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In response to Epic CEO Tim Sweeney waging war on Steam, Larian's publishing lead says, 'Giving everyone everything for free might bump numbers but doesn't create a viable storefront' (www.pcgamer.com)
submitted 2 days ago by alessandro@lemmy.ca to c/pcgaming@lemmy.ca
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[-] Omega_Jimes@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 day ago

There are a bunch of things that dictate where I'm going to buy a game, including the DRM policy, or if I'm going to use the platform for connecting to online games, and honestly EGS doesn't add anything to the equation except "is the game exclusive to a storefront?". Being the only place to buy a thing isn't a good reason to use a store, its a good reason to play something else. I stopped checking the free games a long time ago simply because i got overloaded with games and i don't need a revokible license to more games than I have time to play.

[-] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago

I still like claiming the free games even if I don’t have any immediate intention of playing them, simply because I like the idea of developers getting paid, and Tim Sweeney losing money!

[-] Visstix@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago

Why do we keep asking larian studios for opinions? What does ja rule think?

[-] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 9 points 1 day ago

"I think the reign is calling murder"

-- Ja Rule

[-] Sturgist@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Because they made several good games. They've got the formula down. They're essentially the Ja Rule of gaming....for this moment in time anyway

[-] Cevilia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 22 points 2 days ago

I bought one game on Epic, once.

It didn't work.

I contacted them for a refund.

I never received a reply.

Lesson learned.

[-] fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

Anyone make a tool to auto claim free games, download, and seed games yet?

[-] mp3@lemmy.ca 88 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I haven't spent a single dollars on EGS, only collecting the freebies since it launched.
I do buy games on GOG whenever possible, as their core mission (make classic games DRM-free) is appealing to me.

[-] fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

For real GOG supports actual game ownership. Steam supports game flexiabilty of OS with all their linux support (and now arm!). I Patron/Librepay indies/foss devs. EGS's biggest proclaimed difference is that offer less to devs/customera and offer big studios better margins.

Like why the hell would this convince me?

[-] Localhorst86@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Same. But not only that, I know a few instances where I played a free epic game, liked it and went ahead and bought the game on steam or GOG.

[-] gustofwind@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago

Yeah I don’t even see gog and steam as direct competitors (obviously they are)

classic games I expect to run standalone thru a .exe exclusively bought on gog

games with integrated multiplayer/social stuff exclusively bought on steam

That’s basically the entire market 🤷‍♀️

[-] skozzii@lemmy.ca 37 points 2 days ago

I used to claim every free game just to help support the dev and cost them a bit more money, but I've decided just not to engage with the EGS at all.

I will never forgive them for trying to start the exclusive war on PC, and I am happy to see most gamers reject them entirely.

[-] BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

It’s important to remind everyone that Tim Sweeney is a nazi pedophile.

[-] P1nkman@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I have more than 200 games on Epic, and I'm not ashamed to admit it! I've never given them any money, just collected their free games every week for years.

[-] dkppunk@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago

Same here. I used to claim every single free game each week except when it was the HP game. I think I’ve played maybe one and I’m so disgusted by the comments of the CEO that I just uninstalled it a couple of weeks ago because it’s no longer worth the space on my hard drive.

[-] bollybing@lemmynsfw.com 1 points 1 day ago

I mean, Valve already started it back in the day, it was pretty common to buy a physical disk and discover that the installer required you to install steam. Later on they wouldn't even put the full game on the disk, you just got a key to download it from steam.

[-] ZkhqrD5o@lemmy.world 34 points 2 days ago

Never used this trash. These stupid free games can go to hell, I'm not downloading a launcher, jumping through several different hoops just for them to run on my operating system if Steam does it all natively. Make a good product first. Maybe then.

[-] starchylemming@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago

if you have heroic games launcher, you dont need theirs

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 8 points 2 days ago

You don't even need to run the launcher for EGS games. At least, none of the ones I have claimed need it running.

[-] Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

It's a crapshoot. Some need EGS running, some don't.

[-] klymilark@herbicide.fallcounty.omg.lol 30 points 2 days ago

I mean, I'm personally not spending a cent there until the CEO stops assuming everyone on Linux is cheating at their games, but y'know. Maybe if they slander an entire demographic of computers enough they'll bump their numbers

[-] commander@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago

They can't really be trying as well as they can afford. The Steam Deck is almost 4 years old and they still have no answer for Steam Big Picture. No built into the EGS client remote play to an Android/iOS phone. They're just a Fortnite company with a vestigial game engine and traditional games storefront. Their real video game storefront is now in fortnite

[-] a1studmuffin@aussie.zone 13 points 2 days ago

It always surprised me they never invested properly into building a decent Steam competitor that gamers actually want to use. Instead they've persisted with the free games dangling carrot. It's a shame, we could have used some competition there.

[-] Dupelet@piefed.social 21 points 2 days ago

Epic is waging war on steam? Is this like if Sealand were to declare war on the EU or something?

[-] mostlikelyaperson@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago

I mean, given how much money Epic has burned on this, I think the more equivalent comparison would be one nation declaring war on the other but exclusively spending its military budget on fireworks.

[-] Lfrith@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I don't think I've missed a single giveaway the last couple of years, and I'll keep claiming the free games.

But, I've never spent a cent and don't plan to buy anything from there.

[-] Spider89@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Was MK1 free on EG at 12/31?

Asking for a family member who thought it was fake.

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 3 points 2 days ago

Mortal Kombat 11 has been given away free a few times; I have not seen MK1 being given out free ever.

[-] Spider89@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Thanks.

[-] howrar@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago

I see nothing in my library that can be abbreviated to MK1.

this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2026
326 points (98.2% liked)

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