Some controversy began brewing over the first major sale on the Epic Games Store. Some gamers weren’t able to buy certain games, some discounts weren’t stable, and some publishers pulled out. It was a real clown show of… epic proportions.
WCCF Tech originally reported that there were deep discounts on select titles, but also that some games ended up missing. For instance, Oxygen Not Included was originally available but then was gone.
The sudden removal of certain games left customers bereft of purchasing clearance at checkout, resulting in error messages, one of which went viral on Twitter after user Patrick Boivin publicly berated Epic for the snafu on May 16th, 2019.
HAHAHA OH MY GOD THIS FUCKING STORE IS SO BAD pic.twitter.com/LLz9dGJyeI
— Patrick Boivin (@AngriestPat) May 16, 2019
Communication was originally limited at the time, but later Supergiant Games was one of the few developers who responded to an inquiry from WCCF Tech to explain another issue that customers encountered during the Epic Games Store sale: price fluctuation.
Some games seemed to jump up in price while being discounted, which left some gamers scratching their heads over what was going on. According to Supergiant Games, they state that this was an error on their end, telling WCCF Tech…
“Earlier today, Hades became available at a significant discount as part of the Epic Mega Sale on the Epic Games store. We communicated poorly in the hours that followed, and want to clear things up.
“The retail price of Hades is now back to $19.99, our original launch price. With the Epic Discount, you can get the game for $10 off that price right now, through to the end of the sale on June 13.
“After the sale is over, on June 14, we will be raising the game’s retail price to $24.99. We had intended to raise the retail price of the game soon, but made the decision rashly as part of the sale — we didn’t provide advance notice to our customers, despite previously stating we would do so. That was our mistake, and we sincerely apologize. To all our players, thank you for your patience and understanding around this.”
As noted by WCCF Tech, the $10 discount on titles is being covered by Epic Games. As reported by PCGamesN, this was corroborated by Mike Bithell, whose John Wick Hex launched as an Epic Games Store exclusive.
Yeah, we get paid in full.. this is Epic paying towards your bar tab, not the drinks being cheaper.
Appreciate those asking having our backs, but order guilt free if you’re a preorder type person, we get the same cut as if you were paying full price.
— Mike Bithell (@LA) (@mikeBithell) May 16, 2019
But the shenanigans didn’t end there.
Not every developer was keen on wanting their game being part of the discount, which is set to run up until June 14th.
According to TechRaptor, Paradox Interactive was one of the studios that pulled out after Epic had Vampire The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 go on sale, apparently without their approval. In a statement to TechRaptor, Paradox explained…
“We are in discussion with Epic regarding the temporary removal of Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 from the Epic Game Store. The game will return to the store soon! Any purchases made while the game was discounted during the Epic Mega Sale will be honored and no Masquerade violations will be assessed.”
Epic Games director of publishing strategy, Sergey Galyonkin, had to run damage control on Twitter, assuring fans that they wouldn’t lose their titles this time around, unlike the last time when Detroit: Become Human was temporarily made free and after gamers added it to their library Epic Games retroactively removed it from the library of consumers.
Paradox Interactive решила убрать игру с распродажи.
— Sergey Galyonkin (@galyonkin) May 16, 2019
TechRaptor also provided a translation of some of Galyonkin’s other tweets, where he explained…
“1. Anyone who managed to buy the game at a discount – will receive it at a discount.
2. The game will return to the store.
3. We fully compensate the discount to the publisher, they do not lose money.
4. The publisher was informed in advance about the sale mechanism and was aware of its conditions.”
Epic was probably trying to bolster numbers as quickly as possible in order to secure more exclusives. At the end of the day they need more than just indie and AA exclusives to secure more AAA exclusives. They need metrics.
This could be a quick push to garner numbers before Valve starts the summer sale in June, and it also helps get an early start on pushing product in the mainland of China, after the store recently launched in the region.
Either way, the Epic Games Store sale seemed to get off to a really muddled start. This seems to be a consistent story with the storefront in the news sphere since its aggressive push to compete with Steam.
(Thanks for the news tips Animatic and Crippknottick Orlando)
