I can’t seem to find that one comment explaining the issue with them…
But for the sake of promoting conversation on Lemmy, what’s the issue with Epic, and why should I go for Steam or GoG?
Note: Piracy is not an answer. I understand why, and do agree to a certain extent… But sometimes, the happiness gained by playing something from a legitimate source is far greater 🥹… coming from someone who could never ever afford to purchase games, nor could my parents… Hence I’ve always played bootleg, or pirated games.
TL;DR
What’s wrong?
- Their launcher has a terrible UI AND UX.
- They make exclusive deals with studios to prevent other platforms from getting games. (Someone mentioned that Steam did the same thing in their infancy. Also, I have another question; why is it ok for Sony and Microsoft to make exclusive games for their consoles but not ok for these PC platforms to do so?)
- They have been invested in by a Chinese company, Tencent. (Someone mentioned that it isn’t that big of a deal, but idk.)
- They are actively anti-linux for some reason.
Epic doesn’t play nice with Linux, and lemmy is a Linux-centric place - that’s nearly all of the hate. I find Linux to be a pain in the ass because everything else I use, and am of my games, are Windiws native. I click the install button and never have to worry about which version of proton will work. It’s the second worst thing about my Steamdeck (the first is, of course, that atrocious keyboard).
You will be able to tell how rabid the Linux continent is here by the number of down votes I get for saying that windows is simply a better gaming platform and Epics nose-thumbing at Linux causes me exactly zero worries because I play on the OS these games were made for.
This has nothing to do with Linux. Gamers in general, the cast majority being in Windows, hate EGS. It makes contracts for exclusivity, the launcher is apparently atrocious and there’s an almost inherent bias against any launcher/storefront that isn’t Steam. You’ll find those three reasons in just about any conversation about EGS.
And, to actually address your Linux theory, all I have to do is to open Heroic, sign in if I haven’t already, download the game and run it through Proton, in exactly the same way I do on Steam. Epic’s hate for Linux isn’t really that much of a problem.
“Gamers in general”
No. Gamers in general aren’t on gaming discussion platforms to see the minority complaining about the things that bothers them, the vast majority of gamers are playing games wherever they are.
My main issue is that Tim Sweeny has repeatedly shown that he really doesn’t know that he’s taking about when it comes to Linux and how it works. Like if you’re gonna diss something at least have valid reasons. Windows is a better gaming platform right now, but that’s only because companies like epic refuse to pay any service to it. Hopefully that changes soon.