Wednesday, June 26th 2019
EPIC CEO Tim Sweeney: "Exclusives do Work"
EPIC CEO Tim Sweeney in a veritable Tweetstorm detailed EPIC's strategy on gaming exclusivity a bit more - and to listen to the CEO, EPIC is doing this as a way to break Steam's grasp on the PC games distribution market and their 30/70 distributor's cut. Asked on games exclusivity and their usage as a digital storefront strategy, Sweeney said that EPIC "believes exclusives are the only strategy that will change the 70/30 status quo at a large enough scale to permanently affect the whole game industry." He also says that this split is a "disastrous situation for developers and publishers alike."
Sweeney says that other independent storefronts that have been launched over the years (we imagine he's speaking of GOG and Humble Bundle, just to name a few), "none seem to have reached 5% of Steam's scale." He goes on to say that "this leads to the strategy of exclusives which, though unpopular with dedicated Steam gamers, do work, as established by the major publisher storefronts and by the key Epic Games store releases compared to their former Steam revenue projections and their actual console sales." His stance is that EPIC's 12/88 split is fairer for developers (stating that a 30% cut would almost totally cut into their profits), and that this additional money that enters studios' pockets will necessarily be split among "(1) reinvestment, (2) profit, and (3) price reduction", and that in this way, EPIC's solution is both proportionate to the problem, and a move that will benefit gamers in the long run.
Source:
Tim Sweeney @ Twitter
Sweeney says that other independent storefronts that have been launched over the years (we imagine he's speaking of GOG and Humble Bundle, just to name a few), "none seem to have reached 5% of Steam's scale." He goes on to say that "this leads to the strategy of exclusives which, though unpopular with dedicated Steam gamers, do work, as established by the major publisher storefronts and by the key Epic Games store releases compared to their former Steam revenue projections and their actual console sales." His stance is that EPIC's 12/88 split is fairer for developers (stating that a 30% cut would almost totally cut into their profits), and that this additional money that enters studios' pockets will necessarily be split among "(1) reinvestment, (2) profit, and (3) price reduction", and that in this way, EPIC's solution is both proportionate to the problem, and a move that will benefit gamers in the long run.
96 Comments on EPIC CEO Tim Sweeney: "Exclusives do Work"
I would bet money that if Epic were to dissolve their company tomorrow, and donate all of their money to charities, cancer research, etc., there would still be people (here) that would say how bad that is, because it is... well... Epic, and Epic is pure evil.
The double standard is mind blowing. If Epic does something, it's bad. If anyone else does it, it's fine. Why? Because Epic, duh!!
I am under no illusion that Epic is altruistic and cares deeply about me, or any of their customers for that matter. Epic is a huge company that looks at me as a potential customer, and nothing more. Epic is all about profit. Just like every single other similar company out there.
The interesting part is that a ton of people seem to believe that Valve is somehow different and "cares more". Somehow, Valve has secured a lot of people's loyalty to such an extent, that said people are ignoring facts, and are applying a double standard. It's almost like a cult.
And we, "Epic guys" are not contrarian for the sake of it. I guess, we simply manage to see the bigger picture, and are able to think rationally and objectively. If anything, it's the zealous Valve/Steam defenders who are foaming at the mouth when talking about Epic.
You don't manage to see what's in front of you and yet you claim you manage to see the bigger picture...Come on, be serious please, EGS is a cancerous platform, and Epic has turned into the worst possible SH there could be.
I mean exclusives ...