Yes, it was an EG exclusive. Yes, it is worth full price still

[so007]

Maybe they took EG's bribe money. But it gets a pass because it is nevertheless a very good game. Why punish it? Do you maybe think that Sloclap actually needed that money for development? Not releasing it on Steam first and taking EG's money, I see as a sacrifice made in the good of the game's long term wellbeing.

See it how you like but maybe try using the old brain too.

[TotemMX]

They better put a nice discount at launch (like Godfall, FFVIIR, Tina's Wonderland, etc.), like other "Epig" exclusives otherwise Im not buying the game at full price.

Epig exclusive = no full price.

[totty]

Why do people keep calling it "bribe money", sloclap is an indie studio using Unreal Engine which is incredibly expensive to license, and it is a common practice with any game engine rights holders to either negate that cost for indie studios in exchange for a timed exclusivity. This is exactly how it works with Sony's funding as well, and why it is deploying on Xbox the same day it is on steam.
So many people think that sloclap are somehow "out ta getcha" when it's like, first of all, games don't make nearly half what they do on residual or second deployment compared to releasing a game on EVERY storefront at the SAME time. This is so obvious it makes my head hurt, but to explain that further; it is expensive to make games, using an engine that is expensive requires money, or a negotiated deal, thus, a sacrifice on the developer's $ return, not a second dipping, like I'm seeing in several threads. SOME studios can make that call, but it's NEVER in their best interest to keep a game from wider distribution on launch day. Then, to go a step further and like, be so entitled as a consumer to then say "you owe us an apology sloclap" is like, put down the stupid sauce, you're getting the BEST version of the game with ALL of the FREE DLC packed in, a year later, for a timeless game. Sloclap does not have the kind of money, nor the presence in the industry to decide "hey, you know, steam sure is my favorite platform, so, we shouldn't use unreal engine, which, you know, is what we have experience making games with". It JUST does NOT work that way. People have such a hate-boner for epic, and of course to a point I understand this, but it goes so far into stupidsville as to assume the developer, the publisher, the engine rights holders, and literal magic can happen all at the same time. If anyone out there literally thinks that they are "double dipping" well, okay then that is your false understanding of how this deal works. It's as much a necessary evil to make something as good as this, in this particular case, as little it is the actual interest of the development team to keep this game exclusive to ANYthing over making it widely available at the peak sales point for any video game ever, launch day. The return on sales is going to be VERY good, because the game is one of the best games I've ever played, it speaks for itself so loudly I'm ACTUALLY surprised, even though these epic games threads pop up for EVERY exclusivity deal.

DEVS DO NOT HAVE TIME, ENERGY, RESOURCES TO MAKE A GAME ON AN INDIE BUDGET, AND PLAY FAVORITES, and in fact largely don't even make that call, and i mean that literally; how many people do you think are involved in the process of negotiating cost versus return risks? VERY FEW, and they are lawyers, not developers.

Telling sloclap they better put a discount on it or else is like, you don't really deserve the attention I'm giving you, or this game, because spoiled brats should not be rewarded, and less annoyingly, soap boxy pc gamer steam bound epic hating boner havers HAVE GOT to look at deals on an individual basis, and consider what kind of realistic deals get made, so that the game, (which is honking excellent) can even get made in the first place.

Seriously it's not rocket science all you need is like, to chill out a little, look at the game, go, hmm, is it worth installing the epic launcher, make that choice, and then not hold an infantile grudge against the people who AREN'T responsible for those deals anyway, being the developers.
To answer your question OP, having followed sloclap since Absolver's first trailer, yes, for a game requiring THIS much production, at THIS quality level, they not only required epic's money, they required SONY money, which, again, if you think this is somehow some rope-a-dope ploy from the people who do the hard work, good lord, please stop speaking authoritatively on how much you know about these matters because for one, we know, you don't like epic, and two, this is a necessary evil for smaller companies with around 20-40 people maximum, hiring a literal master of pak mei, one of the best chinese orchestration musicians, and a mocap studio to make this the most realistic looking martial arts game ever made, that plays the best as well. Can we just be glad it's happening? You know? I mean ♥♥♥♥ epic, I'm with ya, but no, yes it was necessary, lets just call it a day and if it means people miss out on SIFU, well, I feel double sorry for that demographic. I personally have bought the game three times (four, because I wanted that special edition PSV pack after buying digitally and beating the game), and I want to actively support good video games. How hard is that for other people to do, much less do some research into how that can happen if you're an indie studio with ONLY Absolver as your previous release?
This world is insane.

[so007]

Originally posted by totty:

Why do people keep calling it "bribe money", sloclap is an indie studio using Unreal Engine which is incredibly expensive to license, and it is a common practice with any game engine rights holders to either negate that cost for indie studios in exchange for a timed exclusivity. This is exactly how it works with Sony's funding as well, and why it is deploying on Xbox the same day it is on steam.
So many people think that sloclap are somehow "out ta getcha" when it's like, first of all, games don't make nearly half what they do on residual or second deployment compared to releasing a game on EVERY storefront at the SAME time. This is so obvious it makes my head hurt, but to explain that further; it is expensive to make games, using an engine that is expensive requires money, or a negotiated deal, thus, a sacrifice on the developer's $ return, not a second dipping, like I'm seeing in several threads. SOME studios can make that call, but it's NEVER in their best interest to keep a game from wider distribution on launch day. Then, to go a step further and like, be so entitled as a consumer to then say "you owe us an apology sloclap" is like, put down the stupid sauce, you're getting the BEST version of the game with ALL of the FREE DLC packed in, a year later, for a timeless game. Sloclap does not have the kind of money, nor the presence in the industry to decide "hey, you know, steam sure is my favorite platform, so, we shouldn't use unreal engine, which, you know, is what we have experience making games with". It JUST does NOT work that way. People have such a hate-boner for epic, and of course to a point I understand this, but it goes so far into stupidsville as to assume the developer, the publisher, the engine rights holders, and literal magic can happen all at the same time. If anyone out there literally thinks that they are "double dipping" well, okay then that is your false understanding of how this deal works. It's as much a necessary evil to make something as good as this, in this particular case, as little it is the actual interest of the development team to keep this game exclusive to ANYthing over making it widely available at the peak sales point for any video game ever, launch day. The return on sales is going to be VERY good, because the game is one of the best games I've ever played, it speaks for itself so loudly I'm ACTUALLY surprised, even though these epic games threads pop up for EVERY exclusivity deal.

DEVS DO NOT HAVE TIME, ENERGY, RESOURCES TO MAKE A GAME ON AN INDIE BUDGET, AND PLAY FAVORITES, and in fact largely don't even make that call, and i mean that literally; how many people do you think are involved in the process of negotiating cost versus return risks? VERY FEW, and they are lawyers, not developers.

Telling sloclap they better put a discount on it or else is like, you don't really deserve the attention I'm giving you, or this game, because spoiled brats should not be rewarded, and less annoyingly, soap boxy pc gamer steam bound epic hating boner havers HAVE GOT to look at deals on an individual basis, and consider what kind of realistic deals get made, so that the game, (which is honking excellent) can even get made in the first place.

Seriously it's not rocket science all you need is like, to chill out a little, look at the game, go, hmm, is it worth installing the epic launcher, make that choice, and then not hold an infantile grudge against the people who AREN'T responsible for those deals anyway, being the developers.
To answer your question OP, having followed sloclap since Absolver's first trailer, yes, for a game requiring THIS much production, at THIS quality level, they not only required epic's money, they required SONY money, which, again, if you think this is somehow some rope-a-dope ploy from the people who do the hard work, good lord, please stop speaking authoritatively on how much you know about these matters because for one, we know, you don't like epic, and two, this is a necessary evil for smaller companies with around 20-40 people maximum, hiring a literal master of pak mei, one of the best chinese orchestration musicians, and a mocap studio to make this the most realistic looking martial arts game ever made, that plays the best as well. Can we just be glad it's happening? You know? I mean ♥♥♥♥ epic, I'm with ya, but no, yes it was necessary, lets just call it a day and if it means people miss out on SIFU, well, I feel double sorry for that demographic. I personally have bought the game three times (four, because I wanted that special edition PSV pack after buying digitally and beating the game), and I want to actively support good video games. How hard is that for other people to do, much less do some research into how that can happen if you're an indie studio with ONLY Absolver as your previous release?
This world is insane.

big facts

[(SHU) Wallacewest]

I'll buy it and 100% it for a third time.

[Siracco]

Whether or not a game is worth full price after 11 months, a couple sales, and being exclusive for a year is up to them. If you don't like games being exclusive that drops it's value by A LOT. Especially with how epic does it. Why would people care about the reasoning. You don't buy a game to support a company or or a cause, YOU CAN, however that is not the norm you buy a game to play it and have fun. You buy a game for you. So most people don't care about the little details.

[Rusty]

Gonna buy it for the first time and play it for the second if you catch my drift.

[suboptimal]

The people making excuses for devs taking bribe money have some pretty short memories. They don't seem to be aware that game devs have been making incredible games for DECADES before Epic started throwing around bribe money trying to strongarm and bully gamers into using their z-rate storefront.

You know, Epic could take that money and provide better services that benefit consumers. Like Steam does. Instead they're being lazy and trying to low-effort strongarm and bully their way into the market. They're not willing to actually put effort or care into it. Just throw money around.

Meanwhile, Steam provides magnitudes better, pro-consumer service in near every way.

[Elvis]

Originally posted by totty:

Why do people keep calling it "bribe money", sloclap is an indie studio using Unreal Engine which is incredibly expensive to license, and it is a common practice with any game engine rights holders to either negate that cost for indie studios in exchange for a timed exclusivity. This is exactly how it works with Sony's funding as well, and why it is deploying on Xbox the same day it is on steam.
So many people think that sloclap are somehow "out ta getcha" when it's like, first of all, games don't make nearly half what they do on residual or second deployment compared to releasing a game on EVERY storefront at the SAME time. This is so obvious it makes my head hurt, but to explain that further; it is expensive to make games, using an engine that is expensive requires money, or a negotiated deal, thus, a sacrifice on the developer's $ return, not a second dipping, like I'm seeing in several threads. SOME studios can make that call, but it's NEVER in their best interest to keep a game from wider distribution on launch day. Then, to go a step further and like, be so entitled as a consumer to then say "you owe us an apology sloclap" is like, put down the stupid sauce, you're getting the BEST version of the game with ALL of the FREE DLC packed in, a year later, for a timeless game. Sloclap does not have the kind of money, nor the presence in the industry to decide "hey, you know, steam sure is my favorite platform, so, we shouldn't use unreal engine, which, you know, is what we have experience making games with". It JUST does NOT work that way. People have such a hate-boner for epic, and of course to a point I understand this, but it goes so far into stupidsville as to assume the developer, the publisher, the engine rights holders, and literal magic can happen all at the same time. If anyone out there literally thinks that they are "double dipping" well, okay then that is your false understanding of how this deal works. It's as much a necessary evil to make something as good as this, in this particular case, as little it is the actual interest of the development team to keep this game exclusive to ANYthing over making it widely available at the peak sales point for any video game ever, launch day. The return on sales is going to be VERY good, because the game is one of the best games I've ever played, it speaks for itself so loudly I'm ACTUALLY surprised, even though these epic games threads pop up for EVERY exclusivity deal.

DEVS DO NOT HAVE TIME, ENERGY, RESOURCES TO MAKE A GAME ON AN INDIE BUDGET, AND PLAY FAVORITES, and in fact largely don't even make that call, and i mean that literally; how many people do you think are involved in the process of negotiating cost versus return risks? VERY FEW, and they are lawyers, not developers.

Telling sloclap they better put a discount on it or else is like, you don't really deserve the attention I'm giving you, or this game, because spoiled brats should not be rewarded, and less annoyingly, soap boxy pc gamer steam bound epic hating boner havers HAVE GOT to look at deals on an individual basis, and consider what kind of realistic deals get made, so that the game, (which is honking excellent) can even get made in the first place.

Seriously it's not rocket science all you need is like, to chill out a little, look at the game, go, hmm, is it worth installing the epic launcher, make that choice, and then not hold an infantile grudge against the people who AREN'T responsible for those deals anyway, being the developers.
To answer your question OP, having followed sloclap since Absolver's first trailer, yes, for a game requiring THIS much production, at THIS quality level, they not only required epic's money, they required SONY money, which, again, if you think this is somehow some rope-a-dope ploy from the people who do the hard work, good lord, please stop speaking authoritatively on how much you know about these matters because for one, we know, you don't like epic, and two, this is a necessary evil for smaller companies with around 20-40 people maximum, hiring a literal master of pak mei, one of the best chinese orchestration musicians, and a mocap studio to make this the most realistic looking martial arts game ever made, that plays the best as well. Can we just be glad it's happening? You know? I mean ♥♥♥♥ epic, I'm with ya, but no, yes it was necessary, lets just call it a day and if it means people miss out on SIFU, well, I feel double sorry for that demographic. I personally have bought the game three times (four, because I wanted that special edition PSV pack after buying digitally and beating the game), and I want to actively support good video games. How hard is that for other people to do, much less do some research into how that can happen if you're an indie studio with ONLY Absolver as your previous release?
This world is insane.

Gunfire Reborn. I rest my case.

[GoodComrade]

all these kids from kindergarden who keep saying "EpIg" would be first in line to grab money from Epic if they made a game lol

[TotemMX]

Originally posted by GoodComrade:

all these kids from kindergarden who keep saying "EpIg" would be first in line to grab money from Epic if they made a game lol

Just look who is happy to take the money (Square Enix, Gearbox, Deep Silver) and who doesnt (Bandai Namco).

Bandai Namco have said "We want our content to be available for as many fans as possible" and “The main focus for us is the consumer and the brand. And for each brand we decide what’s the best way to satisfy the consumer and to engage the widest audience possible”.

https://www.destructoid.com/bandai-namco-isnt-interested-in-epic-games-store-exclusivity/

Exclusivities in PC is a very anti-consumer practice. Steam is the biggest PC store not just because it came first (no pun intended), but because is also a great social network to meet other players and share thought about game industry. No wonder people from other stores and platforms come to Steam Forums, for help or share ideas.

[suboptimal]

Originally posted by TotemMX:

Originally posted by GoodComrade:

all these kids from kindergarden who keep saying "EpIg" would be first in line to grab money from Epic if they made a game lol

Just look who is happy to take the money (Square Enix, Gearbox, Deep Silver) and who doesnt (Bandai Namco).

Bandai Namco have said "We want our content to be available for as many fans as possible" and “The main focus for us is the consumer and the brand. And for each brand we decide what’s the best way to satisfy the consumer and to engage the widest audience possible”.

https://www.destructoid.com/bandai-namco-isnt-interested-in-epic-games-store-exclusivity/

Exclusivities in PC is a very anti-consumer practice. Steam is the biggest PC store not just because it came first (no pun intended), but because is also a great social network to meet other players and share thought about game industry. No wonder people from other stores and platforms come to Steam Forums, for help or share ideas.

+1

[Nedge]

I can't see how you can punish something that's already rewarded. Why try to convince us of anything when our opinion never matter to begin with?

[CEO of Rizz]

Originally posted by Rusty:

Gonna buy it for the first time and play it for the second if you catch my drift.

based

[suboptimal]

Originally posted by Rusty:

Gonna buy it for the first time and play it for the second if you catch my drift.

I think many people have found alternative ways to experience the gameplay at this point.

[Matar O'Morir]

I'm hoping I'm wrong, but what I think will happen is we'll see the base game (and all DLC and side content) launch at regular price here on Steam, then over in EGS it'll be "on sale" at the same time. Just saw "Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War" $3.99 (90% off) here because of the sale going on that ends tomorrow, but in EGS it's the free game of the week ending tomorrow...coincidence??? So yeah, I'll be shocked if I see a sale. "Sifu" base game was actually $27.99 over the Holiday sale that ended early-January but I let it go then knowing it was coming to Steam. It'd be nice to give us Steam folks a discount at launch, even if it's not so deep (they can tease us at 10% off here and EGS can still deep-discount it on their side for all I care). Either way, I'm still looking forward to it here since I prefer the Steam environment.