Epic Store losing money like crazy - over $400 million dollars lost so far

[Brian9824]

https://www.pcgamer.com/epic-games-store-exclusives-apple-lawsuit/

They have lost over 450 million dollars so far, with the trend showing no signs of stopping and have already forecasted losses of at least 139 million dollars for this year.

That is what happens when you have to bribe people to use your store and have nothing that actually draws people to it.

**Edit**
They have actually lost FAR more then $400 million, the numbers being reported for sales are not actually revenue

third-party game sales only accounted for $265 million of that spending.

Money spent on the store is not what epic gets to keep, they only keep at MOST 12% of that, and less with coupons so at most they got $32 million in revenue from that in 2020 which is nothing compared to money spend

[SmudgyRotter]

Here one latest news. As I thought though, Epicstore doesn’t really concern about the loss from free games, even it’s platform. I don’t know how long it’s confidence will last but hey, numbers are numbers today.

http://imore.com/epic-games-store-projected-lose-139-million-2021%3Famp

[Start_Running]

Publicado originalmente por Harry Gumdropzap:

Publicado originalmente por brian9824:

Epic doesn't have a fraction of the games steam has. Yeah they poach a few games and get some sales, but Steam just sells all the other games that won't release on Epic. Even EA came back to steam, so for instance Ubisoft leaving is a drop in the bucket.

i just want to point out steam has a ton of shovelware, seems like steam when for quantity over quality while epic games has the opposite of that...

SHovelware to you is a good game for someone else. That's a point so many seem to overlook. Not every game needs to be a an A or AAA spectacle. Small simple games also sell. It all boils down to a simple calculation. Is the entertainment value delivered worth the cost of acquiring the game.

That's a pretty easy hurdle for a cheap game to clear. A $5 or less game can get away with providing a relatively small entertainment payload. One fellow I know basically does a rough equation of 1 hr/ $. So a $5 game would need to provide at least $5 worth of entertainment to be considered worthwhile. and a $1 game wold only need to give 1 hr.


Having more just means there's more variation and thusly youur product offerings will appeal to w wider range of people which is why Steam has such a commanding market presence.

Because Sooo many people of different tastes can find stuff they want/like on steam they keep coming and spending.

honestly its much more enjoyable to browse the epic games store than steam because of all the low effort puzzle games on steam

If you look for cheap low effort games.. that's what you'll find. If you look for high quality games, that's what you'll find.

[Dracoco OwO]

I don't necessarily trust YongYea i just wanted to show that it was a thing, i honestly don't know what to think about this whole situation and don't care at best.

[Harry Gumdropzap]

Publicado originalmente por Start_Running:

Publicado originalmente por Harry Gumdropzap:

i just want to point out steam has a ton of shovelware, seems like steam when for quantity over quality while epic games has the opposite of that...

SHovelware to you is a good game for someone else. That's a point so many seem to overlook. Not every game needs to be a an A or AAA spectacle. Small simple games also sell. It all boils down to a simple calculation. Is the entertainment value delivered worth the cost of acquiring the game.

That's a pretty easy hurdle for a cheap game to clear. A $5 or less game can get away with providing a relatively small entertainment payload. One fellow I know basically does a rough equation of 1 hr/ $. So a $5 game would need to provide at least $5 worth of entertainment to be considered worthwhile. and a $1 game wold only need to give 1 hr.


Having more just means there's more variation and thusly youur product offerings will appeal to w wider range of people which is why Steam has such a commanding market presence.

Because Sooo many people of different tastes can find stuff they want/like on steam they keep coming and spending.

honestly its much more enjoyable to browse the epic games store than steam because of all the low effort puzzle games on steam

If you look for cheap low effort games.. that's what you'll find. If you look for high quality games, that's what you'll find.

this was me just browsing the steam store, i wasnt looking for anything specifically, steam is literally spammed with these types of game
like brian9824 said steam is now open to all developers, you are going to get great high effort games and not-so-great low effort games
yeah if a game is cheap you should be expecting less from it, but the games that im talking here is just barely crossing the line of a direct copy and paste

shovelware can be fun, but even if its fun doesnt mean its not shovelware
here is an example of what i mean by shovelware
that developer literally has the same game but with a different girl 5 different times with clickbait for you to buy each of the 99 cent games... most of those shovelware developers do this, they are made for just to make easy money

this is where epic games has steam beat, because they limit what is on their store they can more easily assure quality games that arent just made to make money... well the at least games that are made to make money are much higher quality than steams shovelware
it comes at the cost of quantity though, they are going to have less games on their store

before steam got rid of greenlight it was much more enjoyable to browse the store, you were basically guaranteed a game that took at least a decent amount of effort

[Start_Running]

Publicado originalmente por Harry Gumdropzap:

this was me just browsing the steam store, i wasnt looking for anything specifically, steam is literally spammed with these types of game

Really. Care to post a screen of your store page.

like brian9824 said steam is now open to all developers, you are going to get great high effort games and not-so-great low effort games
yeah if a game is cheap you should be expecting less from it, but the games that im talking here is just barely crossing the line of a direct copy and paste/p

STeam has always been open to all devs and pubs. One of the first third party games on steam was Ragdoll Kuungfu.. SO might want to clean tthose nostalgia goggles.. And agaion? So what if they are ias you describe, cut and paste. People might not buuy a game with zombies, but swap the zombies for werewolves and they'll buy it.

shovelware can be fun, but even if its fun doesnt mean its not shovelware
here is an example of what i mean by shovelware
that developer literally has the same game but with a different girl 5 different times with clickbait for you to buy each of the 99 cent games... most of those shovelware developers do this, they are made for just to make easy money

Doesn't look two bad. The last two games on their list actually look intruiging. As for the slider puzzles. Meh. Not my bag but I'm quite sure they're someone else's .

This seems to be a common case of you not understanding that gamers other than youurself exist and that they gasp, like stuff you don't.

this is where epic games has steam beat, because they limit what is on their store they can more easily assure quality games that arent just made to make money...

COnsidering all games are made to 'make money' But that tactic, doesn't seem to be working very well. Just about any game on EGS can be found on STeam (assuuming Epic diodn't pay for an exclusive), where as there are plenty of games on STeam that aren't on EPic. and the difference in their revenue kinda shows the impact of these different styles.

It seems that if you limit yourself to the tastes of a very narrow band of consmers, you won't make nearly as much money as having something for everyone.

well the at least games that are made to make money are much higher quality than steams shovelware

Which is fine for people who like to spend $20 but for people looking for just some slider puzzles with cute anime girls.. they don't seem to have anything.

it comes at the cost of quantity though, they are going to have less games on their store

They have less quantity, whioch means fewer reasons for anyone to shop there. Imagine that. As said. You like to throw around words like SHovelware and wuality buut at the end of the day we could more honestly substitute those terms with "games I don't like', and 'caters to my preferences' respectively. Because really. That is all you're saying.

[qote]before steam got rid of greenlight it was much more enjoyable to browse the store, you were basically guaranteed a game that took at least a decent amount of effort [/quote]
Its amazing how people who have likely never developed a game can speak of effort. Again. News flash. You find what youu're searching for. That you came across that developer kinda shows what you've searching for.

And you complain when you find exactly that.

[Von-Reaper]

Good,Never liked their exclusivity bull

[The nameless Gamer]

Publicado originalmente por Harry Gumdropzap:

this is where epic games has steam beat, because they limit what is on their store they can more easily assure quality games that arent just made to make money... well the at least games that are made to make money are much higher quality than steams shovelware
it comes at the cost of quantity though, they are going to have less games on their store

before steam got rid of greenlight it was much more enjoyable to browse the store, you were basically guaranteed a game that took at least a decent amount of effort

Still, hard to find games on Epic which aren't there. BATTLETECH, Bloodstained - Ritual of the night (I have these 2 on GOG but found them via Steam), Troubleshooter - Abandoned children, 20XX / 30XX.... just to name a few examples of actually good relatively recent games which aren't shovelware. It's still the easiest to find games which suit your preferences on the platform which has most of them and has tools to help players find something they'd like. I like GOG a lot too, but can't find a game there at all. When looking for new games, I have to turn to Steam, because its search methods and recommendation algorithm is much better than GOG's. That and Steam has many good games which aren't on GOG to begin with. Epic's cherry-picking of titles and excluding numerous audiences will not help them mitigate their losses.

[Tito Shivan]

Publicado originalmente por Harry Gumdropzap:

i just want to point out steam has a ton of shovelware, seems like steam when for quantity over quality while epic games has the opposite of that...
honestly its much more enjoyable to browse the epic games store than steam because of all the low effort puzzle games on steam

That's all fun and games until the game you want or the one everybody is playing isn't there. And if they really want to go big (and not just a 'brand' store in the way Origin or Uplay are or a niche Store as Humble or GOG) they cannot afford missing that wave.

[Begal]

If you have a problem with all the shovelware on steam just use the filtered list 'popular releases' and you only see bigger games and AAA titles.

That's really a lame argument for Epic's short games list.

[vexviron]

All my games are DRM free or Steam; no room for imitators. I hope they enjoy that epic business model!

[gugnihr]

Publicado originalmente por Harry Gumdropzap:

Publicado originalmente por gugnihr:

I give a lot of money to things that I dislike, despise and I am againsty to with my taxes, thanks to the horribly awful politicians that are in charge right now in Italy, but this is not something that I can choose unfortunately.

Other than that I almost never watch movies and the very few times I watch one it is either The Goonies or In the mouth of madness. I don't think that Epic get a lot of money with those.

epic games probably does get a lot of money with those, just not in the scale of the gaming market

I don't think so, when those movies were made UE did not even exist, or maybe - at most - there was only the first version of it when In the mouth of madness was made, for sure they did not use it in movies yet back then.

[Start_Running]

Publicado originalmente por Donut:

If you have a problem with all the shovelware on steam just use the filtered list 'popular releases' and you only see bigger games and AAA titles.

That's really a lame argument for Epic's short games list.

Or just order any search list by Price or User Score

[Harry Gumdropzap]

Publicado originalmente por Donut:

If you have a problem with all the shovelware on steam just use the filtered list 'popular releases' and you only see bigger games and AAA titles.

That's really a lame argument for Epic's short games list.

yes that is a way to filter out the shovelware which i do use

but the point is steam does have its cons, steam is objectively better than the epic games store based off of features, but some things that the epic games store offer is objectively better than steams offers
i am biased against the epic games store simply because all my games are on steam, the information i am saying is trying my best to use logic and reason

like i said originally, browsing the store is a lot easier since there isnt as much shovelware, sure you can filter out the shovelware, but just opening the store and scrolling down is way more convenient

yes, they have a short game list, and i am not arguing on why it should stay that way, what i am trying to say is because they limit what is on their store there is less likely to be low effort games
this does not mean epic games as a whole is objectively better than steam, its just a singular area that epic games does better in

[Harry Gumdropzap]

Publicado originalmente por gugnihr:

Publicado originalmente por Harry Gumdropzap:

epic games probably does get a lot of money with those, just not in the scale of the gaming market

I don't think so, when those movies were made UE did not even exist, or maybe - at most - there was only the first version of it when In the mouth of madness was made, for sure they did not use it in movies yet back then.

sorry i misunderstood what you said, i thought what you meant as a whole unreal engine doesnt get a lot of money from movies

[The nameless Gamer]

Publicado originalmente por Harry Gumdropzap:

Publicado originalmente por Donut:

If you have a problem with all the shovelware on steam just use the filtered list 'popular releases' and you only see bigger games and AAA titles.

That's really a lame argument for Epic's short games list.

yes that is a way to filter out the shovelware which i do use

but the point is steam does have its cons, steam is objectively better than the epic games store based off of features, but some things that the epic games store offer is objectively better than steams offers
i am biased against the epic games store simply because all my games are on steam, the information i am saying is trying my best to use logic and reason

like i said originally, browsing the store is a lot easier since there isnt as much shovelware, sure you can filter out the shovelware, but just opening the store and scrolling down is way more convenient

yes, they have a short game list, and i am not arguing on why it should stay that way, what i am trying to say is because they limit what is on their store there is less likely to be low effort games
this does not mean epic games as a whole is objectively better than steam, its just a singular area that epic games does better in

Does it really? Epic games store is missing entire genres right now. There is not a single RTS game on it available nor a single JRPG. They also have only one 2D Fighting game (Samurai Showdown 5). The shorter the catalog of games, the less of a chance for players from various player groups to find something good in their area of interest.