Infinitron

Yeah, it's not like Paradox aren't already selling Bloodlines 2 pre-orders a full year before the game releases. If Private Division had done the same thing with The Outer Worlds, a bunch of us would have already owned the game on Steam and could have avoided this. The Epic Games Store - making pre-orders great again.

So here's a new thing. Ubisoft's Anno 1800 has just gone Epic-exclusive, but in an interesting twist, they'e continuing to sell the game on Steam as a pre-order until its release date: https://store.steampowered.com/app/916440/Anno_1800/ My first thought is, wow, how greedy. Juicing up pre-orders from Epic-hating players desperate to have the game on Steam. But my second thought is...hey, that's not a bad compromise actually.

Wrong! https://twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/1110248922587385856

They're actually still adding achievements to Steam even now.

https://twitter.com/G27Status/status/1108836851786354691

Obsidian's top brass are probably at GDC right now.

I've suggested that Microsoft offer free Steam keys to people who pre-order The Outer Worlds on their platform. The keys would only activate when the game actually comes out on Steam, but at least you wouldn't have to buy the game again.

In other words - what is Epic selling? Maybe it's simply the means to apply pressure on Valve.

How do you feel about GOG.com exclusives?

lol

Microsoft Store

There is none! EGS is clearly worse than Steam. On the other hand, it's just a launcher, not the actual game. So maybe this entire controversy is the obsession of a relatively small number of platform enthusiasts. We just don't know yet, this is all very new.

Yep, it's extremely annoying, no doubt. I've been that guy - I am that guy. The kind of person who's worried about desktop litter and always uninstalls a utility from his PC after I'm done with it, if I don't think I'll be using it frequently. I always wait years and years before upgrading to a new version of Windows. I was the kid who defragged his hard drive daily, back in the days when that still mattered. So I understand the appeal of having a set-up that works for you and not wanting to stray from it. But lots of people aren't like that, and things do always eventually change, so I don't know...I think it's wise to be dispassionate about things and see what happens. If it turns out people aren't willing to use the Epic Games Store, the game will suffer commercially and the free market will do its job.

I think people should be honest with themselves. It's not really about the "exclusivity" or "spyware" or any of that stuff. Those are transparent rationalizations. If you're mad about this, you're probably a hardcore PC gamer who has become heavily invested in the Steam platform over the years. You own hundreds if not thousands of games, you use the chat functionality to talk to all your friends, etc. Using Steam is part of your daily routine as a gamer and you don't understand why you should have to stop using it for this one game. There's nothing really wrong with this - own it.

Yeah, there's no page for it there yet.

Closest thing to purchasing directly from Obsidian is the Microsoft Store.

This sort of thing is a publisher decision. Obsidian would have had no real say in this. They own the IP so they did have some leverage. If Obsidian absolutely insisted that the game must launch on Steam, they possibly could have negotiated something.

No installation necessary for the Windows 10 Store! It's that suitcase-shaped icon in the bottom left corner that you've never clicked.

Likely Bethesda.net exclusive.

It's kind of funny that Epic's reputation among Extremely Online Gamers is so bad that this news would actually have been more well-received if the game ONLY launched on the Windows Store.

New tweet: https://twitter.com/OuterWorlds/status/1108423193138618369

Hey Obsidian, this is probably a pipe dream, but how about you offer free Steam keys (when the game comes out on Steam) to people who buy the game on the Microsoft store? Or at least those who pre-order or buy a special edition or something. Would be a way to sweeten the pill.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/578650/The_Outer_Worlds/

You don't know that for sure.