I’ve received reports regarding the reactions of Epic employees in the official Discord server lately. It sounds like every day a free game was announced, the staff was met with a wave of complaints about the quality of the titles. It’s not exactly surprising given the entitlement often associated with the user base Epic has cultivated.
What I found particularly funny is that Epic employees were apparently using Steam reviews to justify the quality of these free games to the complainers. I thought the common narrative from Epic defenders was that Steam reviews are "useless" or "unreliable," yet here they are using them as a gold standard.
It's remarkable they're still trying to bribe gamers into using the Tencent backed Epig malware.
It's both funny and sad that the only way they could get developers to use their store exclusively was with bribes.
It's funnier and sadder that the only people who use their store do so because of the free game bribes.
But funniest and saddest (for Epig) is that those freeloaders hate Epig whenever they don't get something like GTA:V for free, and at the same time will be the first to vanish overnight when the free game bribes stop.
I remember they just added the shopping cart like 2+ years ago, meanwhile Steam has had it for ages just like other sites like Amazon. Epic is a shit service
These features are not difficult to implement, neither are things like forums and community discussions.
There's very little in the way of technology barriers to approach feature parity with Steam, especially not for a company making billions off children spending money on Fortnite V-bux.
So the lack of features is not caused by some kind of technological incompetence, it's a deliberate choice.
Why? As always, follow the money... the large amounts of money Tencent has invested in Timmy's business.
IIRC, they specifically don't want user reviews or forums. They were trying to use that as a selling point... to publishers.
I recall something along the lines of "gamers already have places to discuss games, so let them do that".
Steam is user friendly, epic is publisher friendly. The whole ecosystem is built to protect publishers.
Then they added "reviews" but in such a way that developers have significant control over the process, and no actual free speech is permitted from gamers.
That's seriously the future Tim Sweeney wanted, by the way, as evidenced through EGS.
For gamers to be silenced.
you see "put the publisher name here" you don't need your "CM" managing Forums or a extra one for each
There are some features which are work intensive, and they only really work as well as they do on steam because steam continuously develops it for a decade or so. Like controller support or workshop.
Forums and community discussion require moderation.but that brings up a question, are they allowing cheaters or questionable behaviour in their games?
Their decision to not add a shopping cart for several years was not because it was difficult but because they did not want to add it.
After all, at the same time their shop for Unreal engine assets did have a shopping cart.
The likely reason to not have one for years was most likely to inflate the statistics of user purchases on the store.
"Look how many purchases people make in our store!"
Makes it easier to get all the shareholders to agree to keep pumping money into the money pit.
Similarly, I'd venture a guess that the driving force to implement a shopping cart was less customer convenience but more that shareholder questions became uncomfortable.
"Why are the number of purchases so high but the profit doesn't go up?"
More likely to avoid the 'abandoned cart' effect. Amazon introduced instant checkout because they measured that people often add something to the cart and get second thoughts about it, while immediate ordering it won't result in a chargeback/return. Practically psychological manipulation to have people spend more.
yeah but that makes it also harder for purchasing games with DLC that don't come with bundles or just want specific DLCs all that to then end up locked out of your account for "buying too much". Amazing play for epic there lol.
Epic is for the most part private, sweeney being the 51% holder and CEO, not really sure hes much interested in shareholder value, in fact maybe tanking it to recover most of it back at low price would make more sense, but is a risky move considering the fortnite fountain is starting to dry up slowly.
Started stupid, still runs stupid, attracts stupid, managed by stupid. Nothing will change as long as free games keep people in and I don't even know why the employees complain about their only lifeline for the launcher.
They are just employees doing their job. We have to keep in mind that this whole thing is being pushed solely because of 1 Epstein-Class dude's fragile ego.
Yeah, see the problem, not the person, always good advice.
Although, these guys would probably get more sympathy if they were a little more self aware and conscious that what they're doing is harmful to everyone.
I think most of the employees are. That little quip about Steam ratings gives it away that they themselves don't really believe in their product. That they are just doing as told to keep Timmy happy and get a paycheck for themselves.
Can't blame them in this economy.
Exactly. Epic is a miserable company to buy from and probably a miserable company to work for, but there's a MASSIVE crunch in the gaming sector right now. No one wants to give up a steady paycheck from a s@#$%y company if it means they become another homeless bum.
I have no ill will for the employees.
But I do get mildly annoyed when they piss on us and tell us it's raining.
what's the point using epic if not for the game bribes
A leeching company that markets to leeches. It would be comedic if it wasn't the truth.
absolutely true. it's crazy how many epic shills are in piracy subs, just because "iT's FrEe!!!111".
Using the STEAM REVIEWS, of all things, as proof that the games are good is a special level of mask-off. They're basically admitting that Epic reviews are useless (due to the rigged 5-star system) and resorting to Steam's "review bombing" to prove the games being offered are actually good.
They're basically admitting that Epic
reviews areis uselessFTFY
I mean, that part goes without saying. The thing is, at least a few Epic kiddies have never heard of - or at least never used - Steam, and now they might start wondering what this competitor is Epic staff seems to be shilling for.
To be charitable, if they used epic reviews they'd be accused of being biased
Sure, but it's not like Steam is the only option. Metacritic (user or critic reviews) is a decent option if they MUST find an "unbiased" source of a numerical score.
Or they can just go to the widest scope of things people accept the reviews for. This isn't something I find any reason to nerd rage over, especially with how widespread steam is as a platform.
metacritic's a meme
The "nerd rage" is over Epic having spent the last few years insisting that Steam's review system is rigged and vulnerable to "review bombs", so they created their own star-system as a solution for the publishers. Even Epic's CM's know its useless, given that even crypto shovelware can't get below 3.5 stars.
He types that and won't think anything of it the next minute. But somehow you find it as a way to say that epic is saying that their 5 star system sucks and this is their way of admitting it. You do realise that most pc gamers do use steam, and so by pointing out steams reviews, it gives a good estimate of how good the game is to a majority. If they said 'its 4.5 star on epic', you guys are just gonna say how rigged it is (at least what it seems you would do from a quick scroll of this comment section). A mod on discord/employee says something and you start twisting and implying imagining there's a fucking deeper meaning to it holy shit. Like there's a chance that even though he works at epic he still uses steam for at home, and he's just used to using steam reviews as his standard. The point is its his personal wording, it doesn't fucking matter
But that's the point. If someone's unconscious instinct to defend a game is to bring up the Steam reviews, they clearly believe that Steam reviews have some merit... which is a violation of Timmy Tencent's company line.
An employee doesn't have to have the same morals as their employer...
No, but if employees don't share the company's morals, that leads me to question why. Either it's a miserable place to work, so employees have no desire to toe the company line, or the company just sucks at propaganda.
Also, is 'fvck STEAM reviews!1!' a "moral"?
I don't know what they expect
I have claimed over 80 free games on EGS with no will or desire to every use their store front
This is like giving away free iced coffee every weekend and then crying that no one is buying coffee from you on Saturdays
Also there is a beloved coffee shop next door with better prices and in the egs one you might get food poisoning or your credit card stolen (also revieuws don't exist just like many basic features)
Yeah I have been claiming the games with no intention to play them. I like to imagine that I am contributing to making them lose some money.
"le sigh"? Wow what a loser response
It was cringe in the 2016, there are no words to the shock that was reading that in 2026
100% real epig guy = 100% trash
Launchers that aren’t fucking garbage
Lmao not sure what these chode brains are actually expecting?
You market free trash and it attracts vermin.
Chode brains?? Isn't a chode a dick thicker than it's length or smth?
who would have thought releasing multiple AAA games in a row including games that had just released would result in a community that only cares about big name giveaways
To be fair, it's their own fault for "peaking" so early with GTAV. Tons of peeps made extra accounts to grab that one for free, so it makes sense that they wouldn't be satisfied with anything that wasn't as high profile as that.
It sort of reminds me of the gripes you'd often hear from long-time Steam users about the seasonal sales after they dropped the flash sales. Just on a much larger and more pathetic scale.
well tbf, once you give away GTAV what is out there for giving away of equal or better quality? cause you ain't convincing cd project red with witcher 3, CoD is a fountain of greed that would die on that hill and make you pay for him to do it, BUGisoft? tried already and came crawling back to steam. Think about it, they are against the wall on that front, sweeney truly a master of playing pinball with the Titanic on the north pole while screaming in Canada's general direction
They want Black Myth Wukong, Arc Raiders, Cyberpunk, AAA high profile games that rivaled GTA V, not smaller indie games no matter how good their steam reviews are. You guys put out the big gun once, they'll be wanting more of that, not less. There, Epic Guy, I answered your question.
Some people rather live in a bubble than accepting reality of things.
the second part is hilarious to me, " its got 94% on over 8k reviews, idk what u guys like anymore" ... yup lets look at the good/bad rating and not the amount of reviews and then be shocked when low reviewed games arent perceived well
8k reviews is an amount...?
its a low amount of reviews regardless if it has a high good/bad rating, if they are interested in what games people are interested in playing they should look more into the amount of reviews ie games with 15k+ reviews maybe more, as the community on epic collecting free games will likely want the games that most people buy/bought to play with friends or play through to have relatable experience etc and the amount of reviews is a good indicator of high player base or atleast an interest in the game...
Imo that’s such a shit metric for choosing what games to put up. Quality>Quantity should always be the ultimate deciding factor. Unfortunately, it seems that the average gamer doesn’t give a flying fuck.
Which is funny because the whole indie>triple a movement seems like a joke now if mfs only really want whats popular.
people have fun gaming with friends and having relatable experiences, if youre in it for a solo experience thats fine but its niche which is why the most popular games are multiplayer because people enjoy social interactions, also alot more variables in reviews as the popularity rises ie bad rating bots, people who get it just because others recommend it even if its not to their taste, or people in general who enjoy going against the grain compared to a low review/ unknown game which will have very few people who spend on it unless they specifically sought it out in which case are more likely to give a positive review because its what they wanted before even getting
It doesn’t matter what games they offer for free if the platform itself sucks. Thats why people are complaining.
Lmao, that's what they get when their entire business model is exclusivity deals and trying to bribe us with free shit (often very literal)
Isn't the entire tactic to offer GOOD free games on your market to make people use it more often? Because otherwise the competition is so massive that people have no reason to use yours. It's not a handout where people are "picky", it's a planned strategy to make more people use Epic, of course they're gonna complain when the tactic is done poorly.
The funniest shit was when I tried playing Civ when it was free on epic with friends, and epic could not connect us no matter what. 10 minutes later on the high seas we were playing so smoothly you'd think we're on the official game.
Daily free gamees? Wasn't it weekly before?
During the holidays, they ramp up their giveaways. But they also expire more quickly.
During Christmas it was daily I think leading to Christmas Day
They do daily free games over the holiday season. For the holidays just gone It was two weeks of daily games starting December 18th and ending January 1st. The Jan 1st games reverted to lasting a week again.
At this point I'd assume EGS is still not even making a profit. It has been years though since it launched. How long does Epic really plan to keep this up for? Surely eventually even Tim has to acknowledge that it failed.
He can't keep grifting investors if he admits the money tree died years ago. He'll never admit it. It'll be Tencent that finally pulls the plug.
There's got to be a breaking point where Timmy gets forced to focus on Fortnite and Fortnite alone, rather than continue to plow V-Bucks into a barely-functional "competitor". Amazon, a MUCH larger company than Epic, gave up trying to compete with Steam long ago. Unfortunately, they cancelled my beloved New World in the process.
that makes people hatin on epic more. Referring straight to the competitor is like career bottoming moment lmao.
ahhahhahha poor epig fail shit store, now it will never reach the paying users of steam LOL good like this
Steam so goated even epic employees use it
Sounds like story when you want to get rid of something for free then people expect you to send them for free too. Then you set prize for 1-5% of value then people are happy do buy.
This is what happens when you condition your user base to expect free games not as a bonus, but as part of "using" their store.
I can't feel bad for company (not that I would, with all of those billions of dollars they're wiping their tears with), when it's entirely their fault for cultivating this sort of user. There is no incentive to buy games on there when there's another free one around the corner. And if all you do is play Fortnite while claiming games on the side, after you drop that game you now have potentially hundreds of games to play instead of buying anything.
So naturally, they're left with "freeloaders". Whiny ones too. But that's exactly what they were going towards with every year extending this "strategy".
and for those who wanted to buy, they are in constant fear that "this may be free next week" or similar, great job
They are right tho but it is what model running on giveaways get
“Ironic”
When I started feeding my dog chicken breasts, it started turning its nose up on kibble.
My dog did the same. I just keep feeding it kibble, or go hungry. Now he eats the kibble.
That said, what I really feed him is chicken breath, chicken stock (from boiling the breast) and kibble mixed. He's a picky eater though. Always has been.
Lol this is pretty funny
Not sure why they’re surprised. I don’t use EGS but it certainly sounds like they do the absolute bare minimum to pass as a functional store, meanwhile competitors put in at least a bit of effort to make their platforms attractive and worth using. When all your platform is good for is game giveaways, of course the majority of your userbase will be unhappy when those giveaways aren’t for high-profile/popular games.
The second slide is comedy gold btw. I sure wonder why the game is so highly rated on Steam while your own “customers” are complaining…
Epic employees are absolutely delusional if they still think throwing money will make people use their trash platform.
i would rather pirate a game then ever have to bother opening shit ass epic games launcher to play whatever free game they gave me
If they wanted people to be happy they would have given away Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2.
I mean shit that’s been happening for awhile. Epic is so shit that people downloading games off the EGS have been coming to Steam store pages to get support.
I'm pretty sure Epic is using Steam reviews to pick the free games.
The problem is that with a free game most people who get it aren’t remotely interested in the genre. You’re not guaranteed to like a game you pay for, but if you buy Brotato then you’re at least interested in roguelikes.
Oh hey never heard of this sub but im a premier epic hater. Awesome to find my people
(I bought the 600 dollar pack for fortnite when it first came out, then in all of the hype they nuked my epic account and wouldnt let me get it back. If epic has no haters, im dead)
They don't understand it's simply their software.
Nobody wants to use this shit.
Anyone complaining about something they're being given for free doesn't deserve to have their opinion listened to, it's just pathetic.
You shouldn't hate on these guys, they're just doing their job. They mostly do not have any decision making powers in the company, upper management is the only one to blame in this.
Community managers have a well-established reputation of being shoved into the firing line by incompetent companies who ignore all of the feedback said manager relays from the players (you know, the reason they were supposedly hired in the first place).
After Creative Assembly's beloved CA_Grace quit in the wake of the cancellation of Total War: Three Kingdoms, CA cycled through a new community manager every few months, hitting its nadir around the Hyenas controversy. A company known for grand strategies trying to make a hero shooter was never going to work out.
Never heard of this, I'll look into it.
There is absolutely zero personal hate to those guys. As you just said, they are just doing their job. The animosity is against the company and the people taking decisions there.
Well after re reading the comments i agree that they may not be targeted against the users on the screencaps. They feel ambiguous to me.
IMO, I don't know why people complain about free games. It is free stuff after all, take it or leave.
But the free games storefronts are the ones calling Steam a monopoly while engaging in blatantly wonton monopolistic practices themselves
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What?
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Rule 6: Educate don’t attack.
Rule 6: Educate don’t attack.
People generally don't like things. Especially free things. They should not be discouraged by this at all. It's also only the minority who voice negative opinions about free things. The lowest of low in gaming society.