Earlier quoted context omitted.
It won't work, I don't understand why they're bothering. You can't compete with steam, unless you're trying to hit a niche market.
Its easy to compete with Steam: - 10-15% commission - Exclusives - Curation/quality control - Integrated anti-piracy - Forums/modding/game guides - User profiles/achievements/gamification - Less generous regional pricing (like on consoles) in exchange for slightly lower overall pricing - 5% cashback into wallets, like Nintendo eShop Epic only does some of these things, which is why its struggling. Its lack of social…
Exclusives are anti-consumer and doesn't convince users if we follow what Epic did.
It's easy to say "curation/quality control" but to come up with a method and algorithmic way of doing it well is insanely difficult.
Anti-piracy is just called DRM and it's not really foolproof nor always desired. GoG is successful in catering that niche. It also requires a good understanding of reverse engineering hardening, so much easier said than done.
Forums/modding/whatever, yeah sure perhaps "simple" but quite extensive. Even for a large company, code doesn't write itself (well, not any code you want to rely on, at least).
I don't really get the console pricing aspect, sorry.
Cashback isn't a free thing, it's a marketing campaign - even if it runs indefinitely. I don't think that would work by itself, it's a bit of a gimmick.
Epic is struggling because of their anti consumer strategies, aggressive and oftentimes reckless CEO, seemingly constant and very public lawsuits with huge companies, and trying to stay relevant outside of Fortnite.
I agree that lack of social contributed to it but is far from the only problem. For example, Epic doesn't have a cart. It's been a widely requested feature, but they focus on other things.
Tencent is a cancer upon this world and I have little base respect for companies that go with them.