The Epic Games store for PC and Mac [2018-12]

Epic Games paid 10M for CONTROL exclusivity deal

Control launched a few weeks back as an Epic Store Exclusive, and though we've suspected for a while now that these deals are quite pricey, there's never been a hint to suggest what sort of money we might be talking about. That changed earlier today, when Digital Bros, a parent company of Control's publisher, 505 Games, disclosed that they've received a payment of €9.49 million for what can only amount to be said exclusivity contract.

Since the total development cost of Control was €20-30M, that's quite a hefty sum. The report itself (which is in Italian) states that said Digital Bros received the said amount of money from Epic by the 30th of June, while Control launched on 27th of August.

This means it couldn't have been virtually anything else other than the one-time exclusivity payment that we know Epic offers. According to the same document, 55% of that payment went to 505 Games, while the developers, Remedy Entertainment, received the rest.

This explains why so many developers have been eager to jump ship from Steam to Epic, when push comes to shove.
 
We don't entirely know that it was strictly for exclusivity. It could be advance from future revenue generated.

The reason why developers are going to go with EGS is the extra 18% revenue they see (12% vs 30% store cut).
 
Info from EG -- https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...in-reveals-epic-paid-gbp8-3m-for-control-deal

According to Ooblets developer Glumberland, which also signed an exclusivity deal with Epic, these funds are considered an advance on the 88 per cent of sales revenue Epic gives to companies (compared to 70 per cent Valve gives to companies who sell on Steam). It's an effective guaranteed minimum on sales that, in Glumberland's case, amounted to what it would hope to earn if it was selling Ooblets across all the PC platforms.

Glumberland's Ben Wasser said: "That takes a huge burden of uncertainty off of us because now we know that no matter what, the game won't fail and we won't be forced to move back in with our parents (but we do love and appreciate you, parents!)."

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Here's the relevant paragraph, in Italian:
"I ricavi realizzati sul marketplace Epic Games sono relativi al riconoscimento dei ricavi derivanti dalla versione per personal computer del videogioco Control."

And here's some quickfire translation from Google:
"Revenues generated on the Epic Games marketplace relate to the recognition of revenues deriving from version for personal computer of the video game Control."

Elsewhere in the report, Digital Bros makes it clear the money made from Epic for the PC version of Control was for exclusivity (and that's why it realised the revenue before the launch of the game).

...
So, Digital Bros received £8.3m from Epic for exclusivity on its store. But what happened to that money? According to GameDaily.biz, which reported on details made public when 505 and Remedy announced their deal for what was then known as Project 7, 45 per cent of the funds went to 505, leaving 55 per cent for Remedy. That's €4.27m for 505 and €5.22m for Remedy.

These significant sums back up a recert assertion from Rebellion boss Jason Kingsley, who signed an exclusivity deal with Epic for the PC version of the upcoming Zombie Army 4.

"Generally I think I would prefer not to do exclusives but I understand Epic's position with it, and quite frankly they are paying through the nose to build their store," Kingsley said in a recent interview.
 
So I still can't find any info on this. Does Geforce Experience pickup games loaded into EGS? Can games on EGS be streamed to an Nvidia Shield to play on TV/Surround?
 
Epic Games Store Vulnerability, Borderlands 3 DRM Concerns
A new vulnerability was spotted in the Epic Games Store system. Willian Worrall of CCN said that this security allows users to work around the system’s security to access a game without owning it.

According to Worrall, a user can simply log into an account that is used to buy a game. While logged in, the user will be able to download and install the already-purchased game into the device. The catch is, the game will remain in the device even after logging out and logging into a different account, reports myce.
...
Epic Games, which recently released the third installment to the Borderlands franchise, remains under the scrutiny of gamers. This comes because of the numerous vulnerabilities seen in its stores and games. During the release of Borderlands 3, gamers who bought and installed the game were still able to run the program even after refunding.

According to reports, the exploit became possible because of the company’s lack of digital rights management (DRM). This means that the company does not implement license-checking systems to protect its content.

CCN noted that this issue might be perceived positively by consumers. However, the development firm may suffer from losses in sales as users can exploit the flaw to get the game while paying $0.
https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/epic-games-store-vulnerabilityborderlands-3-drm-concerns.html
 
Maybe that's their cheap and easy version of family sharing? :LOL:
 
Holy shit is this one dumpster fire of a storefront. Like WTF are Epic even thinking.

I finally was forced to install this piece of shit because the Developer's of Phoenix Point decided it was better to break their crowd funding promise (release available on Steam and GOG) in order to take money from Epic.

I've never wished for cracking groups to be successful in cracking games before, but Epic, you just made me a cheerleader for cracking groups.

You're throwing millions of USD at developers to get exclusivity. WHY NOT MAKE A GOOD GDAMN storefront? Augh, I'm so pissed right now having to use this steaming pile of crap.

It's like Epic and Microsoft are competing to see who can make the worst storefront possible.

OMFG. I generally don't like swearing, but this certainly makes me want to curse like a sailor.

Fuck you Epic. Also Fuck you Phoenix Point developers for fucking over the people that crowd funded your game.

Regards,
SB
 
I don't get why grownups get so anxious about this. I've had no problems with epic. The games have always worked. Who cares about the rest`?
Perhaps some "grown ups" actually do care about the rest, features beyond buying a game a launching it? Just because you don't doesn't mean you have to be condescending.
 
I don't get why grownups get so anxious about this. I've had no problems with epic. The games have always worked. Who cares about the rest`?

Probably because most grownups expect a store to enhance their buying experience rather than detract from it. Considering that electronic gaming storefronts also serve to organize and launch your games, they should also make managing that a more pleasant experience.

I had to look up directions on how to register the code I received for Phoenix Point. Who would have though it'd be under my username and not with games or your library. In Steam, even if you don't know where it is, it's at least logically under GAMES.

Why do I need these big F-ing tiles when launching the store? The size of the tiles on the default screen would be ridiculous even on a console.

Why are there STILL no user ratings for games? Even the Windows Store has that basic store functionality. Steam goes one further showing a graph of positive and negative reviews over time. You know, things to help with buying games? Something a store should have?

There's just so much really BASIC stuff that's just plain missing. Epic are throwing millions of USD at developers to force gamers to use their crappy store. Why not just spend that money to make a storefront I'd want to use?

Hell, I can't even see if they have anything WRT to developer news and updates on games. Maybe that's in the library somewhere, but hell if I'm going to actually pay for a game on this service. That would be rewarding a bad company for practicing bad practices. I'll find out when Phoenix Point goes live.

So, yes. I'm unhappy that I have to use a storefront/launcher that doesn't give one shit about the customer experience and only cares about paying developers money to make you use their shitty storefront/launcher.

And that doesn't even go into the extra things an electronic storefront can do to make your experience even better. Steam, for example, recently enabled internet play for games that only have LAN for multiplayer.

I can't pull anything specific from the new GoG launcher, but from what I'm hearing the new launcher for GoG is pretty amazing.

Meanwhile, we get this crap from Epic. And MS is only barely better.

Regards,
SB
 
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The roadmap that used to have months but they kept missing targets by several months so they removed it. Now features come sometime in the future. Not sure that qualifies as transparent.

software delays aren’t exactly exclusive to epic. They have a roadmap and as long as features are coming out I don’t really see what the issue is.
 
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How in the hell is a game being sold DRM free a "security vulnerability"?
That's the end result but don't assume it's intended. Has Epic ever stated that their store would be DRM free? If it was intended and that's a feature of EGS then you can be assured Tim would have been singing its praises from the start.
 
Why are there STILL no user ratings for games? Even the Windows Store has that basic store functionality. Steam goes one further showing a graph of positive and negative reviews over time. You know, things to help with buying games? Something a store should have?

Epic has said there will be no user ratings on games. Use an external site if you want that.
 
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