I'm just after reading a post initially dated the 29th of July regarding Phoenix Point's release date, and it appears it's been delayed from September till December, and that's fine in itself, I have no issues with that. what I do however take issue with is the fact that I now have to wait till nearly 2021 to play it on Steam (this also applies to GOG), which is my platform of choice (because it's what I initially paid for, and also because I can play the game through Proton, now that a Linux version is not forthcoming), and this actually pisses me off a bit. Again, I'll reiterate that the delay itself isn't an issue, as I understand that, but the exclusivity with the Epic Game Store (EGS) is actually shafting over a lot of people over, because when you consider that for every time the release date is delayed, it is going to be a year after that those of us who want the game on GOG/Steam, and even then, I'm not ruling out additional delays, because it could still be delayed further, meaning it might actually be until 2021 that I get to play it!
As for the EGS, I don't think that it's really fit for purpose right now, although a recent Google search has revealed that it's added in cloud saves, and also Humble Bundle integration, which is objectively a good thing. Also, this week, if you're invested in the EGS, you can get "Hyper Light Drifter" and "Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden" for free this week, which I've just picked up (though I haven't picked up every EGS game, as I've forgotten), because in the event that things do improve with EGS, I at least have a library of games on there, as well as games that I don't have on Steam. Now this might seem a little hypocritical on my part, given my issues with the EGS, but equally, I did have a couple of accounts on there already, because of the Unreal Engine, and also Fortnite, which I tried on one account much, so I may as well pick up free games, as it means I don't have to buy them later on, especially if I've wanted them for a while or have them on Steam (practically, it makes for a good backup location), as it means I don't have to spend money later on the games!
My first major issue with the EGS really is the exclusivity agreements, which really go against what the PC platform is all about, that being the openness of being able to choose your gaming "platform"/stores, in contrast to consoles which are locked to one store, which is fine, seeing as in the case of game consoles, the platform is locked down in general, so it's no surprise that you have to go through the console manufacturer's store, and thus you can only download games from one place, seeing as you can purchase the game keys from other places and redeem them on the relevant console store. The PC has never really been about that, even though Microsoft (MS) has - in the past - tried to lock down Windows 10 (Win10) so people can only buy from the MS Store, and they do that with certain restricted versions of Win10, with the "Pro Edition" not having that restriction. I can also understand similar happening with the likes of the iPhone and Android, but the latter isn't as restrictive, as you can have access to other Android stores (Amazon, Samsung, etc) on top of Google Play.
But I digress slightly. The point is, with the EGS, you literally have a 6-12 month exclusivity deal with them, so you have to wait till that runs out before you can get the game elsewhere, and that brings me to my second major issue... lack of Linux support of EGS, though this isn't as big a dea=-breaker as you think. I will say, that for starters, Unreal Engine 4 has/had Linux support, so it's rather odd that Epic's software client/downloader thing only supports Windows and Mac, and this continues even now with the EGS, which is what that has evolved into. Also, consider that Unity (one of its major competitors) has supported Linux as a development platform for a while (and even longer as a target platform), and you can see why that's an issue. I get that Linux isn't a widely used platform, even less than Mac if the statistics are to be believed, but there is still a market of Linux users to tap into. I myself use Linux Mint as my daily driver and have started nudging people towards that myself, especially when Win10 is too much for people's systems, seeing as Windows 7 is on its way out support-wise, and Windows 8.x isn't exactly people's favourite OS, it's literally the Windows Vista (or ME, if you're older) of the last few iterations of Windows, so really Win10 is what people perceive as the only OS out there, even though you have multiple flavours of Linux, although I recommend Ubuntu or one of its derivatives (like Linux Mint or ZorinOS) for those moving from Windows 7.
Additionally, for gaming purposes, because SteamOS is derived from Ubuntu (or Debian, can't recall which atm), it means that any flavour of Linux derived from that has the best compatibility for games, though more advanced users can get it working on other, non-Ubuntu distros if they know what they're doing, but from a Linux newbie perspective, something based on Ubuntu is the best route for minimal hassle. In any case though, both Steam and GOG focus on Ubuntu, and that extends into Linux Mint as well, so gaming where there's a native Linux client/executable in the downloadable package is very much a boon, although I will say that anything that uses Dosbox to run (DOS and Windows 3.x games) can be run through Linux in Dosbox if you're willing to delve a bit deeper, and likewise there is also ScummVM which is a similar story, especially as I think some packages use that too, and then you have some source ports that let you run other games, but I'm digressing again somewhat! In any case, gaming on Linux over the last few years has become a lot easier, and with Steam also using Proton (a compatibility layer) for games that don't run natively under Linux, it makes those games that only run on Windows (for whatever reasons) run - in some cases - flawlessly within Linux, using the Windows executables; No Man's Sky is a great example of this, as it has run great on my setup of Linux Mint, so this is literally the Gold (or Platinum!) standard that Windows games can run at on Linux.
Proton, coincidentally, was started because Microsoft wanted to lock-down Windows 10 to only get applications and games from the Windows (MS) Store, which would have negatively impacted the openness of the PC platform, so Valve put a lot of energy and money into supporting Linux, although that was initially via SteamOS (which is based on Ubuntu), although the result was that more developers are open to developing for Linux now, especially as there's a dedicated client for Linux, and at the time of writing, there are literally thousands of native Linux games, and far more playable via Proton. The EGS doesn't have this functionality, so it's a lot more fiddly with getting stuff set up, the same it would be for the other game stores, such as Origin, Ubisoft, and others that escape me. Another Linux-friendly store is Itch.io, which makes for at least 3 different stores that support Linux, but the thing about the EGS is it's trying to position itself as a competitor to Steam, which initially it didn't do, especially when you consider that the early version of the store had a lot less functionality than even GOG's store (although GOG Galaxy for Linux is still a pipe-dream, but downloading via web is still relatively easy), and even then it doesn't have some of the basic functionality as far as I know, such as reviews and scores, although looking at an example page, things have improved with how info is displayed.
All that said, however, whilst I do approve of the recent improvements to the EGS on an objective basis, especially as they're both needed features, but also features that should have been there in the first place, the 6-12 months' exclusivity will always leave a sour taste in my mouth, although three glaring issues I can still see with the store are:
- There's no search function for the store yet, nor is there a way to organise the game listings, so I literally have to scroll till I find the game I'm looking for!
- There still seems to be no shopping cart functionality (note, even GOG had this from the very beginning), so you have to buy games one at a time (that itself has caused issues in the past), which isn't good if you want to buy many games at once!
- There appears to be no way of gifting games to other accounts; if you bought the game, then that's it, you can't buy games for anyone else.
And for a store in 2019 to launch with that lack of functionality really is not excusable in 2019. If you want me to comment on the cut that Epic gets on EGS purchases, then I will say it's a good thing that developers get more, but rather than focus on snapping up exclusivity for games, Epic should have worked on improving their store, as I really think that the fact that Epic takes a 12% cut of sales on their store (vs Valve with 30% on average) would have actually attracted developers on its own merits alone, without the need for exclusivity, as for the most part, even with the recent store improvements, the EGS is not terribly good for the consumer, as the exclusivity agreement only benefits the developer, seeing as quite a few people are not going to support the EGS by buying games on it, either because they don't want another store (fragmented market, but that's what you get with PC gaming - still, you can't have every single store's client running on your PC at the same time, and it's a lot to keep track of for some), or the exclusivity has really pissed people off, or they have other issues with the EGS; a lot of people hate Fortnite for instance... I mean, they don't have to play it, but I'm sure that's enough of a reason for some. In any case, I do feel like Epic got a bit greedy, and so they're using their cash cow (Fortnite) to fund these exclusivity contracts with developers as it means more money for them at the end of the day.
I do understand why certain devs take the deal, it's because they're indies and need as much funding as possible, but at the same time, you do have clear instances where they don't need the money, and the exclusivity is just to line their pockets more. Equally though, the fact that devs get 18% more (30-12) money from a sale vs Steam is still quite a remarkable thing in its own right, and I think that if Epic focused on that, as well as improving the store so it was at least close to GOG's feature set, then I wouldn't have any issues with the EGS. But as it stands, I went from welcoming the EGS as competition to Steam, and seeing it as a good thing to shake things up, as really, Epic is the only company (besides perhaps Microsoft) that could take Steam on in this regard, though GOG is doing alright as well; I coincidentally have little bad to say about GOG, as an aside. But yeah, Epic's exclusivity deals are bad for the consumer because it restricts their choice: if you don't want to purchase from the EGS, you have to wait 6-12 (or more?) months after release on the EGS before you can actually get it on your platform of choice, which loops back to my major sticking point with the exclusivity deals.
Some people I've spoken to don't think that it's that big a deal, but that's because they don't see the problem, even if admittedly, it's staring them right in the face. Not everyone wants to buy games from EGS, and that's fine... that's what's consumer choice is all about, but equally, being penalised for your choice by not being able to choose where you purchase a game from is the ultimate anti-consumer (and also a dick) move. Quite a few games are now exclusive to EGS for 6-12 months after release, so as well as Phoenix Point (the result of the EGS exclusivity pissed off a lot of backers), you also have the following (list taken from here):
[Current Exclusives]
- Anno 1800 (Also on Uplay)
- Ashen
- Dangerous Driving
- Dauntless
- Genesis Alpha One
- Hades
- Hello Neighbor: Hide and Seek
- Metro: Exodus (Also on Uplay)
- Rebel Galaxy Outlaw
- Roller Coaster Tycoon Adventures
- Satisfactory
- The Walking Dead: The Final Season
- Tom Clancy's The Division 2 (Also on Uplay)
- Unreal Tournament (This one is expected, honestly... it's their game)
- World War Z
[Upcoming Games]
- Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
- Borderlands 3- September 13th (six-month Epic exclusive)
- Beyond Two Souls (one-year Epic exclusive)
- Close to the Sun
- Control
- Detroit: Become Human (one-year Epic exclusive)
- Heavy Rain (one-year Epic exclusive)
- INDUSTRIES OF TITAN
- Journey to the Savage Planet
- Kine
- Maneater
- Observation
- Operencia: The Stolen Sun
- Phoenix Point
- Shakedown: Hawaii
- Solar Ash Kingdom
- Spellbreak
- Super Meat Boy Forever
- The Outer Worlds
I'm not sure what other games there are, but especially crushing for me, besides Phoenix Point is Borderlands 3, The Walking Dead: The Final Season, and a couple of others I can't recall (as they don't seem to be on the list). Either way, it's extremely frustrating to be at this point. I'm also looking at a list of other games on Reddit, and it seems that there are some interesting games that are only available on the EGS, which means that you have no other choice but to go there! In any case, the EGS makes things a lot harder for consumers to get the games they want, on the platform they want, and also screws over people who want to game on Linux (yes, it's not a lot, but equally, it counts). I haven't even mentioned the entire Rocket League business as of yet, in that it may not be for sale on Steam for much longer, as Epic bought the dev who created it. We have to wait and see what happens in that regard, if it hasn't happened already.
Either way, the exclusivity deals, if they continue are going to disrupt the industry, and for all the wrong reasons. Coincidentally, Valve hasn't been doing a huge amount of stuff as of late, but that said, it may just be waiting and watching to see what happens itself, though if it'll deal with the EGS more actively, that remains to be seen, although equally, it could be a case of waiting till your "enemy" make a mistake?
Either way, I have rambled on long enough, and I've only scratched the surface of things... well, actually more than that, but there's a lot more to the EGS story beyond what I've said here, especially as I'm not up to date with it all. either way, I'll continue to get those free games, because for now, I'm mostly sitting on the fence with it, seeing as I need the accounts to do anything with Unreal Engine 4 anyway, and I don't have huge hangups with the store as of yet. If things improve, I may also consider doing their content creator program, which I was halfway through before all this business happened, though I'd want to think very carefully about that!
No idea when I'll be playing those games that I "bought" from the EGS however, but better to have them, than not, right?
Edit: I need to refresh my memory of what titles I was interested in, as well as any other ones I'd be interested in that I missed hearing about that I'm missing out on, due to EGS exclusivity. That's not to say that they won't come onto Steam/GOG later, but equally, I'll be left waiting 6-12 months before they do, if they do! I'll definitely talk about the games I'm missing out on later on, when I know what the state of play is in that regard!