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Comment on Epic explains why it hasn't sued Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft over 30% fee

30% fees are insane. Those cost are passed down to us the consumer. We get shittier game because a third of the profit goes to these marketplaces.

Whilst that may be the case, every single day one launch on EGS and other stores (GOG, Microsoft, Steam) launch at exactly the same price on Epic despite the lesser cut. Not one single title I’ve seen launch at a lower price on EGS.

I feel it’s naive to think that is, the consumer would ever benefit from a lesser cut, the fat shits at the top would just keep more.

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sirdorius@programming.dev ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
The price is the same because of a Most Favored Nations clause in Steam’s ToS. Publishers have to sell it at the same or higher price on other platforms to keep their product on Steam, which is the lion’s share of the market. This is part of the accusation in the lawsuit: programming.dev/comment/5159579

Now you could argue that even if it were removed, publishers would still sell at the same price and keep the extra profit, but that’s just hypothetical at this point.

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- BigVault@kbin.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Even on EGS exclusives? No such clause should affect the price if it’s not on sale on another store.
  
  Not one single EGS exclusive has been sold at less than standard prices afaik.
  
  The whole thing is bullshit.
  
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  - sirdorius@programming.dev ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    How do you compare it with other platforms if it’s exclusive to EGS? For timed exclusives, it would mean the price would have to go UP on EGS when the Steam version launches, which seems like pretty dumb marketing honestly.
    
    I know I’m playing devil’s advocate defending Epic and publishers, but I don’t see how defending monopolies is any better.
    
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    BigVault@kbin.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Not that hard to compare to be honest when games launch at price parity with console launches despite the lesser cut.
    
    Borderlands 3 launched on Xbox, PlayStation and EGS, each at $59.99
    
    PlayStation and Xbox had a 30% cut and cost the same.
    
    0 benefit to the consumer.
    
    Fuck them. It’s all bullshit.
    
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- AnonTwo@kbin.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Didn't that clause already go to court, and it was found to only apply to steam keys, not all releases of the game?
  
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  - Rose@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    No, the trial hasn’t started yet. In the complaint, the plaintiffs quote Valve saying that it applies not only to Steam keys but to everything.
    
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falsem@kbin.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
And they're hemorrhaging money

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ABCDE@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
They don’t set the prices.

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- BigVault@kbin.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Who is they?
  
  The publishers could already set the prices lower on EGS by default with the 18% difference being put in consumers pockets making EGS a more enticing place to buy games for now, instead, they want to sell games the same price on EGS vs all other stores they offer titles on pocketing the difference.
  
  EGS Exclusives even launch at the standard pricing despite the money they used to receive up front from Epic. None of this grandstanding is a benefit to me as a consumer and I won't give a fuck in supporting Epic/Tim until it is.
  
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  - ABCDE@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Epic, of course.
    
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  - falsem@kbin.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Man, just imagine the shitstorm if a game launched at $50 on Epic, then a year later increased prices to $62 everywhere due to Steam's terms and conditions so that the dev could maintain the same profit from steam.
    
    Of course that will never happen because there's zero consumer benefit and instead they just launch at $60 on Epic. If that did happen and the savings were benefiting the consumer then Epic might have a point.
    
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Grimy@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
The consumer would benefit from a higher quality of games, since they would become more lucrative to make and the available budget after a successful title would be higher.

There’s also the indie scene that would benefit from every dollar. A 30% middleman tax can affect a lot more than just the price.

Cutting ceo pay is a good idea too but one problem doesn’t forgive another and regulating soft monopolies would be a first step in that direction anyways.

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