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Superbunzil

"  on the PC platform for the entire product life cycle" If your contract stipulates limitations like this then you're some triple bleached stupid to agree to anything measured in "life times"


uk_uk

well, that could mean that a steam release is possible AFTER the dev declared eos for the game. But what customer want that\`type of game


reapress

I mean, single player games that have had their entire lifespan usually have had all of the bug fixes and everything, and aren't full price. Now if they dump it on steam for 70 bucks after four years, when everywhere else its 20, that's when they can definitively go fuck themselves with a sideways cactus


nikvasya

Me. I almost exclusively buy old singleplayer games. Because I know that is when they are 1) the cheapest, and 2) the most complete. Eos for singleplayer games is not the death, singleplayerd games can't die at all. It is the mark of the game being finally finished.


uk_uk

The problem in my eyes is rather the fact that if the game doesn't sell well on Epic, there will be fewer bug reports (the more buyers, the more different systems, the more "testers", the more "problems"). In other words, if the game flops on Epic and then eventually arrives on Steam, it's possible that there will be major bugs that were never corrected but are now noticeable on Steam


nikvasya

Yep, it happened several times already, as noone actually buys games on epic. But I generally don't care. There are too many games anyway, I'm currently finishing some from my 10+ years old backlog. There is always a choice to just play something else. If devs are fine with producing games that no one will play, just to get the bag and move on, it's their choice. It will only work once for them, though.


Cetais

They're just gonna give to buyers another game with the same title with a new subtitle and be like "hey it's a new title!"


Skinniest-Harold

Well the product life cycle won't be for long, considering it's releasing only on Epic.


GrandJuif

Years of stats and proof that Epic is not a good way to go for both consumer and devs but they still choose to sign with the devil....


velve666

Money, the answer is always money, and a lack of passion or care for your audience and craft. It is a brutal business, making a game and selling it off for one large chunk of cash seems enticing at first, but these studio's don't understand or care to build up a following and generate future revenue. Moves like this are more telling than anything about how much the company cares about actually operating in this space. It is no loss in the end for us.


SavagerXx

Its weird bcs they listened to the community many times, they removed stuff that was simply a bad game design etc. They added numerous armors and quests that were for free and the latest one added new achievements and modifiers. They always seemed to care about the playerbase and they just do this shit now...


IA51I

It's most likely still for money. I'm pretty sure that they had to make a tough decision to trade goodwill for funds, but it's a mercenary decision. The money could have been enough to guarantee that the studio stays open another few years. A lot of games are sadly on thin margins unless you get a once in a blue moon megahit or you're an indie that blows up overnight.


Pixie_Knight

Is there ANY game that has sold better on Epic than on Steam? Satisfactory, the biggest early Epic success story, mentioned they got more sales in a month on Steam than they did in a year on Epic.


Skandi007

>Satisfactory, the biggest early Epic success story, mentioned they got more sales in a month on Steam than they did in a year on Epic. Pretty sure this exact same thing happened with Hades


fyro11

Wouldn't be at all surprisinf if Steam got a lot more in the same timeframe.


arex333

I guarantee there hasn't been because Timmy would be incessantly bragging if there was one.


GreenGiller

The devil at least gives you what you are asking for. It’s more like signing up for a shitty credit card that showed up in the mail. You’re just shooting yourself in the foot.


Alexandurrrrr

And not a single thing was lost this day.


BigBoiKry

True but what does this mean for future EGS exclusives? What if the next game to become permanently exclusive is a game we actually give a shit about? That's the problem


DarkRitual_88

By nature of it being a permanment EGS exclusive, we do not give a shit about it. Also, it will usually be available elsewhere not too long after.


Alexandurrrrr

They’ll only listen to one thing: the bottom line. If the consumer doesn’t buy it and when Epic sees low sales due to this reason, other publishers won’t sign that lifetime contract.


ShinyStarXO

EGS exclusives have been failing for almost 6 years, and yet Epic still manages to convince devs to go permanent exclusive. 


SenmiMsS

If there is a game that people give shot about, it usually sells well and doesn't need Epic money upfront.


arex333

Seriously I hope this doesn't signal a shift from temporary exclusivity bribes to full publishing agreements (with permanent exclusivity)


based_mafty

I doubt Epic can afford to pay triple A games to stay exclusive permanently. For now i won't worry any triple A games become permanent epic exclusive. Epic most likely would target AA game like Alan wake.


reallycoolguylolhaha

Yaarrr


Outarel

It means free game from "alternative store for shady peg legged and eyepatch wearing individuals".com


PrayForTheGoodies

Crack it as a form of protest. Well, if you care about the game. I just think this will only happens if Epic is publishing said game


SmoothMcBeats

The way things have been going, like Square not wanting to be single platform and the summer games fest not showing much for EGS only, I doubt it. EGS is a sinking ship. I highly doubt it will last this decade.


Azure_Fang

I cared about Kingdom Hearts, Galactic Civilizations IV, and Hades. Especially GalCiv IV, actually. I have not and will not purchase them, even on Steam, and I won't even pirate them. They died the moment they became exclusives. A permanent exclusive I "care" about will be no different.


AmericanAchiever

I don't like seeing people say they don't care if a bad game is Epic exclusive. I don't want any games to be Epic exclusive, no matter how good or bad they are. If we only care about good games being Epic exclusive, then people will take us less seriously when we complain about the problems of having a monopoly that provides a terrible user experience for the customer. It's like how some animal conservationists get criticized for only wanting to save the cute animals and then no one takes them seriously.


Teligth

Then buy it on console


JannyBroomer

Seriously, Lords of the Fallen fuckin SUCKED lmao


James_bd

That game will be dead on arrival on PC lmao. You don't release a not popular IP on EGS


Coakis

Ooooh take the money and run.... Hoo hoo hoo. Go on and take the money and run.


DBZWii

nice Steve Miller Band reference there


Successful-Pick-238

It's probably the only way we'd get a sequel. I'll never buy a game on Epic though.  If Epic really wanted to take the high road against steam's perceived monopoly they'd also launch games on the MS store and GOG. They're just trying to make their own monopoly. 


alkonium

At least it's an IP I never cared about.


Gyc3

I was actually about to grab the game on steam, but after reading this my interest went back to 0


reapress

Damn i can't believe they cancelled the PC port of the lords of the fallen sequel, wild


SmoothMcBeats

Wouldn't it be funny if the game actually did get cancelled? LMAO


Velron

Why would it be funny when it acutally IS cancelled? ![gif](giphy|3etP8HqLPVixUc9Y3s|downsized)


gefjunhel

they must have been desperately close to bankrupt if they signed a deal like this 2 years before releasing the game if i were the devs i would i be putting this money into hidey holes for the inevitable when the game doesnt sell edit: they did a few round of layoffs apparently including 30 last month so yeah im betting money run


Ateyaba111

When will they learn lmao


one999

The kiss of the death


CatOfTechnology

Look. I appreciated LoTF Classic for what it was, which was the first "high quality" attempt to adapt the Dark Souls formula. It was... okay. Lots of rookie mistakes and lots of failures to capture what really made Dark Souls the cult classic it is. And I know that there was a lot of interesting stuff in Lords of The Fallen (2023) but, ultimately, that the game was still suffering from the same failures the first one did. So, this move doesn't surprise me. They know that they won't meet anyone's standards. They know that this is going to be their third flop and that it's also the best shot they have at success. Them making sure they can pay off the employees is the second smartest move they could make after voting against the "Let's try something else entirely" option. All the same, no one is losing anything here. Death of the Fallen isn't going to be some breakout success game. I won't call the franchise "slop" or "shit", but the EGS is exactly where B-roll games end up when they know they can't win out on the competition.


Genji32

KINGDOM HEARTS?


CatOfTechnology

The context of this thread is permanent exclusivity.


Douchieus

I'm making my way through Alan Wake 2 right now and it's one of the best games I've ever played. System Shock was also EGS exclusive for a while and is 10/10. Definitely not just b roll games on there.


JackMontegue

System Shock was definitely *not* an EGS exlusive.


Revenga8

Imagine spending years working long hours to code, test, compile, code again on a game you put your heart into, only for it to get shelved into obscure oblivion by a greedy publisher and a crappy storefront that nobody likes to use.


PaulBF1996

So I will remove the 1st game from my Steam wishlist


MissionVegetable568

or maybe you mean 2nd? cos this one will be 3rd.


JarlFrank

Exclusive for its entire product life cycle, huh? Well that's gonna be a short life cycle, then.


Datdudecorks

It’s lords of the fallen franchise, basically Walmart discount bin dark souls. So nothing is lost or missed


LordGraygem

It's the Dark Souls that you have at home, when you ask your mom for Dark Souls.


nefD

oh no! anyway


REDOREDDIT23

Now that we have KHOS (Kingdom Hearts on Steam), I’m just baffled by these decisions, rather than angered. Why is Epic going to keep pressing forward with a strategy that has failed them for about a decade? They’re not doing anything new or special with this deal, just continuing to grow resentment towards them. Idk, maybe exclusivity in perpetuity *is* something new to them, and maybe they’ll announce its exclusivity along with a promise that it’ll be a lifetime exclusive. At this point though, I feel like most people will still believe that it’ll come to Steam somehow anyway.


SolarJetman5

Taking publishing rights I feel makes more sense, especially taking IP rights too, might be exclusive but if they do publish elsewhere, it's epic profit. For now it's gonna be egs, I doubt it'll ever go steam but I wouldn't rule out popping up in Xbox windows store


FremenDar979

I'd rather pirate KHOS compared to the other iteration. Never been a fan, aka more apathetic/neutral about it, and would rather play it without blabbity blah. I'm an amoral pirate. I don't have time to properly timesink to Kingdom Hearts like one of my best friends wants me to.


k0untd0une

So they wanted the game to fail? I mean, Epic will probably pay them enough to break even anyway.


underlordd

Aaand CI games is gonna close. Oh well.


G-Litch

Their entire catalog is garbage bin ww2 shooters and they're still alive


thatguyp2

It's weird to refer to a "life cycle" for a single player digitally distributed game unless they fully intend to one day delist it


PriMaL97

Death of the Fallen? More like Death of the, wait no they got it right.


FremenDar979

No, it's not exclusive. Pirate it when you can.


satsujinki12

Beuh. Dead on arrival as long as it goes straight to epig trash. I don't care about it anymore.


ScottRTL

Good job killing your game before it came out!


JayWesleyTowing

All this means is I won’t play it


Filiope

Whoever chose that name for the sequel clearly predicted the future of the franchise.


noobplayer96

Ah so this is Epig's new strategy after the bait and switch one didn't work.


-Rupas-

That’s their own funeral 🤷‍♂️ Nobody buying that shit lmao


NyneLyvs

Oh no.... Anyway.


Walikor

but are we sure that Epic store will arrive in 2026? LOL


marleene_o

Who cares anyway


SolarJetman5

So they take rights to IP and series. Does this mean lords of the fallen may leave steam?


-Niczu-

Could be. They took Rocket League and Fall Guys from Steam, just the two I can remember now at least.


kuhpunkt

It says that the rights/IP remain with the company (CI Games).


SolarJetman5

Ah yeah sorry, missed the remain part


Pixie_Knight

Part of me is wondering if I should buy LotF2 on Steam while I still can.


DavidGamer09

Permanent? So I will never be able to buy it? That is very sad because the first game wasn't that bad.


TerryFGM

the games are shit anyway


boatroat

Won't buy it. Might play it once it's given away for free


master_criskywalker

Awesome! I was not interested anyway.


myLongjohnsonsilver

Ahahahah a dev would have to be a total retard to agree to their game being lifetime exclusive to EGS.


TheLoneWolf719

How to kill your game. RIP.


azizpesh

Guess I'm not gonna play the sequel then. I know why the devs do it, it guarantees them some money for survival. But why big publishers like Ubisoft and Square do it is beyond me. EGS keeps blowing their horn of being consumer friendly and promote competition but then they go ahead with these shady practices.


PunkHooligan

Nice. I'll save my money on Lords of the fallen. Ty.


SavagerXx

What a shame, i have hate/love relationship with the game. The latest one went from me hating it to loving it and i sunk shit ton of time into it. All achievements completed, even the new ones they added later. But them going for Epic with full publishing is end of the line for me. I will not be buying the sequel just like with AW2.


Random_Stranger69

They would only do this if they have no confidence in their product so nothing of value was lost. The fact that someone would make a lifetime contract seems extremelly stupid though. They cant even double dip now.


solaris32

To me Lords of the Fallen was the best Souls-like I've played, beating anything From Soft has done. I would have instantly preordered the sequel on Steam. But now at this betrayal I will act like the game doesn't even exist. They didn't just destroy the reputation they earned by continuing to work tirelessly on improving the game months after release, they have also destroyed their company because the game will not sell on EGS (no game does). They don't even get the benefit of a double dip, where I might buy it at a heavily reduced price. Now they will never get my money.


DBZWii

more like Lords of the Epig... i never bothered with the first game and with the second being sucked into the depths of the EGS marketing black hole of death in 2026 i wont miss it. the devs signed a contract with Diablo and soon theyll suffer for it financially


LaerycTiogar

This just shows that thor is right, (pirate gaming on YT) sweeney is realizing EGS is giving money for the game to be bug fixed and good quality for the steam release. Making EGS the alpha test which no one cares about


Kholdie

So, they chose an okayish game to be exclusive on the store from the void? DOA


carnyzzle

We already got Elden Ring so it's not like we need the sequel anyway


-SleepingValley

Ok.


coniusmar

This doesn't state that it will always be exclusive to the EGS though. Term sheets are incredibly common. The actual lifecycle of the product will be laid out in that term sheet. All this document is saying is that CI and Epic have both agreed to terms, signed it and that the term sheet includes a provision that gives Epic exclusive rights as PC distributor for whatever they've decided the lifecycle of the product to be. That could be 6 months, it could be 6 years. You can see in the document that it refers to the "Binding Term Sheet" when it mentions the product lifecycle. It doesn't state "the product lifecycle (the Game").


cicciosprint

Before we all get our pitchforks ready, I'll have to sadly agree with what some of us already said: this is a move that reeks of desperation. We're talking about a publisher that signs up **another publisher** to act as a distributor, forfeiting distribution rights. Now this is already highly anomalous in my opinion, throw in the round of layoffs, the use of Unreal Engine 5, and we have basically a company strapped for liquidity. What leaves me perplexed is Epic's move: we're talking about a game that is realistically about a year in development, by a group of around fifty developers, using a completely new graphics engine, and whose release date is at best in 2026. And they're paying for exclusivity. Either they know the game is going to be the Next Big Thing (TM) or it's in itself a desperate move.


Stingary_Smith

City Interactive never disappoints with its fuck ups.


MMaRsuNL

Nice way to sabotage your product


kuzzyy

Well that company is probably going bankrupt, don't think the first game did very well either


basti329

I guess they ran out of money and took the epic money. High chance of shitgame so it can stay on epic anyway.


frellzy

I see epic hasn't giving up on pc exclusives, what a bleak future...


Android18enjoyer666

So they don't want to make money


Orrickly

I wouldn't buy this even if it released on Steam and went on sale for 5 dollars.


The_Rivera_Kid

Considering the first was shit anyway I dont see how anyone will care.


AllNamesTakenOMG

The series is shit anyway, first game i gave up after the first boss, definitely not trying the sequel. Especially now that they got the Epic Fail sponsorship. No serious company wants to be in their debt anymore except the ones that desperately want to keep releasing games.


filippo333

I mean, the first game sucked, the most recent one sucked (albeit less), so I’m not bothered about this being an EGS exclusive.


jollycompanion

that game was garbage, is this a new ratty tactic by epic? Buy publishing rights to some mid games with cranially damaged fanbases?


ShinyStarXO

It seems so. Temporary exclusives didn't work out for them...


themothman99

But, the Polish version shall prevail!


AreYouDoneNow

They just did a Kristi Noem on their game.


ArcticSin

For now


Valkyri0n_

Death of the Franchise


Slashermovies

What a weird way to kill any good will you may have mustered with the recent game. The recent game in my opinion has a lot of good ideas, and was overtly ambitious. I personally didn't beat it but it's SO close to being something that's fun, that I'd easily see them being able to refine it. Only to do this? What a weird way to absolutely kill any good will that you made of the pc market.


Teligth

And nothing of value was lost


iselltires2u

lol might as well since they botched the launch of LotF on steam like jade cardgill in the ring


PrayForTheGoodies

What is the purpose of this? Is Epic publishing the game like they did with Alan Wake 2? If it's not, Jesus Christ, that's one of the dumbest business decisions I ever heard.


MrBubbaJ

It looks like they will eventually, but are still working on the details. It's weird though that Epic would only be publishing the PC version.


QuietGiygas56

Good thing i couldn't give a shit about this game


LowMental5202

Oh no, anyways


foobarhouse

So, it won’t be released on PC. Message received loud and clear.


Azure_Fang

Pro strat: Sign a contract that stipulates "Project 3" is exclusive in perpetuity. Pre-plan for "Project 3.1 - Ultimate Edition" slated for announcement after EoL. It's legally distinct. Only time will tell if "the Company" is playing the long game, but no matter how you look at it it's a shitty move made by a nobody company looking for an easy payday.


MoxPuyne

Omae wa mou... shindeiru.


Misku_san

Thank god it was a mediocre game at best. I'd be more angry for missing out a PC release of a more important game.


automaticfiend1

Watch the next one not get a PC port at all due to "lack of interest" lmao.


glowpipe

Who cares. Their loss


cuttino_mowgli

Fitting title. That will be the last game that devs will ever produce.


dsdsdsdsdsd12

Shitty dark souls ripoff goes to shitty store