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Epic Games banked a $3B profit in 2018

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Re: Epic Games banked a $3B profit in 2018

#91

Post by icebraining »

dmlittle wrote: post #23
usaphp wrote: post #6

What does HN people think on the whole idea of stealing concept from PUBG? I am kind of divided on this topic.

I'd argue it's a similar case as when businesses create competing product offerings with better execution and end up winning in the long term. Staying on the gaming topic, you could say Call of Duty is a copy of Counter Strike? I'm not sure which came first but the idea still stands.

Not Country Strike, but yes, it was clearly inspired by Medal of Honor. Which was itself inspired by GoldenEye 007 and the movie Saving Private Ryan.

Re: Epic Games banked a $3B profit in 2018

#92

Post by Cyph0n »

ihuman wrote: post #89
caymanjim wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TF2 was their first major release that was free-to-play with purchasable cosmetic items, but their games have never been pay-to-win. They were historically pay-once-to-own, free to continue playing.

Tf2 is somewhat pay to win. You can buy additional weapons with different stats or abilities.

Sounds like you haven’t played it much.

Firstly, stock weapons are typically the strongest among each class.

Secondly, you can get every item in the game without spending a dime via one of the following: 1) the drop system, 2) the crafting system, or 3) trading.

Re: Epic Games banked a $3B profit in 2018

#93

Post by Cu3PO42 »

jsnell wrote: post #83
ehsankia wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm confused, Epic just launched their store this month. What games are these "previous transactions" for? Do you have a specific list of games that sold with the previous 70/30 cut, and for how long? EDIT: From what I remember, the only games on the Epic launcher were Unreal Tournament, Paragon, Fortnite and Shadow Complex.

The OP was talking about the Unreal Engine Marketplace (for selling game assets to developers), not about the Epic Games store (for selling finished games to players). I see the source of your confusion though, since the article was never talking about the UE Marketplace.

It appears I didn't parse the article correctly myself. Thanks for catching this, I'll edit the OP to be clear on this.

Re: Epic Games banked a $3B profit in 2018

#94

Post by diminoten »

kels wrote: post #87
diminoten wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry you're right, but 50 million copies is not much either, when compared to Fortnite.

Maybe not compared to a free game like Fortnite, but 50 million copies is huge when it comes to video game sales. The 50 million number is from Xbox and PC only. GTA V is the top grossing game of all time and sold 90 million copies on 3 platforms. Minecraft has sold 150 across way more platforms and has been around way longer.

That's my point, Fortnite is bigger than a "video game". It's a legitimate cultural phenomenon.

This isn't about video games anymore, it's about tapping into something bigger. Even Minecraft couldn't crack into the market segments Fortnite has.

Re: Epic Games banked a $3B profit in 2018

#95

Post by ihuman »

Cyph0n wrote: post #92
ihuman wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tf2 is somewhat pay to win. You can buy additional weapons with different stats or abilities.

Sounds like you haven’t played it much. Firstly, stock weapons are typically the strongest among each class. Secondly, you can get every item in the game without spending a dime via one of the following: 1) the drop system, 2) the crafting system, or 3) trading.

I have about 250 hours in it, but I stopped playing in 2013. At the time, I found the drop system to be pretty unrewarding unless you paid for keys (or just bought what you want). Has it changed since then?

Re: Epic Games banked a $3B profit in 2018

#96

Post by jplayer01 »

munchbunny wrote: post #17
cheeseomlit wrote: post #11

Shame none of that is going towards UT development and Epic scrapped that project. Considering the state of the new Quake game I guess that's the end for Arena shooters.

It's too bad, but arena shooters have been dying as a category ever since around UT3. I'm hopeful they'll make a resurgence in the future.

I thought Quake Champions would be the best chance for the genre to be revived. With how popular LoL and DotA and Overwatch are, it seemed like a mix of the traditional arena shooter with special abilities/spells would be a good way to attract that audience. It hasn't. Maybe because Bethesda's efforts still lean too heavily on traditional Quake and they're unwilling to really embrace the RPG/ability aspect of MOBAs. Unfortunately, so many developers have tried and failed to make a "modern" arena shooter that I don't see anybody else giving it an interesting, worthy take on a hybrid.

Re: Epic Games banked a $3B profit in 2018

#97

Post by zanny »

usaphp wrote: post #6

What does HN people think on the whole idea of stealing concept from PUBG? I am kind of divided on this topic.

PUBG was not nearly the first survival shooter. I still remember Hunger Games style maps in Minecraft back in 2010 and those were derivative of older survival mods from ARMA.

Nothing is completely novel, or original. Everything made today is built on our collective experience up to the moment we release it. Its why you can't patent a concept like "battle royale" or "arena shooter" or "survival game" the same way the first successful action movie couldn't patent action movies.

Re: Epic Games banked a $3B profit in 2018

#99

Post by Jarwain »

jsnell wrote: post #65
tudelo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course there are games that already have proven this, most notably League of Legends (which is also mentioned in the article).

Huh? LoL is blatantly P2W, they sell two kinds of in-game advantages.

What are those?

Re: Epic Games banked a $3B profit in 2018

#100

Post by ihuman »

bufferoverflow wrote: post #74

I'm surprised it made so much money. The game is free. Do people really pay much for the skins/characters?

You can also buy something called a "battlepass", which gives you access to additional challenges every week. By completing these challenges, you can earn additional cosmetic items.
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