Random Gaming Talk

[benji]

Randy Pitchford
@DuvalMagic
If Epic successfully pressed its advantage, that may have been the case. But Epic did not. So, famously, Steam does very little to earn the massive cut they take and continues its effective monopoly in the West while would-be competitors with much more developer friendly models continue to shoot themselves in the foot. I am a Steam customer and Steam developer that will continue to root for and support competition. Borderlands 3 and Wonderlands demonstrated clearly that the customers show up for the games, not the store front. But the industry gives Steam their monopoly because publishers are afraid to take the risk to support more developer and publisher friendly stores. It’s all very interesting and there is a huge amount of opportunity in the PC gaming space for retail disruption, but no one seems to be able to make it happen. As a Steam Deck customer and user, my bias for personal interest and convenience is fighting against my wish for a more developer friendly alternative on Windows PC. I had high hopes for Epic - hopes that were validated in the moment of the Borderlands 3 and Wonderlands launches. But my long term hope (that appeared in a dozen’s long tweet storm I did five years ago) regarding Epic’s store were misplaced or overly optimistic. It’s a cool lesson for me and anyone who wants to learn from my experience. Moving forward, we’ll continue to support Steam (as we have for literally every PC games we’ve launched since Steam came into existence. Meanwhile, I sincerely hope Epic keeps up the fight and makes headway. Epic is going to have to prioritize the store and try some new initiatives while also doubling down on earning pivotal exclusives if it is going to have a chance. I also hope other viable competitors arrive. I am sure we will all be watching. As a developer I will continue to balance being where the customers are with being where I wished would earn the customers trust and loyalty. As a game player, I will be on all the platforms.