In response to Epic CEO Tim Sweeney waging war on Steam, Larian's publishing lead says, 'Giving everyone everything for free might bump numbers but doesn't create a viable storefront'

Reacting to claims made by New Blood's CEO that Epic Games Store's free giveaways supposedly cause a boost in Steam sales, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is once again unhappy with his store's lot in life.

"On some transactions, Epic wins. On more, Steam wins. But one thing is constant on every transaction: gamers and developers win by having more options and better deals", says Sweeney.

This time, Sweeney's comments were challenged in a long thread by Michael Douse, the publishing director at Larian Studios, makers of Baldur's Gate 3 and the upcoming Divinity. Douse chimes in with added context about Remedy's critically-acclaimed Alan Wake 2, which took over a year and two million sales before it became profitable, arguably partly due to its Epic Games Store exclusivity.

"I understand Epic entirely funded Alan Wake 2 but this altruistic pro-developer talk doesn't sit well when Remedy seemingly went into financial crisis because they couldn't tap Steam for AW2 sales suffering potentially hundreds of millions in lost revenue," says Douse.

He goes on to add, "Competition is good, and important, but it is difficult to buy the message when there are demonstrable cases of games underperforming as a result of the tactic."

Bringing things back to Epic's strategy of tempting players to its platform with free games, Douse says, "the viability of the store sits on their ability to convert hundreds of millions of Fortnite players into mid-hardcore premium gamers, and I don't see the Fortnite brand attempting to do that."

"Giving everyone everything for free might bump numbers but doesn't create a viable storefront from which to sell premium experiences."

I'll add that, if the Epic Games Store aspires to be a true competitor to Steam, then it should start by offering a comparable, robust platform before splashing the cash, handing out free games like a bribe, and nabbing seemingly permanent exclusives on PC (though in Alan Wake 2's case, Epic did fund it). Maybe then I'd be more tempted to even play the free games I own over there before considering buying them on Steam instead.