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.