Rose
@Rose@lemmy.world
- Comment on 'The gold rush is over:' Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon devs say that big Game Pass and Epic exclusive deals have dried up for indie devs 1 month ago:
Steam is largely driven by Valve’s own games and freebies as well. 1.5M currently playing Dota 2 and CS 2, with the next best being F2P games: PUBG with 370K online, Apex Legends, and Naraka.
- Comment on Steam keeps on winning 4 months ago:
Epic cannot do that because
In response to one inquiry from a game publisher, in another example, Valve explained: “We basically see any selling of the game on PC, Steam key or not, as a part of the same shared PC market- so even if you weren’t using Steam keys, we’d just choose to stop selling a game if it was always running discounts of 75% off on one store but 50% off on ours. . . .”
(source)
However, Epic regularly offers coupons out of pocket. Right now you can essentially get 43% off any game above $14.99 or the regional equivalents, as many times as you want, even if the game is already discounted by the publisher.
- Comment on Steam keeps on winning 4 months ago:
Valve’s actions do not have to copy those of Google for it to engage in anti-competitive behavior. Focus on the Steam-specific issues deemed reasonable enough for the judge to allow the trial to go through, like the MFN, high profit margin, user reviews manipulation, and so forth.
- Comment on Steam keeps on winning 4 months ago:
Heck I’m sure that they very quickly came up with a functional shopping cart at the very least.
Steam has been offering third-party titles since 2005 but still had no shopping cart as of 2008.
- Comment on Steam keeps on winning 4 months ago:
In the Epic trial, Google made some of the same arguments as those used to defend Steam, like the presence of competing stores or the claim that it wins people over by the quality of the product.
Epic’s expert made these relevant points:
Google impairs competition without preventing it entirely
Google’s conduct targets competition as it emerges
Google is dominant
And we know who won in this antitrust case.
- Comment on Steam keeps on winning 4 months ago:
Not to mention that open source software can and sometimes does contain spyware.
- Comment on What's up with Epic Games? 4 months ago:
Debunked time and time again.
- Comment on What's up with Epic Games? 4 months ago:
Many of the articles do have references on the DRM status. Here’s an example indicating verification by a staff member. I personally tested a bunch of the games for DRM and noted it back when I contributed. Until recently, most of the games released on Epic were DRM-free. Even the Sony games were notably DRM-free on Epic before they were released on GOG. Nowadays, it’s more common for the new ones to use EOS and have it function as DRM.
- Comment on What's up with Epic Games? 4 months ago:
Epic’s current approach to reviews is arguably better anyway. There’s no toxicity, incentive to troll to farm points, and it’s randomized, so it doesn’t enable review bombing.
- Comment on What's up with Epic Games? 4 months ago:
It’s all in the realm of “what if”. Sure, it could attempt this or that, but it hasn’t, nor is there any guarantee that it would fly. That just brings me back to the original point of when a company that is not partially owned by the Chinese actively works to please the Chinese government to further their business interest but I don’t see much of that with Epic. If you look at some of the other companies in which Tencent has a large stake, like Dontnod, there’s absolutely no sign of the Chinese agenda in the games either.
- Comment on What's up with Epic Games? 4 months ago:
Since this is a gaming community, it would be more relevant to say that Tencent likely has a stake in something that you already play or use, like Discord.
- Comment on What's up with Epic Games? 4 months ago:
Epic not being underfunded is stating the obvious. Just look at the scope of their Fortnite collaborations.
- Comment on What's up with Epic Games? 4 months ago:
Most investments aren’t to gain influence but to profit. At this time, there is no sign of Epic doing anything that could be explained by the alleged influence of the Chinese government, and as the majority owner, Tim Sweeney has the final say anyway.
- Comment on What's up with Epic Games? 4 months ago:
The multi-billionaire owner with the backing of the Chinese government
Who cares about the backing if it has no effect on anything? I’m more concerned about Valve having a separate Steam client for China, censoring their games specifically for China and even reportedly banning for bringing up Winnie the Pooh.
- Comment on Fallout 3: GOTY Edition is free to keep for the next 24 hours on the Epic Games Store 4 months ago:
They own Easy Anti-Cheat, which has kernel level access and collects data as part of its user agreement but these people keep regurgitating the debunked claim of the launcher being spyware. Occam’s razor, anyone?
- Comment on What's up with Epic Games? 4 months ago:
Rocket League is fully playable on Steam.
The story of most of Valve’s games is finding a mod, hiring the modder, then making the game exclusive to Steam.
- Comment on What's up with Epic Games? 4 months ago:
Epic has a significantly higher percentage of games confirmed to be DRM-free.
- Comment on The Insomniac Hack Reveals The Ugly Truth Of Video Game Hype - Aftermath 4 months ago:
You risk losing the audience when the other outlets’ reviews are up weeks or days before the game release while yours will be published a week after the game release unless really cutting corners or reviewing a short game.
- Comment on Baldur's Gate 3 'Isn't Going to be on Game Pass', Insists Larian Boss 5 months ago:
Games reach Game Pass via deals similar to those offered by Epic. Microsoft pay the publisher a fixed amount, so if it is believed that it beats the proceeds from the projected sales for the given period, there’s no reason not to agree to it. In other words, it’s all about how much they would offer and how long it would have been since the game release.
- Comment on Baldur's Gate 3 'Isn't Going to be on Game Pass', Insists Larian Boss 5 months ago:
That’s just untrue. Games like Immortality, Citizen Sleeper, Unpacking, and Planet of Lana are complete, highly-rated, and on Game Pass.
- Comment on IGN's Best PC Game of 2023 5 months ago:
Patting on the back for fixing a broken game is almost enabling game developers to release unfinished games only to finish them years later.
- Comment on IGN's Best PC Game of 2023 5 months ago:
The Game Awards also treated it like a game. I think it’s giving it special treatment. Some DLCs like Freedom Cry were available without owning the base game, but that’s not even the case here.
- Comment on "The Day Before" makers Fntastic are shutting down. 5 months ago:
I’m not even sure they paid for those assets. Asset piracy is a thing.
- Comment on Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 - Release Date Reveal (September 9, 2024) 5 months ago:
From the videos and knowing the developer, it’s going to be more like World War Z but with cinematic finishers.
- Comment on Steam’s Most-Hyped Zombie Game Is Out, And It’s A Dumpster Fire 5 months ago:
- Comment on Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney casts Google as a 'crooked' bully in testimony during Android app trial 5 months ago:
There are multiple factors that make this trial different. Most importantly, it’s a jury trial. There are also internal conversations and memos between Google employees that might paint them in a worse light compared to Apple, though you never know. One thing that might work in Google’s favor is indeed the trial against Apple that was mentioned in this case. The jury might have been instructed not to read about it to know its outcome (though pending appeals), but they don’t live in total isolation or necessarily stick to every instruction.
- Comment on Here Are The Six GOTY Nominees For The Game Awards 2023 5 months ago:
Praising it but leaving room for the rest as well. Otherwise what’s good about watching the ceremony? There’s no excitement when everything feels predetermined.
- Comment on The Game Awards announces its 2023 nominees 5 months ago:
Sadly, it’s highly unlikely that Baldur’s Gate 3 won’t win in every category.
- Comment on Only You Can Prevent The Game Awards Hype Cycle - Aftermath 5 months ago:
The main problem with the Steam awards is that they don’t respect the actual release dates. For example, Red Dead Redemption 2, a 2018 game (or a 2019 game if you go by PC only) was named the Steam GOTY in 2020.
Steam also had little to offer in the years that were heavy on Epic exclusives and great games like Kena or Control, resulting in it being hard to think up a nominee.
Moreover, I remember correctly, they also bar prior winners from their “most supported game” type category, which makes no sense because some games, like Euro Truck Simulator 2, get regular content and technical updates to this day. On the other hand, The Witcher 3 recently won in a category despite having been untouched for years.
- Comment on Here Are The Six GOTY Nominees For The Game Awards 2023 5 months ago:
I get that Baldur’s Gate 3 is a great game and I have no reason to dispute that, but its presence in any category this year leaves no chance for the rest, making the nominations pointless.