Basically what I’m saying is, there is no reason for the developer to try to help a specific storefront, the developer does not work for the storefront, the developers that release games on Epic are just as much a customer of the store as, well, the customer.
If Epic has a shit storefront, the correct answer isn’t to give it a lower price there to “Help Epic grow”, the correct answer is “Well we’ll just focus on selling it on GOG, Humble Bundle, and Steam”
It is unrealistic to expect or even ask for a developer to give Epic special treatment without proper cause “Just to be nice”, not how the business world works.
We see this all the time offline, or rather, we don’t see it… At no point did Nintendo, Sega, or anyone go “Oh no Toys R Us and KMart are facing tough times, we should lower our prices for those stores to help em out.”
Now if it was a developer with actual stake in Epic, maybe they’d do that… but I don’t see Sweeney handing out large amounts of Epic stock to anyone do you?
I’d argue that the statement that Epic is just as much a customer as the consumer isn’t really true. Epic as a storefront is different from Gamestop as a store front. Gamestop buys the product at a given price and then marks it up to make profit, Epic provides fulfillment and gets paid a percentage of the sale. Epic isn’t a customer in that sense because they aren’t buying and reselling the product.
No, you misunderstand what I mean. I’m saying the DEVELOPER of the GAMES is a customer of Epic, what’s Epic selling? Store space in exchange for a cut of the profits. There is no reason for a customer to want to help out a business, they don’t have a stake in the company.
If McDonalds is having a hard time, I don’t pay them double for cheeseburgers to “help em out”, I say “Sucks to be you, but hey we still have a Wendy’s.”
Sure, but the idea of fostering a mutually beneficial preferential relationship between two companies is far from new. I’m not saying that the developer has to take a loss, but they could decrease the sell price on Epic while still making more money than on Steam, GOG, or Humble Bundle. If doing so causes more people to switch to Epic it also means they’ll make more money in the long term and in the short term.
Except they’re still making money selling on Steam, GOG, and Humble Bundle… There’s really nothing in it for them if Epic succeeds and nothing of value lost if Epic shrivels up and dies.
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Basically what I’m saying is, there is no reason for the developer to try to help a specific storefront, the developer does not work for the storefront, the developers that release games on Epic are just as much a customer of the store as, well, the customer.
If Epic has a shit storefront, the correct answer isn’t to give it a lower price there to “Help Epic grow”, the correct answer is “Well we’ll just focus on selling it on GOG, Humble Bundle, and Steam”
It is unrealistic to expect or even ask for a developer to give Epic special treatment without proper cause “Just to be nice”, not how the business world works.
We see this all the time offline, or rather, we don’t see it… At no point did Nintendo, Sega, or anyone go “Oh no Toys R Us and KMart are facing tough times, we should lower our prices for those stores to help em out.”
Now if it was a developer with actual stake in Epic, maybe they’d do that… but I don’t see Sweeney handing out large amounts of Epic stock to anyone do you?
Slightly edited for clarity
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No, you misunderstand what I mean. I’m saying the DEVELOPER of the GAMES is a customer of Epic, what’s Epic selling? Store space in exchange for a cut of the profits. There is no reason for a customer to want to help out a business, they don’t have a stake in the company.
If McDonalds is having a hard time, I don’t pay them double for cheeseburgers to “help em out”, I say “Sucks to be you, but hey we still have a Wendy’s.”
Except they’re still making money selling on Steam, GOG, and Humble Bundle… There’s really nothing in it for them if Epic succeeds and nothing of value lost if Epic shrivels up and dies.
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