They didn't pioneer it, companies like GPD did. Not shitting in the Steam Deck, love that thing. Just wanting to get the facts straight.

Here's a different take, as a game dev: Epic actual employs quite a few people who work with Linux. The Unreal engine (and even, to a certain degree, editor) has native support for Linux. The reasons they're not including Linux support in their store front are two fold: 1) There aren't enough pure Linux users to matter - 0.1% of an already small user base is negligible. 2) The only serious Linux user base in gaming relates to the Steam Deck, a product that pushes a rival (and the dominant) store front. While Valve's move to push Linux gaming is brilliant for us gamers, it also kind of cements us in their camp. There is absolutely no reason for Epic to support Linux in anyway, and it absolutely supports their bottom line to attack it. And, no, it isn't because of any David v. Goliath tale of a little guy standing up to a brute: it's because a fellow giant has decided to ally itself with Linux, and all of us have - invariably - been shuffled into their camp. I think the Epic Games Store has a place in this world as a niche storefront with limited visibility but higher access to sales profits as a result of that. They'll never grow to the size of Steam, and that's okay. The largest storefront in the world supports Linux not just on its platform, but by developing tools for everyone that makes Linux gaming viable. That is enough, IMO.

A lot of Steam Stans here. Here's some neat facts: - Epic Games is the same Source Developers behind Unreal Engine 5. UE5 is arguably the best game engine right now for modern graphics. - Epic Games Unreal Engine 5 is Free to start developing and only kicks in commission after X% of sales. - Both Steam and GoG take a ~30% commission on all game sales. - Steam games aren't DRM-free (neither is EGS, but 0% + the driving force behind UE5?) - The Steam Source 2 Engine is proprietary; only their team can develop Source games. It sucks that EGS is looking to suck up games, customers, data, etc. Their App / Interface also kinda sucks. UE5 on the other hand kinda rules, and Steam has been quietly collecting cheques while their Source Engine has collected dust. Almost all my games are on Steam but the ones I want to keep I've been getting through GoG. Steam is going to have to make some tough decisions I think to compete as time goes on. GoG on the other hand has a solid business model of old DRM free games.

None of these are why people hate epic games or like gog/steam. EG is toxicily anticonsumer. Their platform is assbackwards with no good functional community features. They bombard users with ads for games they already own. They spyware they call a store front has repeatedly been caught snooping through user files without consent and sending unknown amounts of data back to their server without permission to gather that data in the first place. And the cherry on top is their close relationship with tencent, aka one facet of the propaganda arm of the CCP.

> And the cherry on top is their close relationship with tencent, aka one facet of the propaganda arm of the CCP. I see this a lot and... do they though? From what I can tell, Steam also operates in China. Sure, Tencent invested in EGS, but not in any kind of controlling stake. Tencent does invest in tech and EGS is probably a solid investment.

Operating in China and having 10% of your company publicly owned by an entity of the Chinese government are two different things, and EGS has reportedly been all to happy to give over any and all information they have on identified users to the CCP. One article in 2019 suggesting that Hong Kong activists were being targeted by data in part provided through such means.

A lot of Steam Stans here. Here's some neat facts: - Epic Games is the same Source Developers behind Unreal Engine 5. UE5 is arguably the best game engine right now for modern graphics. - Epic Games Unreal Engine 5 is Free to start developing and only kicks in commission after X% of sales. - Both Steam and GoG take a ~30% commission on all game sales. - Steam games aren't DRM-free (neither is EGS, but 0% + the driving force behind UE5?) - The Steam Source 2 Engine is proprietary; only their team can develop Source games. It sucks that EGS is looking to suck up games, customers, data, etc. Their App / Interface also kinda sucks. UE5 on the other hand kinda rules, and Steam has been quietly collecting cheques while their Source Engine has collected dust. Almost all my games are on Steam but the ones I want to keep I've been getting through GoG. Steam is going to have to make some tough decisions I think to compete as time goes on. GoG on the other hand has a solid business model of old DRM free games.

No, I'm not. you're *assuming* i am. game developers dont *generally* have the relationships with distributors. the whole point of a publisher is to handle that relationship + the relationship with marketing avenues. with digital distribution the role of a publisher is greatly reduced. mostly down to just marketing.

They don't got a problem. Someone on reddit a while ago pushed for epic=bad so now years later people just parrot the same shit over and over like monkeys. These people in their minds are "friends" with steam. They gotta stick up for their buddies on the internet.

Heroic launcher works well with gog and shows what games are supported.

Not even a little bit. Man, you sure like to keep digging when given a shovel, huh? Look, I'm not here to write a textbook on game publishing, but I do recommend you take that shovel and go dig up some accurate information in the off-chance you're not just posting whatever autocorrect feeds you as the first word choice.

This is great and it's not like they have shit revenue splits anyway as last I checked it was 88/12 which is by far the best around.

Thats because they have a reputational problem that makes them toxic to the gamer base. If they ever get market share that split will change willy nilly.

You do realize the market share of GOG is about 0.5%, right? That's despite Projekt Red being a beloved developer, the great launcher features, the fairest DRM practices, many years in the business, and so on. It only proves the point that Steam is a monopoly that cannot be disrupted whether you do it nicely like GOG or aggressively like Epic.

I'm interested in why you think they are toxic to the gamer base?

Gog doesnt support linux or id look at them. But they also charge 30%

From what I've been hearing, their fee is flexible. 30% is uncommon on PC.

So is valves. *Shrug*. Simply using the publicly available information.

I'm not aware of any evidence of Valve's cut ever adapting to a dev's circumstances. It's 30% until they've made $10M, which drops it to 25%, and to 20% after $50M. I'd call that scalability available only to the most successful few, not flexibility.