When people ask me if I'm a PC gamer and then immediately assume I have a Fortnite handle, I vomit a little and die inside a little more.
I've come around, if only to a certain, very minor degree, on the Epic store, but I believe most of us are more invested in Steam if only because of the age of the service/accounts and vastness of our backlogs. Epic store is the "new kid" doing EVERYTHING they can to impress the regulars and try to fit in/find acceptance. It's a little disgusting the level and degree of pandering that's on display, but the appeal is obvious: free games, automatic discount coupons on already cheap sale prices, and (arguably the worst, most divisive tactic) exclusives... eww.
Those of us who are still holding out from giving more business to Epic have very legitimate concerns. I personally see them as follows: trust in company ownership/leadership, service consistency, and longevity. Tencent having any sort of considerable stake in a business concerns me. Call it paranoia or conspiracy theorem, but I don't trust huge Chinese corps (period) and No, I'm not a dumbass Trumper. It's taken quite awhile for the store to attain even basic, comparable features to the competition and who knows when/if it'll get things like message boards/forums, which I see as crucial. Steam has been around since 2003. It wasn't great by any stretch when it launched, but has clearly evolved, improved and changed computer gaming for the better. How long will Epic store be around if Timmy and the Chinese overlords start to see it's not making the money it's projected/expected? What happens to your games at that point? Think they're just going to say "Derp, ok. It's not you, it's us. We're revoking all the Epic and Pub DRM on everything we sold you since the jump. Have fun." Epic has yet to really prove it's commitment to the customer (they're falling all over themselves to get/keep devs, which is fine because who else will make the games we buy, but the reverse argument is just as, if not more valid imho) and only time will tell if they really want/deserve to share the PC digital distribution market.
Tim Sweeney is an... inconsistent individual, at best, and that's about as nice as I can put it. Do even the smallest amount of research on his many pejorative opinions of PC gamers over the last 15 to 20 years, as well as the fact that he won't miss any opportunity to deep throat Sony dong/make ridiculous claims: see the recent engine reveal on PS5 video and his other ludicrous comments every time a new Playstation is announced/revealed. BUT, despite his lies about healthy "competition", it's clear he wants to be the only market in town and thus sell us: the filthy, pirating masses our pastime and I find the thought of giving such a hypocrite my money totally abhorrent. Tim doesn't care about PC gaming, he just wants to profit off it. The Unreal engine will work just as well on closed system consoles (better, according to his pedo looking ass) where I guess the margins are better for Epic or something. I dunno, don't care.
Should there be real, ACTUAL, healthy competition in this realm? Obviously.
Do I care about Steam's stupid meta/clicker/badge games?
No. Don't even bother with them.
Do I honestly think Steam is a safer place/surer bet than Epic for my PC games? I mean, come on, man.
Thus endeth my wall of
rant text.
