The Outer Worlds goes Epic Games Store-exclusive (also Windows Store)

[Aravan]

Maybe feargus did.

Oh you KNOW he fucking did. Even if it wasn't directly, he did. I can assure you he most definitely did.

 

[TheDiceMustRoll]

In principle, I am fine with this. Steam is practically a near-monopoly and it is going to take dirty tricks to balance the situation.

That said, I expect that TOW's sales and prestige will suffer. Too bad that a game I was mildly interested in had to be involved in this war.

Asian products are spying on you, western products are spying on you too. Both software and hardware. Long ago, I had expected that people would be infuriated when they found out. Surprisingly, they weren't. Not only that, but it seems to me that the average person likes being spied on. It makes them feel important in their miserable lives or sth.

Lastly, this is supposed to be a game about the evils of capitalism, is it not? First bought by Microsoft and then caught in this competition war. It is striking how capitalism keeps making money by selling anti-capitalism to the consumers.

Please explain how steam is a monopoky

 

[cosmicray]

You know, I'm alway wondering how much choices does Obsidian have in this deal. If it's a pure publisher decision and they have no rights to reject at all, how much will it costs them to openly say "we didn't sign up for this shit, go blame private division." Sure they won't do that, but it would make this shitshow much more interesting.

Didn't Private Division pay for development? At least partly.

 

[Jenkem]

tim and leonard don't care about their fans or about people enjoying the games they make. they care about dolla dolla bills.

simple as.

 

[Duraframe300]

Wonder who sent him the email. (Youtuber)

 

[fantadomat]

LoL Infinitron your lobes must be very small for a jew. Weren't you supposed to be very smart when it comes to economical shit and macing money? It is amazing that you don't even know what monopoly is. Steam is not monopoly and everyone that thinks it is,is a fucking retard. There is more than enough platforms for the devs to put their games on,thus it is not dominant on the market when it is a decision made by the devs and the customers. Also it doesn't restrict the market in any way,that is what epic is doing and it is illegal in a way. It is like saying that one chocolate is a monopoly because it sells 10 times more chockos over its competitors,just because people like the taste better.

 

[Wesp5]

Please explain how steam is a monopoky

Just let's look at some numbers here, which I got from Wikipedia and this link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/01/15/how-many-games-are-on-steam/

There are currently about 30.000 games on Steam, of which 16.000 are probable Steam Direct garbage. The game number doubled since they added it 2017!

I don't know who the next biggest online store for current AAA games is supposed to be, but Origin has about 50 games, GOG has about 2000 older games...

 

[Jenkem]

oh he knows, it's just pilpul

 

[Jenkem]

Please explain how steam is a monopoky

Just let's look at some numbers here, which I got from Wikipedia and this link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/01/15/how-many-games-are-on-steam/

There are currently about 30.000 games on Steam, of which 16.000 are probable Steam Direct garbage. The game number doubled since they added it 2017!

I don't know who the next biggest online store for current AAA games is supposed to be, but Origin has about 50 games, GOG has about 2000 older games...

walmart carries more items than walgreens, it must be a monopoly.

 

[Infinitron]

Pilpul is fixating on the definition of terms like "monopoly" to avoid a more substantive argument.

Steam is exponentially more popular than any other store. You can create your own games store and even turn a profit, but you can't come close to rivaling Steam. That has downsides for certain parties.

 

[Jenkem]

Pilpul is fixating on the definition of terms like "monopoly" to avoid a more substantive argument.

Steam is exponentially more popular than any other store. You can create your own games store and even turn a profit, but you can't come close to rivaling Steam.

If you can create your own games store and even turn a profit then how is Steam a monopoly?

 

[Jenkem]

 

[Infinitron]

Pilpul is fixating on the definition of terms like "monopoly" to avoid a more substantive argument.

Steam is exponentially more popular than any other store. You can create your own games store and even turn a profit, but you can't come close to rivaling Steam.

If you can create your own games store and even turn a profit then how is Steam a monopoly?

It isn't, but it's still a store that dominates the PC gaming market to such a degree that it's had no incentive to reduce its revenue share, so in that respect functionally equivalent to a monopoly. Who cares about the dictionary definition, it's not really important.

 

[Roguey]

you are still out of luck compared to a normal retail game...

Outside of Germany, these things no longer exist. The market decided.

 

[Jenkem]

Pilpul is fixating on the definition of terms like "monopoly" to avoid a more substantive argument.

Steam is exponentially more popular than any other store. You can create your own games store and even turn a profit, but you can't come close to rivaling Steam. That has downsides for certain parties.

It isn't, but it's still a store that dominates the PC gaming market to such a degree that it's had no incentive to reduce its revenue share, so in that respect functionally equivalent to a monopoly. Who cares about the dictionary definition, it's not really important.

 

[Steamboat Willie]

Just let's look at some numbers here, which I got from Wikipedia and this link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/01/15/how-many-games-are-on-steam/

There are currently about 30.000 games on Steam, of which 16.000 are probable Steam Direct garbage. The game number doubled since they added it 2017!

I don't know who the next biggest online store for current AAA games is supposed to be, but Origin has about 50 games, GOG has about 2000 older games...

Ok, but I thought you were going to explain how Steam was a monopoly?

 

[TT1]

So now for something completely different, we just wait for Microsoft saving the day.

Interesting

 

[Azalin]

Wonder who sent him the email. (Youtuber)

Eh most of the employees probably didn't know but MS and probably the top guys at Obsidian knew.Form the the two Private Division games that went to the Epic Store Ancestors is exclusive while Outer Worlds will be on Epic and MS store,that discrepancy could only happen if MS/Obsidian were aware of the negotiations and vetoed to keep it on the MS store too,probably because there was some kind of clause in their contract that gave Obsidian(and now MS) some say in all of this

 

[Metro]

It isn't, but it's still a store that dominates the PC gaming market to such a degree that it's had no incentive to reduce its revenue share, so in that respect functionally equivalent to a monopoly. Who cares about the dictionary definition, it's not really important.

If you want to get away from literal definitions then let's look at the purpose of antitrust laws (at least in the US). They're meant to prevent monopolies for the benefit of CONSUMERS. Not vendors looking for a bigger piece of the pie. What Epic is doing does not benefit consumers in the slightest.

 

[Infinitron]

It isn't, but it's still a store that dominates the PC gaming market to such a degree that it's had no incentive to reduce its revenue share, so in that respect functionally equivalent to a monopoly. Who cares about the dictionary definition, it's not really important.

If you want to get away from literal definitions then let's look at the purpose of antitrust laws (at least in the US). They're meant to prevent monopolies for the benefit of CONSUMERS. Not vendors looking for a bigger piece of the pie.

Yes, nobody is breaking the law. I'm just trying to explain why a variety of companies might have an interest in ganging up on Valve, as we've been seeing for the past four months. For the typical end user, it probably doesn't really matter either way (even if Steam actually was a monopoly).

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Pilpul is fixating on the definition of terms like "monopoly" to avoid a more substantive argument.

Steam is exponentially more popular than any other store. You can create your own games store and even turn a profit, but you can't come close to rivaling Steam.

If you can create your own games store and even turn a profit then how is Steam a monopoly?

It isn't, but it's still a store that dominates the PC gaming market to such a degree that it's had no incentive to reduce its revenue share, so in that respect functionally equivalent to a monopoly. Who cares about the dictionary definition, it's not really important.

Steam does not hold a monopoly. Simply owning a popular product does not mean it is a monopoly.
An example of antitrust behavior is what Intel has repeatedly done to AMD for the past few decades. Intel's behavior was very similar to the behavior Epic is exhibiting right now.

Additionally, I find the argument that Steam's cut is too big to be kind of funny. Steam's cut used to be seen as a massive improvement over what brick & mortar retailers charged to the best of my knowledge.

 

[Shadenuat]

Feargus gives with one hand and takes with the other

 

[Trashos]

You guys are caught in trivial details. It does not matter if it is Steam's fault or not. If the consumers want healthy competition eventually, having a more level playing field is a good thing for them. This is hard to happen with one competitor having 90% of the power, and thus in position to pull all the strings. That's what I called "practically a near-monopoly". That's what it practically is.

I agree that it is not black and white, but Epic's methods are not black and white either (and fwiw Valve are not saints themselves).

 

[rusty_shackleford]

You guys are caught in trivial details. It does not matter if it is Steam's fault or not. If the consumers want healthy competition eventually, having a more level playing field is a good thing for them. This is hard to happen with one competitor having 90% of the power, and thus in position to pull all the strings. That's what I called "practically a near-monopoly". That's what it practically is.

I agree that it is not black and white, but Epic's methods are not black and white either (and fwiw Valve are not saints themselves).

What do you define a "level playing field" as? What is Steam doing that is preventing this from existing? Has Steam done something to hinder the existence of GOG, Itch.io, Kongregate's Kartridge, Discord's Game Store, Amazon's Digital Game Store, RobotCache, Microsoft Store, EA's Origin, Epic Store, etc.,?
Maybe they are using their deep pockets to pay developers to not put their games on other store fronts?

 

[Black]