PlzGivHugs

Honestly, I like the look of the leader/civilization changing and mixing. Looks like a lot of fun, in the “late-game rogue-like”, “Break the game by amassing synergies” type way. Its a different appreal than 5, but that just means I can enjoy both rather than picking one. That said, given the price, the DRM, and the reported buggyness, I’ll probably still be waiting a few years at least. At least that gives modders time to get to work.

I saw this posted a couple days ago which pretty succinctly summarizes the current state of the market.

Commented this a year ago, and its just as relevant today.

Worth noting that Steam does not enforce the use of its DRM. Like Epic, its up to developers to add it.

As for installing games after the services ends, I’d be curious to know if any have specified what happens to game licences at that point. Obviously, if the licence is revoked, continuing to play it is piracy, but if these services close, are the licences revoked? I couldn’t find anything matching in the Steam or GOG terms of service.

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I think the vast majority of users only use launchers to launch games. For that purpose, it does that perfectly fine.

Does it? Lets envision the minimum viable product for a game store. You have a very basic web interface and you download games or installers from it. Something like itch.io, or similar to GOG. Is using Epic’s launcher better than just downloading the installers from a browser? I’d argue not, given the hastle of creating a new account, installing the launcher with all its spyware and using it, rather than the bare minimum of just downloading an installer, running it, and then running the game directly.

I suspect that even if Epic invested billions into bringing their store up to feature parity with Steam, users still wouldn’t switch. They’d need to be leaps and bounds better, and that’s hard to comprehend in terms of features and cost.

Look at how other platforms have eaten into Steam’s control most successfully without resorting to anything too shady. Humble Bundle and Fanatical offer unique bundles with better deals. Itch.io works more closely with devs, esspecially smaller devs. GOG cut out a niche by specifically seeking out old games to licence or fix themselves, as well as by ensuring everything is DRM free.

None of these had even a fraction of the funding Epic did. Imagine if Epic spent their early years trying to replicate these practices rather than paying to remove stuff off other platforms. Instead of spending millions on exclusivity deals, they offered customers things like weekly discount bundles, a designated DRM free section on their store, or maybe a community games section with less moderation, meant for quick-and-easy publishing for new devs.

If that isn’t enough, and they aren’t busy spending ten or hundreds of millions on pissing off their potential customers, then they could also look at loyalty programs, better sales, or even just straight-up marketing for their platform and the games on it. Epic isn’t a small company and their store has been a major investment.

All of that is just easy, obvious stuff off the top of my head, none of which even affects the launcher. Implement even half of it, (without burning the bridge with your customers first) and I’m confident you’ll have a very strong competitor to Steam.

Okay, but any significant plans to make the launcher or store itself worth using?

Yes, its a way for a developer to shift blame, but its also a very obvious and clear label to the consumer to expect an unfinished game. I wouldn’t really consider ot abuse as long as the developer is actually trying to make a decent game. For example, 7 Days to Die is a buggy, unfinished game that the devs have failed to complete for years. It should be labeled as such and shouldn’t be sold as a finished game. That said, its also a good game even in its unfinished state, and I’m happy its available to buy. Removing early access either means these games aren’t sold, or they’re sold without the disclaimer. Either situation is worse for the consumer.

The bigger problem is when its used to disguise a game that isn’t even trying, but at that point, removing the early access warning doesn’t help much. In that case, a generous refund policy and decent support are far more important.