative, and you are basically considered to be "condoning" this kind of behavior by the company if you sign a deal with them to fund your game.
Funnily enough, and here's the thing... if I had the opportunity, and if the money was right, I'd make Destiny of End and even its planned prequel an Epic exclusive for as long as necessary to secure funds and get development complete. There's something to be said about being open and honest about this kind of thing. I won't hide it. If the opportunity arises for Epic to fund my project, and I feel it's the best thing for development, I'd probably do it. There is always that possibility, and I'll probably mention this a few times in a future. Destiny of End is open to Epic exclusivity, and I don't even use the Epic launcher nor do I like their business practices... because being an indie dev is hard, and any support you can get would feel pretty good. But I feel as long as my thoughts about their practices are known, perhaps that'd mitigate most of any possible backlash. But it's not like they'd want to pick my game up anyway without much to show right now. That, and the fact that my thoughts are out in the open about the business practices probably puts me on some sort of stufflist to them. So even though I'm open to it, it'd probably never happen anyway, because I think the business practices are pretty abhorrent, and I assume Epic wants devs who receive exclusivity deals to tow the company line full-time. So boo.
Just figured I'd throw my thoughts out there, since there's a huge stigma right now with last-minute surprise deals and a lack of understanding as to WHY people hate exclusivity to the Epic store. And I figured giving a better understanding of the subject, and making a tiny announcement might be worth doing early so there's no surprise later.
P.S., I might start a crowdfunding for Destiny of End at some point soon. I just... need to research more on the subject before I decide on where/when/how/if/taco. If I do start the crowdfunding, the possibility of Epic exclusivity will be in plain text so there will be no surprises. The current plan is for DoE to be on any platform I can get it on, but again... as an indie dev, Epic's help could take the game to the next level and aid immensely in all aspects of development. But being open and honest about this kind of thing is, I believe, the key.
P.P.S, Friends will get a personal version of DoE when it's done free of charge, with updated versions as well. It's a vow I won't go back on, even if Epic tries to stop me down the line if exclusivity for some reason happens. Not sorry
(Did this turn into an ad? I have no idea if this is an ad for my game, maybe I should keep it to my thread next time
)