I imagine that Epic pushed the Store live when they did because they want to pivot on Fortnite’s current success / popularity. Without that it would have been much more difficult to launch a storefront and have it taken seriously as a “competitor to Steam”, even with better developer rates. The sheer number of people using the launcher for Fortnite would give them a big boost I reckon…
I’m going to weigh in on that the review system and a forum needs to be part of Epic. The go to Reddit, Amazon etc is lazy and horrible to say as any publisher/developer can ignore that. They need to be openly listening to their customers good and bad. Having the reviews tied into the storefront is integral for a consumer friendly experience. If not then they don’t deserve customers. Having been doing business myself whenever I hear a bad review we try to resolve it immediately. Some people you can’t satisfy and that happens but many will adjust the review based on what you did. For those few you can’t make happy we have taken the product back costing anywhere from $100-$40k.
As for those review bombing the past Metro games I feel they are somewhat justified. The publisher owns the IP and chose to act unethically. Since the publisher is not out there for review you can only voice your opinion on the games they released. If anything Steam maybe needs a review section for the publishers. If that was the case then people could complain to them and when clicking on the game you could see the publisher rating along with the game rating. I actually looked at some and one review stated the game was great saying the developers did a fantastic job. However they followed that about the publisher leaving a negative review. Since the publishers are part of the game this is justified once you think about it.
Once I had a partner caused a lot of issues and nearly destroyed the company. It was only after going our separate ways we could start to rebuild. Unfortunately the developers are facing a similar situation. Because of the publisher they feel the backlash for this. Seriously hope Metro succeeds and we see more from them but the only people to blame are the publishers. The vast majority of customers who are upset have a right to be so.
If Epic truly wants to challenge Steam then they need to challenge them. You don’t grab a Hyundai and claim your comparable to a Mercedes.
While I agree with the rest of your post, I don’t agree on this point. Developers are normal workers as well, they are part of the company and they are necessary to complete the product. If the Devs spoke out against the move of Deep Silver, and threatened them with a public strike, the management would have to reconsider or face the costs (in both production delay and PR).
If you, as part of a company, don’t speak out against the companies business practices, then you fully deserve to pay the price for said practises. What do you think the workers of the last century did who fought for our basic worker rights? They didn’t just fiddle their thumbs, they lost a lot in their struggle for better working practises.
Gamedevs really have to stop the mentality of them being slaves without rights or a voice, and stand up for what they believe is right. Either that, or shut up and accept the backlash by the community.