Tim Sweeney Defends Epic Games Store Against Critics
Anyone who disrupts the status quo is going to catch a lot of flak, whatever their intentions may be. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney recently spoke out about the Epic Games store and its many detractors. Sweeney believes that people just don’t see the good their digital store front is doing.
Ultimately, this is about making the industry a better place, starting with the terms available for developers. I understand gamers don’t see that. They don’t see the hardship of making a payroll and seeing the store suck out 30% of the revenue from it. It can be jarring to see the industry is changing in ways that are typically invisible to us as gamers.
To be fair, most consumers have a bigger problem with the exclusives that Epic is snatching away, sometimes at the last possible minute. Metro Exodus stands out as an especially egregious offender. Existing pre-orders were still honored, but it was a relentless bait-and-switch. Epic admits that was handled roughly, but their exclusives hunt will continue unabated, at least for now. Bringing hot new games to the Epic store will be essential in building the service as a viable competitor against Steam. Hopefully they get things like user reviews in the future as well.