Original X-COM creator faces backlash after signing Epic Games store exclusivity

Author Topic: Original X-COM creator faces backlash after signing Epic Games store exclusivity  (Read 1450 times)


The deal for epic games exclusivity would grant the studio much more money to design and polish the game. Anyone who backed this game has to ask themselves the core question: would you rather play an underfunded game the day it releases or an overfunded game a year after its release date.

People are angry because they expect small studios to stuff out perfect games on a minimal budget like $500,000. This epic games deal probably afforded Snapshot games an extra million or two in funding and although it'll take a year for it to release on steam, it'll definitely be a lot better than if they didn't sign that deal.

In the end we're getting a better game

If I were to make a game that i expected to get more than 20,000 purchases on, i'd definitely upload it exclusively to Epic Games instead of Steam. I could easily make 30k more in sales with Epic, and i'm assuming that they'll evolve as a gaming platform and become more popular once people realize their standards for content hosting are significantly higher than Steam's. It's really akin to the Google Play Store vs Apple Store. Google Play gets like 200 games added every day and none of them are successful at all because there's a huge market of the same kind of low quality games. Apple filters their content more and are more exclusive and getting a deal with them is a lot more profitable in the long run

And this is just Epic Games' rate for game uploaders. They probably offer more lucrative deals for professional game studios. Not to mention that Epic Games will cover all Unreal royalties if you sign exclusively with them. If your unreal game makes a million on steam you would still lose $50,000 to unreal royalties. If you uploaded the same game to Epic Games you'd keep that extra 50k. Phoenix Point runs on Unity but with this new deal i'm guessing they'll move all their assets onto Unreal. If they do and make as much as Xcom 2 did they could save 300k
« Last Edit: March 16, 2019, 09:27:15 PM by PhantOS »

would anyone bat an eye if they signed an exclusivity deal with steam? jfc people gotta chill out

would anyone bat an eye if they signed an exclusivity deal with steam? jfc people gotta chill out
this is from the perspective of me, an idiot

most people wouldn't really care due to steam being the most popular platform for pc gaming and steam doesn't do this for every popular game that's going to come out

hold on let me just reiterate that it's not entirely the exclusivity deal that's got people pissed. It's the fact this game was PROMISED to be released on GOG and Steam to the backers, and now the rug has been pulled out from under them.

The deal for epic games exclusivity would grant the studio much more money to design and polish the game. Anyone who backed this game has to ask themselves the core question: would you rather play an underfunded game the day it releases or an overfunded game a year after its release date.

People are angry because they expect small studios to stuff out perfect games on a minimal budget like $500,000. This epic games deal probably afforded Snapshot games an extra million or two in funding and although it'll take a year for it to release on steam, it'll definitely be a lot better than if they didn't sign that deal.

In the end we're getting a better game
You could argue that sure, but it's essentially throwing a ton of money at an Indie developer and expecting something good to come out of it. That's never been the case, it's always been hit or miss. Someone on reddit made a good point about how the backers were essentially used as investment expenditure, used to attract more wealthy investors like Epic Games, guaranteeing that no matter what Snapshot games would make a profit even if the game loving sucked and didn't sell. This is a classic tactic used by Pyramid schemes to draw in wealthier people to snag. Maybe this wasn't the case going in, but it's certainly looking like it changed that way. Like I said people are mostly angry because it was promised to be on steam and GOG, not entirely the exclusivity deal. If it went that way initially it wouldn't have been a big deal, but tricking your backers into this is loving wrong, and might be illegal but I doubt it.

If I were to make a game that i expected to get more than 20,000 purchases on, i'd definitely upload it exclusively to Epic Games instead of Steam. I could easily make 30k more in sales with Epic, and i'm assuming that they'll evolve as a gaming platform and become more popular once people realize their standards for content hosting are significantly higher than Steam's. It's really akin to the Google Play Store vs Apple Store. Google Play gets like 200 games added every day and none of them are successful at all because there's a huge market of the same kind of low quality games. Apple filters their content more and are more exclusive and getting a deal with them is a lot more profitable in the long run

And this is just Epic Games' rate for game uploaders. They probably offer more lucrative deals for professional game studios. Not to mention that Epic Games will cover all Unreal royalties if you sign exclusively with them. If your unreal game makes a million on steam you would still lose $50,000 to unreal royalties. If you uploaded the same game to Epic Games you'd keep that extra 50k. Phoenix Point runs on Unity but with this new deal i'm guessing they'll move all their assets onto Unreal. If they do and make as much as Xcom 2 did they could save 300k
Yes this is a possibility and honestly I hope you're right that this turns out the case with Phoenix Point, but these financial moves are not hopeful honestly. I wouldn't compare Google Play vs. Apple Store to Steam vs. Epic Games very much past the fact they're both game platforms. Steam is more akin to a social media outlet given its use of discussion boards and review system. While it also has a lot of unfiltered content, that's the free market, and it's loving easy to avoid stuff games. Epic Games doesn't have either of these and while you could argue they're more polished and filtered, that doesn't mean it's automatically better.

Ultimately I hope you're right and this funding guarantees us a good game, but I don't have high expectations for a developer that's pretty morally bankrupt and lies to its backers and broadsides them with this.

would anyone bat an eye if they signed an exclusivity deal with steam? jfc people gotta chill out
You could classify some games as being Steam exclusives just for the simple fact the developer hasn't released that game on any new platform to date.


hold on let me just reiterate that it's not entirely the exclusivity deal that's got people pissed. It's the fact this game was PROMISED to be released on GOG and Steam to the backers, and now the rug has been pulled out from under them.
You could argue that sure, but it's essentially throwing a ton of money at an Indie developer and expecting something good to come out of it. That's never been the case, it's always been hit or miss. Someone on reddit made a good point about how the backers were essentially used as investment expenditure, used to attract more wealthy investors like Epic Games, guaranteeing that no matter what Snapshot games would make a profit even if the game loving sucked and didn't sell. This is a classic tactic used by Pyramid schemes to draw in wealthier people to snag. Maybe this wasn't the case going in, but it's certainly looking like it changed that way. Like I said people are mostly angry because it was promised to be on steam and GOG, not entirely the exclusivity deal. If it went that way initially it wouldn't have been a big deal, but tricking your backers into this is loving wrong, and might be illegal but I doubt it.
Yes this is a possibility and honestly I hope you're right that this turns out the case with Phoenix Point, but these financial moves are not hopeful honestly. I wouldn't compare Google Play vs. Apple Store to Steam vs. Epic Games very much past the fact they're both game platforms. Steam is more akin to a social media outlet given its use of discussion boards and review system. While it also has a lot of unfiltered content, that's the free market, and it's loving easy to avoid stuff games. Epic Games doesn't have either of these and while you could argue they're more polished and filtered, that doesn't mean it's automatically better.

Ultimately I hope you're right and this funding guarantees us a good game, but I don't have high expectations for a developer that's pretty morally bankrupt and lies to its backers and broadsides them with this.
You could classify some games as being Steam exclusives just for the simple fact the developer hasn't released that game on any new platform to date.
I mean i backed phoenix point for $60 and i don't feel cheated or apart of some scam. I'm just happy that now the game will have more money towards its development. I don't care if it doesn't release on steam right away, i can just install epic games launcher and play there instead. I already play some games on Origin and others on Blizzard's launcher so its not at all a problem. If a game flops then the studio loses money either way, getting external funding won't stop that. The game will still be made on a set budget and if the sales don't net in more than the game cost it'll be a failure and the studio would've lost money.

Snapshot games has already shown quality development with their game Chaos Reborn, the team is obviously composed of some veterans and a lot of professionals who know what they're doing. It's unlikely for phoenix point to fail unless an army of vengeful backers decide to not purchase the game because they felt cheated that it will release on epic games instead of steam
« Last Edit: March 17, 2019, 07:25:24 PM by PhantOS »

also a studio doesnt get a profit by getting more money, that just enables them to stay in business longer and spend more on the current game they’re working on. remember that these studios dont get the money free - its used to pay for development and is provided on a periodic basis contingent on them getting progress on the game. its not like epic games just gave them a few million and said “ty for making it exclusive”. they just have a larger budget now and dont have to cut as much content to make ends meet.

that said, scummy move to change their promise to release on gog/steam. probably going forward devs arent gonna promise availability on specific publishers, given how the last few announcements over exclusivity have went.

I mean i backed phoenix point for $60 and i don't feel cheated or apart of some scam. I'm just happy that now the game will have more money towards its development. I don't care if it doesn't release on steam right away, i can just install epic games launcher and play there instead. I already play some games on Origin and others on Blizzard's launcher so its not at all a problem. If a game flops then the studio loses money either way, getting external funding won't stop that. The game will still be made on a set budget and if the sales don't net in more than the game cost it'll be a failure and the studio would've lost money.

Snapshot games has already shown quality development with their game Chaos Reborn, the team is obviously composed of some veterans and a lot of professionals who know what they're doing. It's unlikely for phoenix point to fail unless an army of vengeful backers decide to not purchase the game because they felt cheated that it will release on epic games instead of steam
I don't trust Epic Games at all, and plenty of others don't either due to the security flaws in their systems. Wasn't too long ago that plenty of Fortnite account information was leaked, also the fact that they're almost owned by Tencent (I understand they don't hold a majority share, but things can change, and it doesn't mitigate their influence.)
If the game flops, they don't lose money, because according to them and Epic Games, they'll remain in the black due to Epic Games insuring their losses from any backers who refund their money. They lose nothing but respect. Nothing's guaranteed until release.

In more news around Epic Games exclusivity, The Outer Worlds was also teased for launch on Steam, but switched for exclusivity on Epic Games.
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-outer-worlds-and-control-will-launch-on-the-epic-store-not-steam/

Personal opinion? I honestly hope Valve steps up their game in a more honest fashion and squashes Epic Games.

I don't trust Epic Games at all, and plenty of others don't either due to the security flaws in their systems. Wasn't too long ago that plenty of Fortnite account information was leaked, also the fact that they're almost owned by Tencent (I understand they don't hold a majority share, but things can change, and it doesn't mitigate their influence.)
If the game flops, they don't lose money, because according to them and Epic Games, they'll remain in the black due to Epic Games insuring their losses from any backers who refund their money. They lose nothing but respect. Nothing's guaranteed until release.

In more news around Epic Games exclusivity, The Outer Worlds was also teased for launch on Steam, but switched for exclusivity on Epic Games.
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-outer-worlds-and-control-will-launch-on-the-epic-store-not-steam/

Personal opinion? I honestly hope Valve steps up their game in a more honest fashion and squashes Epic Games.
security flaws are something that just exist. steam had a pretty notorious security breach last year. both steam and epic cache your personal information and game preferences the same so it's not like there's any sort of breach of privacy happening that the other isn't already doing.

epic games is only insuring the budget and funding of phoenix point. if after launch it doesn't meet the expected sales and doesn't net enough money, then it would've been an objective loss for Snapshot games and it's likely they'll never really be picked up by a publisher ever again and will shut down or have their assets and employees merged into a different company.

i dont really see the problem with using a competitor game platform. i already use origin and battlenet for some games as well as steam and it's never bugged me at all
« Last Edit: March 21, 2019, 02:14:45 PM by PhantOS »

security flaws are something that just exist. steam had a pretty notorious security breach last year. both steam and epic cache your personal information and game preferences the same so it's not like there's any sort of breach of privacy happening that the other isn't already doing.
Two major breaches happened with Fortnite alone last year. While Epic can learn from those mistakes, they don't have enough time or experience IMO under their belt for me to consider using their service and feel secure. Steam, Origin, and uPlay log my personal data of course, but they don't snoop through each others data without the explicit consent of the user.

epic games is only insuring the budget and funding of phoenix point. if after launch it doesn't meet the expected sales and doesn't net enough money, then it would've been an objective loss for Snapshot games and it's likely they'll never really be picked up by a publisher ever again and will shut down or have their assets and employees merged into a different company.
Phoenix Point is self-published. If the game goes under for whatever reason, it won't change anything besides the deal they have with Epic.

i dont really see the problem with using a competitor game platform. i already use origin and battlenet for some games as well as steam and it's never bugged me at all
I'm not anti-Epic because it's another platform; I too use Origin, Battlenet, and uPlay. It's about the business practices performed by Epic that keep me from using their services, most of them anti-consumer, and some may even be illegal.

Until this anti-consumer stuff stops I won't be using Epic, and a lot of others won't either.