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from the getting-their-ooblets-into-an-uproar dept.
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow7671
Epic vows to support 'Ooblets' studio following exclusivity harassment
Indie studio Glumberland, developer of cute and quirky life simulator Ooblets, announced its decision to sign a PC exclusivity deal with Epic Games last week. It essentially secured the company's future, but it has has also become the target of widespread harassment as a result of locking its PC title to the Epic Games Store.
Glumberland's original announcement of the exclusive was light-hearted, saying "this is all low-stakes video game stuff we're dealing with here" and that it was "[n]othing to get worked up about." The exclusivity deal will bring some much-needed cash to the project, as the developers explained on Twitter: "I know this is a hot-button issue for some folks but getting some funding is going to make a huge difference for Ooblets."
A certain section of the gaming community reacted to the announcement with unbridled fury, however, unleashing a wave of harassment onto the studio's two developers. The extreme reaction included someone faking a screenshot purporting to show developer Ben Wasser, who is Jewish, saying "gamers would be better off in gas chambers."
(Score: 2) by damnbunni on Saturday August 10 2019, @12:52PM (4 children)
Steam means far LESS exposure for a small game than Epic does.
Epic will put a featured game on the front page and leave it there.
Steam's front page is, for me, currently four games on sale and a whole load of things it thinks I might be interested in, and is wrong about.
I'm not a fan of store exclusives, but I can understand why developers do it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 10 2019, @01:21PM
Cool story, bro.
Have they ever gotten around to implementing that amazing new feature called a "shopping cart" on their storefront yet?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by SparkyGSX on Saturday August 10 2019, @01:52PM (1 child)
For all three users to see.
Even if you'd only reach 1% of steam users, that's still more than Epic can offer, especially if you exclude the Fortnite kids who only buy dance moves and skins with their parents credit cards.
If you do what you did, you'll get what you got
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 10 2019, @04:11PM
All three people who play Fortnite?
(Score: 3, Informative) by Pino P on Saturday August 10 2019, @04:50PM
As I understand it, Steam has a better track record than EGS at serving these four sectors of the market:
1. GNU/Linux users
2. Users with disabilities
3. Users in countries with less common currencies or forms of payment
4. Backers who pledged at a level that includes a game license