T w e n t y S i d e d

In my column this week, I circle back and talk about the Epic vs. Valve thing we discussed on the podcast a couple of weeks ago. For years I’ve wanted someone to come in and really stand up to Valve and give them a proper run for their money. Epic is finally doing it, and their approach is so frustrating that I just can’t cheer for them.

During my research for this column I ran into this gem. That’s apparently the feature roadmap for the Epic Games Store. It is simultaneously really ambitious and yet much too slow. If they keep this schedule, then the EGS team is going to be rolling out features at a really impressive rate. At the same time, I can’t believe we have to wait over half a year for friggin’ SHOPPING CARTS, and gifting is probably ~1 year away.

Like I’ve said in the past, I think Epic would be on much better footing if they’d just rolled out some of these features before they started with exclusives. Or, they could have taken what they paid for exclusives and used it to buy the rights to give away N copies on the EGS. While some people are opposed to the exclusives on principle, others would be willing to tolerate it if the platform itself wasn’t so barebones. Likewise, people who show up for a free copy of a game are less likely to complain about missing features because “Hey, you can’t complain about free things” is a common mindsetNot for me, though. I’ll complain about anything..

In any case, this is going to be a long process. Epic is clearly here for a fight and I don’t see them giving up anytime soon. It’s really hard to predict what will happen over the next couple of years. As Epic reaches approximate apparent feature parityGetting REAL feature parity with Steam will take years, because global networks and global transactions take time and expertise to set up. But the vast majority of people are looking for basic features like reviews and mod support. with Steam, will the public warm up to it? 18 months from now, will the general public still be holding a grudge over the Metro Exodus and Borderlands 3 exclusives, or will all be forgotten / forgiven once Epic feels like a proper games platform?

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Experienced Points: Why Steam Can’t Meet Epic’s Price Challenge”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

In my article this week, I talk about how the decision to use Frostbite has done tons of damage to BioWare. Also, I spent a little time explaining why seemingly-easy features might be hard to implement in Frostbite.

Annoyingly, I didn’t cover all my bases and a bunch of people tried to “gotcha” me with the fact that former BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn claims it was BioWare’s decision to use Frostbite. I remember hearing about this ages ago, but I dismissed it as obvious corporate ass-covering. Still, if I’d been on the ball I would have demolished that argument before I started in on Frostbite. Maybe I’ll append something to the article, maybe I’ll handle it in an aside in my next column, but in the meantime here’s the problem with Flynn’s statement:

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Experienced Points: EA Crippled BioWare With Frostbite”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.