Epic Games' Tim Sweeney Is Warning Of Microsoft's Closed Gaming Ecosystem

[b15hop]

Resorting to piracy is still a win for EA.
Boycott = not buy and NOT use. That is what hurts them.

I love the game(s) too much. I had Me1 and 2 gifted to me but then loved them so much I bought me3 and Andromeda. This is coming from someone that hates DRM. Origin is so clunky and unusable. It makes me realise that if steam died tomorrow, all hell would break lose in the gaming community. The very thing we hate, we're starting to become normalised to. DRM is now just a commodity and seemingly accepted by the masses. But yeah I totally agree with you, don't use something if you don't like it.

[starshipeleven]

To give an example of games that require me to be online, Mass effect 2 and 3. The game needs to be logged in to play the DLC. Features like this make gamers want to destroy the DRM just to make the damn thing work. No internet = no games. And then EA wonder why people resort to piracy. Pretty simple EA. They damaged their PR when EA started forcing paying customers to go through hoops just to play a video game. Gamers get really tired of this historical fact repeating itself. Which is why I think indie companies are doing so well at the moment, and why Unity seems to also be doing so well.

Resorting to piracy is still a win for EA.
Boycott = not buy and NOT use. That is what hurts them.

[b15hop]

fixed

To give an example of games that require me to be online, Mass effect 2 and 3. The game needs to be logged in to play the DLC. Features like this make gamers want to destroy the DRM just to make the damn thing work. No internet = no games. And then EA wonder why people resort to piracy. Pretty simple EA. They damaged their PR when EA started forcing paying customers to go through hoops just to play a video game. Gamers get really tired of this historical fact repeating itself. Which is why I think indie companies are doing so well at the moment, and why Unity seems to also be doing so well.

[starshipeleven]

Windows store is quite a worry. I feel like it's a hack job attempt from Microsoft to try force DRM upon the pc pirate master race.

fixed

[b15hop]

It is my understanding that Microsoft has actually opened up their Windows store related technology since 8.1.

For example, developers do not need to rent a 30 day developer license to develop / test apps and users can now enable side loading with any version of Windows 10 without a special enterprise key or connecting to some domain server bollocks. This means that I can sell Windows 10 apps from my own website.

To be fair, it is very unlikely Windows will drop support for "standard" (I refuse to call them legacy because they are far superior to app store apps) applications but they might charge for it on a subscription based manner (Think paid for "Desktop" app that you buy from the store). Does anyone see any problem with this? I personally don't. After all Windows is *not* free. Linux and *BSD *are* free, so no change there then.

Fools cant simply tie themselves to a expensive proprietary OS *AND* bitch about it. They can just sod off frankly and get off my internet

Windows store is quite a worry. I feel like it's a hack job attempt from Microsoft to try force DRM upon the pc master race.

[monohouse]

if you think this move by MS will help convince developers to move to Linux/Vulkan/Name-your-preferred-platform-here you are living in a movie: MS will make sure that the effort required to port all those polished DirectX engines to those alternative APIs will cost more than just paying MS whatever they want, and you know developers are in it for the money, just as it was easier and cheaper to develop for DirectX, MS will make sure it is easier and cheaper to use their app store, and the less said about gamers dictating what platform games will be released on - the better. I would add another reason, to make sure you readers have no doubt: Linux is broken in too many ways for any developer to consider it as a platform, in terms of both effort and cost, to develop for it, the unlimited resources available at MS disposal to guarantee their appeal to developers are unmatched by Linux and it's community's ability. this is not what you wanted to hear but it's the truth, and unfortunately no one is in a position to do anything about it - individuals and corporations alike. MS force/control developers, developers force/control gamers.

[drohm]

What? Why should only big fancy companies get to do this? The only reason they aren't screwed now is because we (the plebs of the digital world) developed FOSS operating systems. We are the ones paying money out of our behinds to these companies, so why don't we get a system which *we* see fit and they bend around us to entertain us.

Digital consumers have such a strange outlook on stuff like this. It is a very real case of the Stockholm syndrome and it is what allows companies like Microsoft to thrive.

I dream a dream where one day it is normal for us to buy software as source code from these companies so we can run the software that we have purchased on whatever the hell platform / OS we want. Sure, it wont stop piracy but neither has Steam, app stores or anything else they have tried to "oppress" us with. It also means that the software can be made to work 20 years down the line (I find this important or I simply wont pay for it *but* unlike Richard Stallman I will still download it and run it).

I don't have a strange outlook on this stuff, you misinterpret. I agree, we (the plebs as you called it) developed the FOSS operating systems, but I'm talking about an incentive to get those companies to develop for our platform. Face it, we're an after thought to them, we're small potatoes compared to windows. It's not about having them dictate what the OS should be (like MS/Apple), it's more about having them write the software (games specifically here) for this platform (think Vulkan). People are getting fed up with MS, and they would come to this platform if the games they wanted were available for it (not 6 months to a year later if that). And when I say develop for it, I mean target linux as the primary platform for gaming. It won't happen overnight, but when MS does stuff like this, it only helps. I'm not sure if you listened to the interview with Mr. Sweeney, you could hear the frustration in his voice when he talked about some of the decisions MS made with Windows 10, the tracking, keylogging, etc. It's a great interview - http://bit.ly/21O6557

[chithanh]

So i read it and again, its only a different way for distribute packages.

Actually, Tim Sweeney's concerns are not about this way to distribute packages. In fact he explicitly acknowledges that Microsoft has the right to their own app store.
However, he fears that Windows functions will be limited to UWP apps, and Microsoft will make it extra burdensome (even more so than it is today) for developers to install UWP apps outside the Microsoft store, thereby effectively forcing competing app stores (like Steam, Origin, Uplay, GoG, etc.) out of the market as well as preventing companies to directly interact with their users (e.g. providing downloadable binaries on the website).

[kpedersen]

I so wish this would happen. They could then make the system how they all see fit

What? Why should only big fancy companies get to do this? The only reason they aren't screwed now is because we (the plebs of the digital world) developed FOSS operating systems. We are the ones paying money out of our behinds to these companies, so why don't we get a system which *we* see fit and they bend around us to entertain us.

Digital consumers have such a strange outlook on stuff like this. It is a very real case of the Stockholm syndrome and it is what allows companies like Microsoft to thrive.

I dream a dream where one day it is normal for us to buy software as source code from these companies so we can run the software that we have purchased on whatever the hell platform / OS we want. Sure, it wont stop piracy but neither has Steam, app stores or anything else they have tried to "oppress" us with. It also means that the software can be made to work 20 years down the line (I find this important or I simply wont pay for it *but* unlike Richard Stallman I will still download it and run it).

[drohm]

Imagine for a moment if nvidia, AMD, Nintendo, Sony, Epic, Valve, Crytek, Ubisoft, Blizzard, et. al. all came together as an industry and decided to assemble a standard gaming console operating system. Imagine that these players and actors doing what they did with Vulkan, but let’s see them come together this time writing exclusives for what Gabe N started with SteamOS. Together these actors have billions of dollars at their disposal. Sony developed a platform around FreeBSD. Google built Android on top of Linux. I read somewhere that Valve’s SteamOS cabal is only 12 people. Imagine what the entire gaming industry could do if they collectively decided to huddle around SteamOS or come up with something better based on Linux. Microsoft’s UWP barrier is precisely what we need to see a free alternative flourish and have SteamOS exclusives.

I so wish this would happen. They could then make the system how they all see fit to optimize the system themselves without having to go through MS. It would be amazeballs. Gotta have a dream, right??