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[alabtrosMyster]

Epic PC gives me those games over this week and the next week, I had over 30 so far (missed some weeks) - I have not bought anything on the store yet. They do this to entice us to use the platform! compared to other paid offers, that you have to keep paying in in order to keep the games that you got from the service before.

Last week I got the following games on Epic - for free:

• Batman Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition
• Batman: Arkham City
• Batman™: Arkham Knight
• LEGO® Batman™: The Videogame
• LEGO® Batman™ 2: DC Super Heroes
• LEGO® Batman™ 3: Beyond Gotham

PC and next week on Epic:

• Metro 2033
• Everything

PlayStation 4 4 PS+ free games of the month:

• Last of Us Remastered
• MLB The Show 19

Xbox One Gold September games (kind of complicated now - two game from this gen/two BC)

• Hitman: The Complete First Season - September 1 to September 30 (Xbox One)
• We Were Here - September 15 to October 15 (Xbox One)
• Earth Defense Force 2025 - September 1 to September 15 (Xbox 360/Xbox One)
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - September 16 to September 30 (Xbox 360/Xbox One)

PC Steam's free games:

So, some of you don't like this strategy, but I personally love it!

 

[The_Mike]

Because epic use lots of money to make their store visible.

Sony and Microsoft doesn't need to give up quality games, cus people are more or less forced to use their sub anyway.

 

[A.Romero]

Because epic use lots of money to make their store visible.

Sony and Microsoft doesn't need to give up quality games, cus people are more or less forced to use their sub anyway.

/Thread

 

[firegamer273]

well tim sweeney is trying to attract attention towards his store so its make sense on the otherhand sony and xbox are much popular then epic store so it makes sense XD

 

[ethomaz]

$$$$$

 

[Caffeine]

fortnite money get people to use the store. these free game offerings will go away one day.

 

[Shagger]

They're desperate to build a positive image after all the controversies surrounding EGS exclusives.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Because they're desperate for control and consumers in a market where stores are actually well made.

 

[MMaRsu]

Cuz they tryna get kids into their creepy van by giving out candies

 

[MMaRsu]

Also wow u got some batman games I bought for sub 20$ and finished years ago, what a gift

 

[ManaByte]

I actually don't see much difference between the Epic games and PS+/XBLG games. They're either old or Indies.

 

[LOLCats]

Sony and MS have shareholders, Epic is just burning money like a startup.

 

[DonF]

EPIC is AGGRESSIVELY promoting their store, this free games are part of the strategy. To get people into the store, it will not endure.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

cos the epic games are old as fuck shovelwear by now

 

[Gavin Stevens]

This thread just reminded me to get ready for extreme disappointment when the GWG titles become public in a few days...

 

[Doom85]

EPIC is AGGRESSIVELY promoting their store, this free games are part of the strategy. To get people into the store, it will not endure.

THIS. Is this going to be a recurring thing, some store or business starts doing crazy stuff like this either due to bad business planning, or in this case possibly smart business planning but only intending it as a temporary thing to build a userbase, and some people act like this is a reasonable new standard. Like for fucks sake, even only two Sony games a month is at least $40 worth and you only have to pay $60 for a whole year. And yet that's STILL not good enough.

Like that Movie Pass thing or whatever it was called, how did anyone think that wasn't going to only last so long before reality came knocking? So I'd roll my eyes when people claimed it was "the future" when it was clearly totally unsustainable at the rates/savings it was offering.

I mean, in the Simpsons' episode where they add Poochie to Itchy and Scratchy, when they focus test those kids on an episode and ask them what they want in the show to which the kids seemingly want everything and then Milhouse concludes with, "and you should win things by watching!", it's clearly meant to be a jab at consumer entitlement, this is a show these kids already get to see for free yet that STILL isn't good enough, they want free merch too. Like, companies offer deals and savings in a smart way, but they're not going to be their consumer's little bitch no matter how much certain consumers who don't understand sustainable business practices want it.

 

[demigod]

I actually don't see much difference between the Epic games and PS+/XBLG games. They're either old or Indies.

MLB The Show 19 is not old. But yeah normally these free games are old or ones nobody wants.

 

[Lone Wolf]

MLB The Show 19 is not old. But yeah normally these free games are old or ones nobody wants.

True, and MLB 19 is a great game, but it is still an annual sports franchise.

 

[hunthunt]

lol Epic games has like 1% of market share, they give away games because its their only way to keep alive.

 

[Holammer]

The newest games, Lego Batman 3 and Arkham Knight are half a decade old. Been subject to deep discounts and featured in several bundles. Their prime commercial lifetime was over long time ago. With Epic paying a couple of cents per claimed copy their publisher can squeeze a few more drops of blood out of them. But it's still cheap and effective advertising for Epic combined with Batman day and the Fortnite event.

So, why isn't Valve doing this all the time? I'm guessing because it sets a bad precedent, there's a lot of poorly performing or just old titles that publishers would be EAGER to dump if Valve did the same thing, users would be flooded with quality titles they don't have to pay a dime for and thus spend less on new ones (playing the Arkham series is a 100+ hour endeavor).

 

[Mattyp]

lol Epic games has like 1% of market share, they give away games because its their only way to keep alive.

They have over 100 million users and rapidly closing in on Valve, that’s not 1% of the market. 40% of their users don’t use Steam, Fortnite is helping them create long term members of younger generations to a different service.


People saying this is desperation giving away free games don’t see the big picture. They realise how much money is in pc gaming, an ever growing market they want to secure a large slice of younger players.

 

[Shifty]

Those big Tencent dollars go a long way

Also lol at the clickbait tag, was that intentional?

 

[lukilladog]

Because Tim Sweeney doesn´t know what he is doing, he is not a world class highly trained CEO.

 

[Dontero]

PS+ used to be great but then they made it mendatory so now they shit on people much like xbox gold.

Steam on PC is pretty much monopoly so they don't need to offer anything, stupid people either way will have to buy games in their store.

Epic is new player and tries to promote itself which is why they fund so many free games.

GOG does this once in while but they offer mostly classics.

Because Tim Sweeney doesn´t know what he is doing, he is not a world class highly trained CEO.

lol if he doesn't know what he is doing then why so many steamretards are so angry about him ? They are angry because sweeney tactics work. Free games and exclusives is key to get people using their store.

 

[lukilladog]

lol if he doesn't know what he is doing then why so many steamretards are so angry about him ? They are angry because sweeney tactics work. Free games and exclusives is key to get people using their store.

I wish you could try to use less red herrings, straw mans, and non sequiturs. We are talking about free games here, nobody is angry at him for giving away free games. Giving away free games in the hope those people become costumers is like expecting DRM to increase sales, it´s wishful thinking.

 

[keraj37]

Even if they pay me a lot cash to play their "free" games and create my account and install their spyware on my PC, I would still say solid - no.

I saved the worst for last. Oh boy what a mess the Epic Games Store is. Tell me, has anyone actually read the TOS? No? Well, we still have a problem. According to even the TOS, Epic Games Store is literal spyware. They're not even trying to hide it. Their TOS states they have the right to monitor you and send the data to their parent company. And who is Epic's parent company? The Chinese dev that's known for spying for the Chinese government. Tencent. The same Tencent who's working hand in hand with the Chinese Government to work on tools to spy on their own citizens. Escentially Epic Games is owned by the Chinese Government. What better way to monitor people than by videogames and a Steam like program people usually never close? The TOS somehow even manages to get worse the more you read it.

 

[Siri]

They have over 100 million users and rapidly closing in on Valve, that’s not 1% of the market. 40% of their users don’t use Steam, Fortnite is helping them create long term members of younger generations to a different service.


People saying this is desperation giving away free games don’t see the big picture. They realise how much money is in pc gaming, an ever growing market they want to secure a large slice of younger players.

The Epic store has over 100 million users, and 40% of them don’t use Steam?

Where did you get this information? This is astonishing, if true - and pretty much negates most of the arguments I’m seeing above.

 

[magnumpy]

hopefully this will mean better deals all around due to increased competition

 

[lukilladog]

The Epic store has over 100 million users, and 40% of them don’t use Steam?

Where did you get this information? This is astonishing, if true - and pretty much negates most of the arguments I’m seeing above.

But how many of those "users" are actual consumers of their store, like buying at least one game?. I could bet they are not disclosing that info any time soon

 

[Krappadizzle]

Because they are paying.....tencents on the dollar.


K, I'll see myself out.

 

[Graciaus]

The Epic store has over 100 million users, and 40% of them don’t use Steam?

Where did you get this information? This is astonishing, if true - and pretty much negates most of the arguments I’m seeing above.

It's around 85 million. But those numbers don't tell you anything other then a lot of people play fortnite.

 

[Digity]

But how many of those "users" are actual consumers of their store, like buying at least one game?. I could bet they are not disclosing that info any time soon

EGS is good for a few free games, other than that it's a waste lol. My account has already been compromised too.

 

[MMaRsu]

They have over 100 million users and rapidly closing in on Valve, that’s not 1% of the market. 40% of their users don’t use Steam, Fortnite is helping them create long term members of younger generations to a different service.


People saying this is desperation giving away free games don’t see the big picture. They realise how much money is in pc gaming, an ever growing market they want to secure a large slice of younger players.

Just because they have a large amount of active users does not correlate to sales or any other meaningful figure.

Actually, Epic stated during GDC 2019 that only 5% of their userbase downloads their free games.

If only 5% can be bothered to download their free games, how many do you think are actively buying games?

 

[Vitacat]

Because Epic is desperate.

 

[Helios]

To be honest I'm pretty sure all those batman games have had deep discounts. I'm talking like <5$ deep
EDIT:

 

[Alfen Dave]

Epic Games= Forntnite= Billions of Dollars of Revenue in 2018= They got fuckton of money= Advantageous deals with players and editors.

 

[Azelover]

Wasn't Epic a private entity?

Maybe that has changed, but a while ago they were privately owned IIRC. Which means they can do whatever the fuck they want. Sony and Microsoft have public shareholders.

 

[Zekra Dezivad]

Epic is willingly losing money to build awareness, it's an investment for the long term.

 

[Hero Of Gallowmere]

Wasn't Epic a private entity?

Maybe that has changed, but a while ago they were privately owned IIRC. Which means they can do whatever the fuck they want. Sony and Microsoft have public shareholders.

Tencent owns 40% of Epic's shares according to Wikipedia.

Other 50~% belongs to Tim "PC Gaming is Dead" Sweeney.

 

[A.Romero]

Love the tag.

 

[CyberPanda]

People can hate on Epic all they want, but the incentive of free games is amazing. And, they're not just giving out cookie-cutter games. This week Metro 2033 is free.

 

[fantomena]

Also, OP should know that Valve, as far as I know, doesn't pay devs/pubs to make games for free for a epriod of time. There has been a ton of free game giveaways on Steam throughout the years and it's entirely up to the developer/pub to do so. Often to advertise for a sequel that is soon about to release.

They have over 100 million users and rapidly closing in on Valve, that’s not 1% of the market. 40% of their users don’t use Steam, Fortnite is helping them create long term members of younger generations to a different service.

In terms of what are they closing in on Valve?

Steam on PC is pretty much monopoly so they don't need to offer anything, stupid people either way will have to buy games in their store.

Steam is in no way a monopoly, Valve has never paid a dev or pub a single cent to only have their game on Steam, it's solely up to the dev/pub to make their game only on Steam. Civ VI is only on Steam on PC because the developers and publisher chooses to do so, Valve never pushes anyone. Even Respawn used Valve's Source engine to make Titanfall and Titanfall is not even on Steam.

People buy games on Steam because it's a better platform. I call it a platform, not a launcher, beacuse Steam is a bundle of different technologies, just like the Epic Store, it's just that the bundle of technologies on Steam is way better than the Epic Store's.

Only reason people buy games on Epic Store is because it's the only way to buy those games, until the exclusivity period is over of course (Borderlands 3 is 6 month exclusive).

Not only that, Valve even gives the developer/publisher the freedom to generate as many keys as they want so other stores can sell Steam keys and Valve get's nothing from those sales. Epic however decides (from what I recall) which store get's to sell Epic keys, not sure if they take any revenue though.

Valve also, a few weeks ago, added an option in the store that if you have played a game on another platform than Steam, but still want recommendations based on that game.

Valve also allows devs/pubs to freely use their SteamVR api so VR games using SteamVR doesn't even need to be bought on Steam. For example, Falcon Age and Tetris Effect are currently only on Epic Store (1 year exclusive), but has SteamVR support built in so people can play it with SteamVR despite not using the Steam client.

So the only reason you can play Tetris Effect and Falcon Age with the Index, VIVE, WMR (or Oculus, but using the Oculus SDK is better), is because Valve doesn't want monopoly on SteamVR. Their competitors (Epic) can use it.

 

[Javthusiast]

Cause sony etc. are established and get your ps plus money for multiplayer regardless. Epic needs to build a customer base by baiting us with triple a and smaller games for a year or so till they drop the free games or offer lame games we usually get on ps plus.

 

[Kadayi]

Because epic use lots of money to make their store visible.

Sony and Microsoft doesn't need to give up quality games, cus people are more or less forced to use their sub anyway.

One and done

Epic knows that Fortnites popularity won't last (nothing does) so they're attempting to buy themselves a long term platform with EGS in the PC space with a view to if not usurping Valve than at least gaining parity. However, instead of looking at Steam and attempting to build a better version from a user perspective, they're hoping that exclusives and the free games alone will win long term customer loyalty as well as hopefully convert their Fortnite user base into active store customers. I think coming out the gate with a bare-bones client was a strategic mistake, because in large part the reason for Steams success against other storefronts is because it's been driven by the idea of 'added Value' in terms of the user experience which albeit is apparently lost on some people here, is a not so on a lot of people who've been using Steam day in and day out for years.

I don't envisage EGS is going away, but I do wonder as to how sustainable it is in the long term for Epic to essentially just burn money to the extent they are on exclusivity deals and free game giveaways. least of all when given a choice most seasoned PC Gamers are still going to opt for getting a game on either Steam or GOG versus their dismal client. I think we have a long way to go yet to see how things pan out, but I'm curious to see how the next year goes for EGS and more importantly whether 3rd party publishers continue to support it or not. There's been a lot of chest-beating going on, but when you get into the weeds there's a lot of muddiness to what's been said that often times smacks of best face forward.

 

[Vlightray]

Lock in all the pigs then cook the bacon!

 

[Ixiah]

Because Tim Scamneey is willing to spend 1 Billion Fortnite bucks to make 1 Billion over 10 years from EGS Customers, smart Businessman he is.

 

[DeepEnigma]

It is the same way MS, etc., have all those cheap GamePass sales, and offers it at a low price in the beginning, which all services then increase in price over time.

You invest a net loss in the beginning to get a service going.

 

[FloatingIslands]

Yeah, EGS needs to invest a ton of money in it until it reaches a critical mass of consumers and then, the platform will be able to subsist with game sales alone

 

[kiiltz]

This week Metro 2033 is free.

I think I got that like 5 years ago for $10

 

[EverydayBeast]

The roots of any free game is getting gamers into your store.