• Maestro@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    Epic still has to pay the developers even if they give away the game for free. I’m happy to help bleed Epic dry by taking their free games. But I will never ever spend a single cent on their platform.

    • Rose@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      You’re lying to yourself. They pay a fixed amount for the giveaway and it doesn’t matter if the games are claimed. If anything, you owning a game on Epic means you’re more likely to mention it to your friends and possibly get them to use the platform and spend on it.

      • SRo@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        This. Active usernumbers are more worth to them than the small fee they pay the Devs. Everyone who “just redeems the free games” is helping them actively.

      • Maestro@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        They pay a fixed amount based on expected/average number of units given away. If that number is higher, devs can get more money.

        • Rose@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Can you provide any evidence for this? The documents from the Apple trial showed fixed and round figures for every single giveaway.

          • Maestro@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Yes, but those buyout prices aren’t negotiated in a vacuum. When the number of entitlements goes up, studios will demand higher buyout prices. There’s a reason free game quality has been lackluster lately. Studios demand a higher buyouts and Epic doesn’t want to spend too much money, so they go with smaller titles.

            • Rose@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              I’m pretty sure the prices are based on the projected sales using industry knowledge and tools like SteamSpy, created by Epic’s head of the publishing strategy at the time. It’s not common that a publisher participating in a giveaway would get to use their own figures from a prior giveaway to change the price offered by Epic, while the others’ figures are available only for the games in those leaks. In other words, claiming many copies in the present is extremely unlikely to have any effect on the future buyout prices.

    • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Same If I buy a game it will be either directly from the maker or Steam. Epic strictly for the free games.