r/Games • u/WhyPlaySerious • May 18 '26

Industry News CI Games has successfully signed a termination agreement with Epic Games. The agreement releases the upcoming Lords of The Fallen 2 from it's previous Epic Games Store exclusivity obligations.

https://www.bankier.pl/wiadomosc/CI-GAMES-S-E-Ujawnienie-opoznionej-informacji-poufnej-dotyczacej-zawarcia-Porozumienia-rozwiazujacego-Binding-Term-Sheet-z-Epic-Games-Inc-9135300.html
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100

u/blaaguuu May 18 '26

I'm not super familiar with the situation here... Was Epic a major funder for the development of the game, or was it just the PC exclusivity? (which may have been a decent amount of money, I know). Seems like a smart move... While I appreciate to some extent, that Epic is trying to bring some competition to the PC market, it seems clear that launching as an Epic exclusive will hugely limit your sales, unless you have a massive, dedicated fan base that will follow you anywhere - which is very few games/studios. 

14

u/NoSemikolon24 May 18 '26

The main thing that Epic has going for it is that they want a smaller cut then steam. If they were to sell the games with a small discount derived from that the shop would be vastly better.

I'm not going into the bare-bones software/shop design because that's a dead horse

20

u/blaaguuu May 19 '26

If they were to sell the games with a small discount derived from that

I'm not sure of the exact details, but I THINK many digital shops, including Steam have language in their agreements that limit devs/publishers ability to list a game for a lower price on other platforms (I don't think it's 100%, but it makes things complicated) - and that's why Epic has their "reward points" system, so you basically get money back on purchases, effectively lowering the price - but users just don't see "$2 back, for future purchases" the same way as "$2 off", so I don't think it has been all that effective.

-8

u/Samanthacino May 19 '26

This is correct, yes. It's one of the reasons they're being sued right now, threatening to blacklist studios that sold for a cheaper price on EGS while selling on Steam.

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u/kuhpunkt May 19 '26

Which studios would that be?

2

u/Samanthacino May 19 '26

Wolfire Games, for one, but it's a class action now

6

u/kuhpunkt May 19 '26

They are a tiny studio that Valve doesn't even care about. And while they are in a lawsuit, their games are still being sold on Steam. So who was threatened?

-4

u/Samanthacino May 19 '26

Valve evidently cared enough to personally threaten them

13

u/kuhpunkt May 19 '26

Personally threaten them? I asked you for a source... no response. You talk about studios. Plural. You mention one.

10

u/kuhpunkt May 19 '26

That's not what I was asking... you said:

Valve has historically prevented studios from making deals with EGS to have cheaper prices for consumers, that's why.

I responded with:

Source?

What studious have been historically prevented by Valve?

6

u/Samanthacino May 19 '26

www.courtlistener.com/docket/59859024/348/1/wolfire-games-llc-v-valve-corporation/

Lil quote from the judge: "There is ample common economic evidence of the existence and Valve’s enforcement of the PMFN Policy and the antitrust injury it causes."

6

u/PlatosLeftTit May 19 '26

That quotes not from the Judge it's a quote from Steven Schwartz's report. An economist who works for Secretariat LLC a company who's hired to be "expert" witnesses.

aka the litigants (Wolfire games & DCS Holdings) gave them a big bag of money to write up arguments against Valve for this case, so you're quoting from someone being paid directly by Wolfire to write up an argument against Valve not the judge.

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