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Epic explains why it hasn't sued Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft over 30% fee
(www.gamesindustry.biz)
this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2023
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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: https://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.
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.
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 rent extracting monopolies is any better.
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.
Sony also has an MFN, not sure about Xbox: https://tryhardguides.com/epic-games-ceo-says-sony-is-the-reason-they-cant-lower-prices/
The real reason Epic hasn't sued Sony is because they're an Epic shareholder
I don't even think Sony's MFN is an issue as Alan Wake 2 is $10 cheaper than on consoles, a boon for the consumer and something I could get behind, but no.
Vbucks aren't even lower cost on pc where 100% of the sale goes to Epic. No 30% cut there but prices are the same.
I'm all for supporting the message that Tim is trying to portray but they're so inconsistent with the way they manage the business I can't for the life of my accept that they're being honest.
They briefly cut the price of vbucks on mobile when they pulled the stunt and could easily do the same on pc permanently. PC Vbucks aren't transferable to Playstation wallets so they should be able to do something.
Didn't that clause already go to court, and it was found to only apply to steam keys, not all releases of the game?
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.