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SharpCoder

kunst nugget wrote: »

Sims 4 free with Origin until 28 May for anyone interested.

https://www.techradar.com/news/get-the-sims-4-free-today-on-pc-with-ea-origin

Have sims 4 on xbox one x via ea access, just can't get into it.

K.O.Kiki

ERG89 wrote: »

Everyone who has played Fortnite can access it so I would not agree that it has a low uptake of active users. Pretty sure it sold significantly more on PC than Last Light did in the same time too.

Majority of kids who play Fortnite likely only play/spend money on Fortnite.
Similar to people who spend 90% of their time in other esports time-sinks (League of Legends, DOTA 2, etc).

Sonics2k wrote: »

Year's ago, and even now, there was some Third Party options to do this, but security and sustainability was always a concern. Great to see GoG doing this.

The privacy thing might be related to the GDPR.
Looks like a good launcher though!

FAILSAFE 00

Steam needs competition. Their sales have been miserable for years.

Whatever it takes for the Epic store to put pressure on Steam is fine by me.

I also find it hilarious when games launch exclusively on the Epic store and Steam users act like its published on a platform that can only be accessed from a terminal on the international space station..... in person. Its a few clicks away lol.

Steam are just hanging back letting all their fans fight for them. Its a shame because the better the Epic store does the more Steam will be forced to compete.

Shiminay

I've been waiting for someone to do it, well played GoG.

FAILSAFE 00

Shiminay wrote: »

I've been waiting for someone to do it, well played GoG.

While I commend it I don't think its going to change anything with the bigger boys in the market.

Its seems a bit like a PR move just to get a few sound bites/re-tweets and then return back to the desk after lunch.

Insert [underwhelmed emoji]

Retr0gamer

FAILSAFE 00 wrote: »

Steam needs competition. Their sales have been miserable for years.

Whatever it takes for the Epic store to put pressure on Steam is fine by me.

I also find it hilarious when games launch exclusively on the Epic store and Steam users act like its published on a platform that can only be accessed from a terminal on the international space station..... in person. Its a few clicks away lol.

Steam are just hanging back letting all their fans fight for them. Its a shame because the better the Epic store does the more Steam will be forced to compete.

Exclusives are terrible for the customer though. If epic want to compete they should compete on something that matters, price. Moneyhatting exclusives doesn't benefit anyone but themselves and the lower publisher margin isn't being passed on to the consumer.

Sonics2k

FAILSAFE 00 wrote: »

Steam needs competition. Their sales have been miserable for years.

Whatever it takes for the Epic store to put pressure on Steam is fine by me.

I also find it hilarious when games launch exclusively on the Epic store and Steam users act like its published on a platform that can only be accessed from a terminal on the international space station..... in person. Its a few clicks away lol.

Steam are just hanging back letting all their fans fight for them. Its a shame because the better the Epic store does the more Steam will be forced to compete.

You're not wrong, but you're also not entirely right.

Competition is a great thing. Back in the day Steam became big because of the deals they offered that others did not. Now though, Steam are probably one of the more expensive places to purchase from.

Exclusives however, are a bad thing. They're not competition. The store running the exclusive can charge however much they wish, for as long as the exclusive lasts. There is no incentive to offer a deal on the product, because they know that the main sales come in the early days of a games release.

This is bad for the consumer. Let's have multiple places to get our games because that is good for the consumer.

johnny_ultimate

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Exclusives are terrible for the customer though. If epic want to compete they should compete on something that matters, price. Moneyhatting exclusives doesn't benefit anyone but themselves and the lower publisher margin isn't being passed on to the consumer.

But how does Epic improve pricing? Publishers set the price, not Epic. The store has already shaved its cut dramatically - which you’ve said isn’t sustainable - and now they’re taking a further hit with their sale. The sale is illustrative - 2K pulled their game Borderlands 3 for pre-order due to the reduction, presumably either because Epic didn’t communicate it properly or - IMO a strong likelihood - because 2K wanted price parity across platforms.

I’m not defending exclusives here. But also I’m at kind of a loss about how - in this current economic system - someone properly competes with Steam without that approach. There’s absolutely a market for non-Steam platforms, but they’ve so far remained small (itch, humble, GOG etc) in comparison to the behemoth. Other than someone offering a significantly superior service - and existing ones do tend to boast some advantage over Steam - literally throwing money at the fight grimly seems like the only viable tactic. It’s easy to say ‘compete on price’, but how does that work in practice?

Grumpypants

Exclusives aren't as bad for the customer as a monopoly.

Retr0gamer

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

But how does Epic improve pricing? Publishers set the price, not Epic. The store has already shaved its cut dramatically - which you’ve said isn’t sustainable - and now they’re taking a further hit with their sale. The sale is illustrative - 2K pulled their game Borderlands 3 for pre-order due to the reduction, presumably either because Epic didn’t communicate it properly or - IMO a strong likelihood - because 2K wanted price parity across platforms.

I’m not defending exclusives here. But also I’m at kind of a loss about how - in this current economic system - someone properly competes with Steam without that approach. There’s absolutely a market for non-Steam platforms, but they’ve so far remained small (itch, humble, GOG etc) in comparison to the behemoth. Other than someone offering a significantly superior service - and existing ones do tend to boast some advantage over Steam - literally throwing money at the fight grimly seems like the only viable tactic. It’s easy to say ‘compete on price’, but how does that work in practice?

Because competing on price actually benefits the consumer. It gives the consumer a reason to use the store as well.

As it stands the Epic store offers less to the user than steam, less security in terms of their personal details as well as less security that their purchases will vanish if it goes belly up.

Exclusives just take away choice from the consumer to purchase from at a better price and removes competition from the market. It's only benefitting epic.

You yourself on really used it when you got a good deal.

Considering I've matured a lot and don't need to buy games on release as I can wait, I'll wait until I can get it for a better price on a better platform.

It might be a nice sentiment that developers get a better deal from Epic but it's only good if the game gets moneyhatted as the developers will make less sales due to the lower market penetration of Epic Store and it's still looking like this cut isn't sustainable in the future.

Price Parity across platforms is a bull**** excuse. Imagine how truly disruptive the Epic store could be if publishers gave back some of that lower cut to the consumer.

johnny_ultimate

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You yourself on really used it when you got a good deal.

Nope, bought Hades on it as well at standard price. Would happily buy a game I wanted to play on it without a discount if it was the only way to play.

Price Parity across platforms is a bull**** excuse. Imagine how truly disruptive the Epic store could be if publishers gave back some of that lower cut to the consumer.

But again... that’s not Epic’s call. They don’t set prices. That’s the issue with the argument. If publishers were happy to sell things cheaper, they’d happily sell something cheaper. As is, selling games cheaper on Epic would also take away the benefit *they* get from Epic over Steam.

BloodBath

They can't anyway. Afaik if they are also on the Steam store they can't sell it cheaper elsewhere outside of maybe conditional sales. That's part of steams terms.

Pretty anti consumer and anti competition as well but I don't hear anyone crying about that.

FAILSAFE 00

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Exclusives are terrible for the customer though. If epic want to compete they should compete on something that matters, price. Moneyhatting exclusives doesn't benefit anyone but themselves and the lower publisher margin isn't being passed on to the consumer.

But is it truly exclusive when you can just open the Epic game launcher app instead of the Steam game launcher on your PC.

What we are really talking about is an app store exclusive on the same gaming platform. Its not a mountain to climb to purchase and play these exclusives.

So I think Epic should keep buying and snatching what ever exclusives they can. In the end Steam will have to compete.

nix

Can people who buy a game on Epic play with players who play from Steam?

BloodBath

nix wrote: »

Can people who buy a game on Epic play with players who play from Steam?

Of course. Steam service/servers has nothing to do with the online game service/servers outside of friends list.

nix

BloodBath wrote: »

Of course. Steam service/servers has nothing to do with the online game service/servers outside of friends list.

Just making sure, it wouldnt be surprising for Epic to throw a spanner in the works with all the exclusivity BS

Sonics2k

This may be of interest to some people here, especially those from a PC Gaming background, or with an interest in many e-sports.

Today marks the One Year Anniversary since TotalBiscuit passed away, and a documentary on him has been released.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWix7PqWq-A


TB was always a polarising figure, but I have extremely fond memories of WoW Radio and he was always entertaining to listen to.

Even some company developers have admitted to a weird love/hate view of the man.

Mickeroo

nix wrote: »

Just making sure, it wouldnt be surprising for Epic to throw a spanner in the works with all the exclusivity BS

Considering they're one of the biggest proponents of cross play between all platforms it would be a strange stance for them to take.

nix

Mickeroo wrote: »

Considering they're one of the biggest proponents of cross play between all platforms it would be a strange stance for them to take.

Yeah last year i would agree, but all this exclusivity hording of late, doesnt feel like the same Epic, and it wouldn't be a surprise to me if they did go down that road.

gizmo

nix wrote: »

Yeah last year i would agree, but all this exclusivity hording of late, doesnt feel like the same Epic, and it wouldn't be a surprise to me if they did go down that road.

They've already outlined the feature set for their online services, all of which include cross-platform support.

If there is a lack of cross-platform compatibility with titles whose online systems have been built with a sole reliance on other services, which as Steamworks, then the blame there won't lie at Epic's feet.

EoinMcLovin

No confirmation yet, but it looks like Ubisoft might be bringing out their own version of EA Access

https://www.resetera.com/threads/rumour-ubisoft-will-launch-ubisoft-pass-premium-a-service-like-ea-access.119229/

Jordan 199

EoinMcLovin wrote: »

No confirmation yet, but it looks like Ubisoft might be bringing out their own version of EA Access

https://www.resetera.com/threads/rumour-ubisoft-will-launch-ubisoft-pass-premium-a-service-like-ea-access.119229/

That's something I'd be interested in.

EoinMcLovin

Jordan 199 wrote: »

That's something I'd be interested in.

Yeah, Ubisoft have a big enough catalog of games to make this very promising. I’d say if it’s true, they will announce during e3, hopefully it’s not just for PC but console too

martyos121

Could work well for Ubi as all their open world games have a similar style. If you like one, you probably like them all and vice versa. Personally, I’m a fan of that style so it’s a service I’d definitely sign up for.

gimli2112

https://news.sky.com/story/world-health-organisation-makes-gaming-addiction-an-official-disease-11729612


Gaming addiction to formally become a disease on 1 January 2022. I plan to be off sick from work a lot that year.

Retr0gamer

So I'm grand another 3 years.

ERG89

gimli2112 wrote:

Gaming addiction to formally become a disease on 1 January 2022. I plan to be off sick from work a lot that year.

The doctor will recommend you only play Ride to Hell Retribution and assess how you feel after 48 hours.

ERG89

ERG89 wrote: »

The doctor will recommend you only play Ride to Hell Retribution and assess how you feel after 48 hours.

Dr. Bre

Gaming to be blamed on climate change also

kunst nugget

There was a psychologist on Newstalk giving out about that on the Breakfast Show, saying that problematic gaming was just a symptom or expression of another issue like depression or anxiety which seemed like a fair enough point.

That said, I would love to know what his thoughts are on the effects of the likes of lootboxes considering gaming companies hire psychologists to make them as tempting as possible.