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Watched the video. I feel that the vid's pretty much fearmongering. Price wars exist in just about any industry. Epic isn't even the market leader, Steam is. Epic is just trying to take market share from their competitors and this is one way to do it while they still have the liquidity (due to the success of FN) and this is a pretty valid tactic to do so. Don't get me wrong, I hate the Epic store (not planning on ever getting it either, just Steam for me) and there's really more to complain about if we're discussing them trying to exclusivize games (w/c is also a valid tactic but is anti-consumer) by bribing devs but them discounting games w/c would force competitors to either react and offer something better or lose market share is really not something I would want to complain about. As for the devs complaining about the reduction of price devaluing their game, I think there is a bit of validity to it (I guess? I feel it is a bit far fetched tbh) but I can't really see a potential customer NOT buying a dev's game at all just because it is cheaper in another store. If anything, the customer would consider either buying the game they want at the more expensive store or if they are willing to go thru the switch (I would most likely stay with the current service I am on. I like Steam and don't plan to transfer just because I gotta pay a few more extra bucks).

I feel the concern he has is about the rise of a possible monopoly thru tactics like these is also a bit of a logical reach. Market leaders are the ones that establish monopolies by crushing their competitors. So far Epic has to compete with the likes of MS, EA store and Steam and I feel it's a bit too soon to be concerned about any monopolies coming up when there is robust competition with such deep pockets.

Heck, it's not even a very smart tactic tbh. Trying to price war against larger competitors who have a more diverse array of income streams (whereas I feel Epic is depending too much on FN revenue) means that the second interest on their main income earner starts to dwindle, there is a good chance they will not be able to maintain this kind of aggressive posturing. In w/c case, losing their main draw (big phat discounts and exclusive content via bribed devs) and not building a solid relationship with their primary market (due to inferior service compared to its competitors) and the bad PR they are getting (exclusivizing beloved games like Borderlands isn't doing their PR any good), would likely hurt their growth in the long run. Hey, I'm not an expert or anything of course (well, I did graduate Business and that is what I do for a living but I'm not a video game industry expert I mean). Basically, the next fad game coming out is essentially their deadline to secure their market share

Last edited by DrDoomz - on 19 May 2019