Let's talk about Epic Games Store.

[Hidaaan]

That's it, that's the post.

Lets use this thread to discuss your general views on EGS. Open to all viewpoints! In favor or not in favor, just want to get how the public generally guages this store after being established on the PC community for almost 2 years now.

 

[mjs warlord]

WOW i am glad somebody started a lets talk about epic !!!!

Yes they give free games but theirs always a catch , example , they gave darksiders 1 and 2 free and at the bottom was a tag to buy 3. They usually advertise a free game with add ins to by ... dangle the carrot to buy.

My own personal view is they dont care about customers , i have spent almost 40 hours on operencia that i bought from them , it came with the unreal engine , at chapter 14 of 16 the unreal engine keeps crashing with fatal error reports. I now have it on a laptop , a games rig and a cheap rig just to see what happened. Same unreal engine fatal errors.

I managed to eventually contact epic and somehow it has 3 unreal engine tickets on it but i only ever sent 1 , you cant even read what the comments are after they close tickets.

When they did reply they said they only customer support their own products , even after i pointed out the unreal engine was their product and updated on their site they just said we cant help you i must be the game thats faulty. Its random crashes cos sometimes it happens after a few minutes and other times after half hour , all i know is i cant finish the game cos they wont help me.

FOOTNOTE .... dont bother sending them an email cos all the email addresses i got get bounced back undelivered.

Use this link to navigate support , you will eventually be able to send a ticket.


Epic Games Technical Support & Customer Service | Epic Games

 

[Johnway]

Well atm my feelings for Epic store is indifference. yes one of my biggest bug bear was epic exclusivity but its only for one year and it hasn't impacted the price of the games where players ultimately lose out but it didn't quite work out that way.

Tbh i've only bought probably 2 things on the store. mainly because the price was too good to pass up. I have claimed a lot of their games though and i have no regrets nor do feel any obligation/loyalty to buy anything from the store. In other words, they're giving me more then i'm actually spending.

Long time pcg readers will remember that i spent nearly a year, every thursday adding the comment "Thanks for the free games epic! still not buying anything from the store!" and it pissed people off which i found immensely satisfying and the things people would reply back with was laughably pathetic.

Why they did i stop? because epic had an offer that i wanted and ultimately made me spend money which was the entire point; you don't get me spending by giving away free stuff. You get me spending by making offers i can't refuse.

 

[Brian Boru]

at chapter 14 of 16 the unreal engine keeps crashing with fatal error reports
…
we cant help you i must be the game thats faulty

Have you contacted Operencia support? It could be the game that's faulty, triggering an engine error.

I'm in favor of EGS:
♣ Steam monopoly is bad for all of us, Epic have the money to compete if they're able—still a LOT of work needed on their store tho;
♦ Epic give pubs/devs a much bigger slice of the sales price pie—88% compared to 70% on Steam and most elsewhere, unless something changed recently;
♥ As a customer, I've got a few great free games there, which is fine by me—I've also bought a few there without spending much;
♠ Their retail practices are standard across industries. Have you noticed how TV shows are exclusive to one channel? Or some clothes to one retail chain? Or games to XBox or PS? Etc.

Selling entertainment is quite difficult, customers seem to think the laws of economics shouldn't apply just because the laws of physics don't apply in some games, stories, shows So we end up with big Kahunas in many sectors:
Games—Steam
Music—Apple
Books—Amazon
Video—YouTube

If you're not familiar with business, I assure you that monopolies are not good for us, the consumer. A number of competitors is essential for a good marketplace, so 'go Epic' as far as I'm concerned—Microsoft, Sony, Amazon, GOG etc don't seem to be making much inroads on Steam for PC games.

 

[Hidaaan]

Have you contacted Operencia support? It could be the game that's faulty, triggering an engine error.

I'm in favor of EGS:
♣ Steam monopoly is bad for all of us, Epic have the money to compete if they're able—still a LOT of work needed on their store tho;
♦ Epic give pubs/devs a much bigger slice of the sales price pie—88% compared to 70% on Steam and most elsewhere, unless something changed recently;
♥ As a customer, I've got a few great free games there, which is fin by me—I've also bought a few there without spending much;
♠ Their retail practices are standard across industries. Have you noticed how TV shows are exclusive to one channel? Or some clothes to one retail chain? Or games to XBox or PS? Etc.

Selling entertainment is quite difficult, customers seem to think the laws of economics shouldn't apply just because the laws of physics don't apply in some games, stories, shows So we end up with big Kahunas in many sectors:
Games—Steam
Music—Apple
Books—Amazon
Video—YouTube

If you're not familiar with business, I assure you that monopolies are not good for us, the consumer. A number of competitors is essential for a good marketplace, so 'go Epic' as far as I'm concerned—Microsoft, Sony, Amazon, GOG etc don't seem to be making much inroads on Steam for PC games.

This is a very well thought out reply! Agree with you on many of the points

 

[Hidaaan]

d

Well atm my feelings for Epic store is indifference. yes one of my biggest bug bear was epic exclusivity but its only for one year and it hasn't impacted the price of the games where players ultimately lose out but it didn't quite work out that way.

Tbh i've only bought probably 2 things on the store. mainly because the price was too good to pass up. I have claimed a lot of their games though and i have no regrets nor do feel any obligation/loyalty to buy anything from the store. In other words, they're giving me more then i'm actually spending.

Long time pcg readers will remember that i spent nearly a year, every thursday adding the comment "Thanks for the free games epic! still not buying anything from the store!" and it pissed people off which i found immensely satisfying and the things people would reply back with was laughably pathetic.

Why they did i stop? because epic had an offer that i wanted and ultimately made me spend money which was the entire point; you don't get me spending by giving away free stuff. You get me spending by making offers i can't refuse.

I see where you're coming from, I too believe after they went the exclusive route, they could have offered the exclusive games at much lower price than standard and it would have at least turned Epic into a defacto store for exclusives. Which to be honest is completely fine with me.

 

[Hidaaan]

WOW i am glad somebody started a lets talk about epic !!!!

Yes they give free games but theirs always a catch , example , they gave darksiders 1 and 2 free and at the bottom was a tag to buy 3. They usually advertise a free game with add ins to by ... dangle the carrot to buy.

My own personal view is they dont care about customers , i have spent almost 40 hours on operencia that i bought from them , it came with the unreal engine , at chapter 14 of 16 the unreal engine keeps crashing with fatal error reports. I now have it on a laptop , a games rig and a cheap rig just to see what happened. Same unreal engine fatal errors.

I managed to eventually contact epic and somehow it has 3 unreal engine tickets on it but i only ever sent 1 , you cant even read what the comments are after they close tickets.

When they did reply they said they only customer support their own products , even after i pointed out the unreal engine was their product and updated on their site they just said we cant help you i must be the game thats faulty. Its random crashes cos sometimes it happens after a few minutes and other times after half hour , all i know is i cant finish the game cos they wont help me.

FOOTNOTE .... dont bother sending them an email cos all the email addresses i got get bounced back undelivered.

Use this link to navigate support , you will eventually be able to send a ticket.


Epic Games Technical Support & Customer Service | Epic Games

This indeed sucks when customer support doesn't do their job which is "support" - although they recently have started a live chat customer service, which you should maybe give a try. Hope you get a solution

 

[DXCHASE]

Well atm my feelings for Epic store is indifference

Same, its just there for me to pick up its free games. I've picked up a couple for money but for the most part it stays shut down until i pick up a free game i like.

I was never one of those that were anti-EGS, there are worse launchers out there (hello bethesda launcher)

 

[mjs warlord]

Well guess what guys i figured out why operencia crashes in exactly the same spot on chapter 14 , you may think i am selfish but because of a lack of support i aint gonna tell epic what the problem is all i know i have tested my theory enough to know i am right.

SPOILER .... 1 of the characters crashes it everytime and sorry but thats as much as i am saying

 

[Brian Boru]

1 of the characters crashes it everytime

Doesn't that 'prove' it's the game's fault, not Unreal/Epic?

 

[mjs warlord]

yes Brian your right but i still think epics attitude towards customers needs to be looked at.

 

[ZedClampet]

I like them okay, I guess, but I hardly think about them. If something is on Steam, that's where I'll buy it because that's where my games are, that's where you can read customer reviews, and that's where you can ask questions on the forums and get support. Epic has none of those and doesn't want them. Until they change their minds on that, it's going to only be the place where I pick up freebies or buy an exclusive I've decided I can't wait a year for (and I've only done that on Satisfactory and Void Train).

I know we hate their exclusive deals, but they are actually very good for small developers, many of whom are in a constant struggle for money. Get a chunk of guaranteed money and still get to sell your game on Steam in a year. Some of the developers, like for Satisfactory, actually probably lost money in the deal, as they could have sold an untold number of additional copies that first year on Steam, but most of these games were not destined to be big sellers. And some of them, like Chivalry 2 and Satisfactory, actually do pretty well in sales there.

 

[pathospades]

I'm in favor of EGS:
♣ Steam monopoly is bad for all of us, Epic has the money to compete if they're able—still a LOT of work needed on their store tho;

I'd argue the Steam monopoly isn't really that bad.

► Steam provides user reviews on the store page! Nintendo doesn't do that. EGS doesn't do that. This is the most needed feature in all storefronts so that the customers can get that extra unbiased opinion. +1 for overall quality
► Steam provides discussion forums, a screenshot gallery, an art gallery, and a mod workshop. +4 for the community. This is so big that it's really hard to top.
► Steam provides a news page for the developer AND highlights it in your library. Lots of games will have news for their upcoming sequels. If you wanted to know more about a developer of a game, it's not that hard to find answers here. +1 for developer
►Steam was the one that made discounts popular.
► Steam was the one that made the argument that piracy was a problem of service.

Other storefronts have come along, but Steam has always topped them in features and price points. Blizzard and one other storefront let you play games before they're fully installed, but I don't know anything else they offered.

I think that if Steam was the only PC platform, they'd continue to develop Steam into a better platform. After all, Steam's competitor is piracy.

I'm in favor of EGS:
♠ Their retail practices are standard across industries. Have you noticed how TV shows are exclusive to one channel? Or some clothes to one retail chain? Or games to XBox or PS? Etc.

This one I don't really understand? EGS has exclusives. (Tetris Effect and Kingdom Hearts are not on Steam).

I don't have a good opinion of EGS. I have 177 claimed free games on EGS, but I just haven't played any of them. The free games are real recognizable titles, so it's good stuff, but I don't get around to playing them.

 

[Johnway]

I know we hate their exclusive deals, but they are actually very good for small developers, many of whom are in a constant struggle for money. Get a chunk of guaranteed money and still get to sell your game on Steam in a year. Some of the developers, like for Satisfactory, actually probably lost money in the deal, as they could have sold an untold number of additional copies that first year on Steam, but most of these games were not destined to be big sellers. And some of them, like Chivalry 2 and Satisfactory, actually do pretty well in sales there.

interestingly one of the advantages i've learnt to appreciate letting Epic take the exclusivity is to let early adopters to test it. Case in point Chivalry 2, i've been sitting on the fence about the game and honestly the stuff i have been reading in Reddit hasn't been entirely great. Features were missing, half baked, imbalances, connection issues, collison detection issues, removing 40 player maps in favour for just 64 player maps, party invite/host was broken and more shockingly playing in the OCE regions the game is dead. With most people waiting for the steam release, the Epic edition is the initial testing/review.


That said, what would be nice is if Epic had some stat telling us how many are playing it so i can guage whether the game is still popular etc. being in the EU i've been informed its still going strong so i can get a game. But how long will it last with halo, battlefield etc not to mention the limited content from the game...

 

[Alm]

I'm another who is indifferent though I like the free games. I've had more problems with GOG than I have with epic.

I will mainly go for Steam purchases unless its epic exclusive.

 

[Brian Boru]

I'd argue the Steam monopoly isn't really that bad

No argument with that—so far—Steam is by far the best furnished retailer for games. My point is a general business point, that competition is necessary and monopoly and cartel bad. Far too big a topic for here, Wiki has an intro for anyone interested:

Monopoly - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This one I don't really understand? EGS has exclusives

EGS is often knocked because of its exclusive deals. I'm just saying that's standard retailing practice across many industries.

 

[Pifanjr]

I'd argue the Steam monopoly isn't really that bad.

► Steam provides user reviews on the store page! Nintendo doesn't do that. EGS doesn't do that. This is the most needed feature in all storefronts so that the customers can get that extra unbiased opinion. +1 for overall quality
► Steam provides discussion forums, a screenshot gallery, an art gallery, and a mod workshop. +4 for the community. This is so big that it's really hard to top.
► Steam provides a news page for the developer AND highlights it in your library. Lots of games will have news for their upcoming sequels. If you wanted to know more about a developer of a game, it's not that hard to find answers here. +1 for developer

It's no coincidence that all of the above features you mention have the side-effect that people spend more of their time on Steam. Don't think Steam added these features only because they care about the customer experience.

I don't have a good opinion of EGS. I have 177 claimed free games on EGS, but I just haven't played any of them. The free games are real recognizable titles, so it's good stuff, but I don't get around to playing them.

I think this just goes to show how successful Steam has been in making people equate playing games with opening Steam.

I don't think Steam is a bad overlord, but there's no guarantee that it won't become one. So I'm happy there's some competition, even if I consider Epic kinda shady.

 

[Furr_Man]

Aside from launcher overload (which is its own issue), I don't have any real issue with EGC. Feature-wise, its of course not as robust as Steam, but none of the other storefronts/launchers are. And, I mean, who doesn't like free stuff? I have bought a few things on EGC, most notably World War Z, but they definitely have an uphill battle getting much business away from Steam, even with exclusives.

I have had some friends express some reservations about it due to Epic being partially owned by Tencent. Personally, I doubt that they're doing any more spying on me than Microsoft, Google, etc. already are.

 

[Brian Boru]

they definitely have an uphill battle getting much business away from Steam

What I wrote in another post:
Apparently they invested $430m last year, and expect it to be years before they make a profit—was it 2027 in whatever article I saw?

 

[pathospades]

It's no coincidence that all of the above features you mention have the side-effect that people spend more of their time on Steam. Don't think Steam added these features only because they care about the customer experience.

You're right in that companies are only looking out for themselves for more profit. But at the same time, it would be nice if Valve's competitors could actually be competitors in terms of customer experience.

I don't think Steam is a bad overlord, but there's no guarantee that it won't become one. So I'm happy there's some competition, even if I consider Epic kinda shady.

There have definitely been some bought companies and witnessing it once is enough for me to acknowledge it could happen to all companies. I'm really rooting for Valve tho with what I've seen so far from their platform.

 

[Johnway]

d

I see where you're coming from, I too believe after they went the exclusive route, they could have offered the exclusive games at much lower price than standard and it would have at least turned Epic into a defacto store for exclusives. Which to be honest is completely fine with me.

Tbh the worst case scenario would have been epic buying up every game and rather then being a timed yearly exclusive, decided to make it the only game in town. Effectively forcefully trying to become the new steam on the PC without having taking the years to develop the brand or even having the grace to do the basics (no achievements, search function, shopping cart etc). The final nail would have been to jacked up the prices and made pitiful seasonal offers that we've all come to love.

ultimately it would have been an absolute insult to pc gamers. Sort of like saying "we know you're guys are creatures of habit, we know have a severally lacking website, a cack game launcher and the prices are steeper, but what you're gonna do? we own what you want and we're prepared to put you through the ringer! cough up!"

Thankfully that wasn't the case and whilst they were exclusives, you could buy them from other stores like humble bundle et al so it wasn't locked down completely. Plus they did make an effort to appeal to gamers with free games, their £10 off voucher for each purchase was damn nice considering steam prices for games weren't as deep for some years

Of course peoples mileage varies, i don't buy games as they get released. It sometimes takes years before i play em so i can wait. i'm use to waiting. but for those who don't want to wait and want to keep their game collections in one place? Well....

 

[Pifanjr]

You're right in that companies are only looking out for themselves for more profit. But at the same time, it would be nice if Valve's competitors could actually be competitors in terms of customer experience.

I agree, the reason it works is because people do want to use these features. I'm sure Epic is working on expanding their platform, but as a software developer myself, I know it's going to take a lot of time for them to catch up.

There have definitely been some bought companies and witnessing it once is enough for me to acknowledge it could happen to all companies. I'm really rooting for Valve tho with what I've seen so far from their platform.

I doubt Valve is going to sell out anytime soon, but in the long-term there really is no telling what might happen, so I'm just happy there is an alternative.

 

[flashn00b]

Honestly, I don't have the highest opinion on Epic Games, but who here does? However, i'm not entirely too keen on dismissing the storefront immediately. While I am guilty of getting Crysis Remastered on that platform*, I am under the impression that the Epic Store is actually a necessary evil in the grander scheme of things. It's no secret that the PC gaming scene in Japan is a major source of annoyance for me, and after seeing what a few wins for the console elitists that want Japanese games to stay on consoles, I couldn't help but turn to the EGS when Kingdom Hearts III was announced for PC.

Between our unwillingness to "buy x so y can be on PC", the superstition that Japanese game developers seem to have towards PC gaming and console gamers outright demanding to see the failures of Japanese PC ports so the devs will not want to make PC games, it's pretty hard to not see Epic Games as a necessary evil when it comes to getting more Japanese PC ports, especially when you have the Tales of Arise developers actually shooting themselves in the foot with iM@S: Starlit Season's PC release just so that they can say "this is why we don't make PC games". If that kind of attitude isn't validating Epic's bribery of Square-Enix, then I dunno what is.

*in my defense, I actually thought that i was going to get an AMD 6800 and wanted to enjoy that sweet taste of non-RTX raytracing

 

[Furr_Man]

A thought I had with regards to what Epic might offer customers that nowhere else does currently is I guess not entirely related to PC gaming. With Epic taking on Apple in court over platform control, it seems to me that the next logical step is launching their store on mobile platforms. It seems like they already could on Android without legal issue, as Amazon already launched their own app store there. And while that's not directly PC related, it would make it such that one could buy a game once and play on both platforms. There are quite a few indie games that have been put on mobile and could be fun to play there, and with phones getting more performant more graphically advanced games could continue to show up. I'd like to have a mobile gaming option, but I'm not big on spending money on the same thing twice, whether that's games software, or mostly redundant hardware (i.e. Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch)

 

[Frindis]

I'm Ok with Epic Games and it is good with some competition. They do need to work on making the platform a bit more exciting to use. Right now it looks pretty shitty and feels clumsy to navigate in. It is crisp thin when it comes to catering to different customers and for many, it is basically a platform for accepting games and pressing play. Perhaps that is all it will be, but in that case, I hardly think we'll ever see Epic Games as anything else than the: "Oh yea, I got 200+ games for free" platform.