SpaceSimCentral

For the last few months we have seen Epic push their way into game digital distribution using their money and fame (Fortnite).

We have watched Epic score some serious exclusives over the last 3-4mos that have caused waves in the gaming community and also at the same time cause a lot of gamers to rage a little.... you can find hundreds of YouTube videos on this topic.

What are your feelings on this battle of the games?

Steam hasn't budged in its practices yet, its still asking 30 percent of all game sales on their platform. And to put this in context this has been a industry standard (ie: Microsoft, Sony, etc) for some time now. Epic is definitely trying to get popular by undercutting everyone and in doing so creating a toxic environment in gaming really.

You have gamers like me, who like and enjoy steam and I have having me game library spread across 5-10 different services so I choose not to play a game unless it is on Steam, period... I have almost 600 games and I don't intend on moving unless someone offers to transfer all my games to their platform for free.

I do agree devs have the right to make money, I don't fault them at all. But they do have to know that their sales will take a hit regardless... either people will not buy it at all or when you release it on steam a year later it will probably be at a discount so you would loose out on making more on the initial release.

I know your trying to maximize profits here, but let the gamers decide where to buy. So if you release the game $10 cheaper on Epic a gamer will have to decide to pay full price on Steam or get it cheaper on Epic... but I have the choice.

Epic is removing our choice and forcing us to their platform by not allowing us to enjoy a game unless we buy from them. What this spawns is bitterness and will cause hate for devs and Epic.... so be careful Epic and devs on your choices.

I have no hard feelings at all, I just look at it that oh ok I will wait a year to buy it I have hundreds of games to play any way.... and if something better comes out before that is release I may never buy it.

Yeah I could avoid all this drama and probably purchase the game on console, but I am mainly a PC gamer so thats where I invest most my time and money into.

Would like to here SSC's thoughts on this battle of the games....?

I do agree with the "toxic environment". However over the years Steam has been accumulating a lot of resentment from the devs too (you may want to search for "Steam" topics on Gamasutra.com). It's mostly indie there but I can't think of large companies being happy with the Steam share either. Incidentally it's now less than 30 percent for big sellers: good for them but the move was taken as a slap in the face by many small studios! One can argue that Steam offers a large exposure but the fact is many games are buried in the non-curated flow. Also recent changes in the "discovery algorithm" seem to have hit some devs hard. And so the share as a legitimate charge for the access to a large audience looks like a mixed bag at best.

Complicated... But in the end I think you're right D1: anything that restricts the customers' freedom is likely counter-productive.

Personally I was never a fan of Steam, Origin or any of those other "game wrappers". I lost a whole catalog when Desura when down. It taught me a valuable lesson tho, I didnt have any control over the games I bought and have been wary ever since. These days I mostly stick with GOG as at least you can download a game copy and its yours forever.

Storm in a tea cup at the end of the day and given that Steam is a monopoly it might give then some proper competition.

Not a huge fan Steam but I have leaned to live with it and as I buy mostly early access games, I find it's useful for updating games. If I have to wait a year for a game to come to Steam, I will just wait and as D1 has said they will be patched up and ready to run and maybe even cheaper when they are released on Steam.

I have worried about that myself at times, I am approaching 600 games on Steam and I wonder if steam ever went away what would happen to all of that money I have spent on games?

I know that just plan time will make my games irrelevant as operating systems and hardware changes.

Geraldine you do have a point here, because I lost a few games as well when Desura closed. Valve would have to do something for their customers (which is close to 250 million users) if that scenario ever happened. But I doubt highly this would happen, I think they would be sued into bankruptcy if they ever tried to close down without allowing customers access to their games.

I think if steam ever closed or whichever service I had the bulk of my games in and I lost them all I think I wouldn't game anymore or I would only play MMOs or I would switch to strictly console. But I doubt highly that day will come while I am alive

Especially since my kids ask me day what gonna happen to all of your games if you die hahaha soon we are going to have to pass down game libraries

Agreed Pinback.... we will only benefit from the competition and maybe the summer and winter steam sales will just be huge battle grounds for Steam and Epic to get customer sales.

I stopped buying early access about 2 years ago now, yeah I throw them in my list wish so I don't forget about them but I no longer buy them. Both Star Citizen and another game 7 Days to Die they have been in early access for 5+ years it is crazy and I hate playing unfinished games.

But it is amazing all of the youtube content being created over Epic Store

Just had a look at YouTube ,lots of ranting, reminds me of the battleground of home computers of the 80/90.