So next news will be that EA is acquiring SoundCloud.
Epic Games acquires Bandcamp
191–200 of 485 posts
Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which is a big middle finger to those who had purchased the game. And I can't think of a game that didn't have the quality of its player base (and so, gameplay) decline after going F2P (looking at you, TF2).
"Because I paid for the game, and despite the fact I was happy to pay for it and I enjoy playing it, I think everyone else should need to pay for it, too. Otherwise all that enjoyment I had will be undone." c.f.: sunk cost fallacy
The changes made when games go F2P tend to change the product you paid for in significant ways, often in ways that some players will think ruin it.
There's a reason I haven't played TF2 in years, and it's not because I'm indignant that others didn't have to pay for it.
Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
I actually like the site, it's simple and fast. Rare attributes on today's web.
My only complaint about the site is its nearly-useless search feature, which uses some deranged fuzzy full-text logic that is almost guaranteed not to return the result you want. Oh, and there's no "open in app" feature on the site, or a "copy URL" feature in the app. Otherwise, I share the sentiment that Bandcamp itself is (was) a great place to buy indie music in high quality, and that this feels like the beginning…
The search is laughably bad. Searching for an exact album title, when that album is on a label’s page, will often have no results. Luckily search engines know what’s up!
Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
IPOs are the alternative form of exit and they certainly don't.
Where does the drive for an "exit" come from? It's a jargon term not used in the entrepreneurial side of most other industries.
Many people are attracted to this industry by the stories of Google/FB/etc early employees walking away with 8 figure sums and retiring after a few years of work. Thus the exit obsession.
Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp
#195I'm having a little trouble understanding the motivation for this move. Did Bandcamp have a poor revenue/profit outlook and were they looking to scale? Was this just an exit for founders? I was under the impression that they had a relatively stable and profitable business, and strongly valued their branding and positioning as independent.
Motivation for founders is a lot easier to understand than that of the acquiring company. What on earth is Epic going to do with Bandcamp?
Game soundtracks are usually sold on Bandcamp, even for games that aren't on the Epic Store.
Also could be a source of creative content to generate NFTs, maybe even tie that to licensing of music used in game livestreams.
Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp
#196Conflict in europe, and now this ?
Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp
#197> Bandcamp will keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music community... 40% of which will be owned by Tencent, possibly more in the future based on the whims of Tim Sweeney and the performance of Epic's primary business (Video Games). Really unfortunate to see an independent source for music become part of a huge conglomerate.
Just wait to see what happens when Gabe of Valve decides to retire and needs to diversify his holdings.
You think the guy who bought a racing team for funsies (and for charity!), the guy with an extensive forge setup in his palatial basement, needs more money?
I know it's hip to be cynical and all, but seriously. Even if he were so motivated by money, could anyone even put together a payout that'd be better than "continue to watch the Steam Store print money, beholden to no one because Valve is a privately-held company held by you"?
Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Nothing will change in the short term" is the story of every acquisition, almost all of which end up with major changes for the worse at some point. (So yes, I agree with you.)
And yet so many modern day startups have no viable exit strategy beyond acquisition- what does that say about the state of the industry, and of founders' commitments towards building a sustainable product?
The very term "exit strategy" answers your own question: if you're committed to building a sustainable product, with long-term sustainable profits, caring for your employees and your customers, without any explicit plans to sell off your company to random megacorp, where it will be scrapped for parts, then you're a dumb loser trying to build a lifestyle business and you deserve to be shamed out of Silicon Valley! How dare you waste our precious venture capitalist time with that crap!?
I get it: venture capitalists are interested in the most efficient possible way to loot the economy, and funding non-viable startups until they're so overhyped that some other idiot buys the over-inflated toxic asset from them before it blows is a great way to do that.
Of course speaking out against VC and startup culture on Hacker News is going to get me downvoted to oblivion, so go ahead and mash that down arrow. Don't forget to dislike and unsubscribe!
Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which is a big middle finger to those who had purchased the game. And I can't think of a game that didn't have the quality of its player base (and so, gameplay) decline after going F2P (looking at you, TF2).
"Because I paid for the game, and despite the fact I was happy to pay for it and I enjoy playing it, I think everyone else should need to pay for it, too. Otherwise all that enjoyment I had will be undone." c.f.: sunk cost fallacy
As a long time player I'll say that surfing definitely increased by a lot when it went free to play, it's not entirely sunk cost fallacy. Im high enough now that it's not much of an issue but lower ranks are rife with surfing and even in my diamond 1 games I see them enough to be annoying, at least.
Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do things need an exit strategy, why can they not simply exist and do good work and pay people fairly? Does everything have to exist purely to maximise profit?
The employees who traded compensation for equity probably don't agree. Bandcamp's success is built partially on this trade and at some point it needs to pay off for them. I suppose they could stay private forever and give out profit-sharing bonuses, but I think people go into this expecting an exit.
Did Bandcamp offer employee equity?