Tim Sweeney’s at it again. He’s trumpeting the greatness of Epic Games Store – and, to be fair, he’s the company’s CEO. Why wouldn’t he? Sweeney tends to attract his fair share of naysayers, however; often, they’ve got valid points. This time, the naysayer is none other than Larian Studios’ publishing director.
In a response to Sweeney’s most recent hype tweet, Michael Douse took aim at the sentiment that developers “win” from having consumers having “more options and better deals.” After all, Douse posits, one need only look at Alan Wake 2.
Money On The Table
As GamesRadar+ reports, Epic Games’ big boss left out an important detail, at least as far as Michael Douse is concerned. “…Gamers and developers win by having more options and better deals,” Sweeney proclaims, before Larian’s Douse counters by citing a glaring omission to that concept.
Alan Wake 2 remains unavailable on Steam. Even if it pops up tomorrow, the launch period would surely have been its best shot at making serious money, and that didn’t happen. Given the difference in overall market share between Steam and Epic Games Store, this was, to put it plainly, a problem.
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.” -Michael Douse
Douse expands on his point in a series of follow-up tweets, but he hardly buries the lead. His initial statement is a damning indictment of the end result of a beloved title that would go on to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2023. For all its acclaim, Alan Wake 2 hasn’t exactly been a huge commercial success. In Douse’s view – and, I’d reckon, most people’s – this could have at least been somewhat mitigated by launching the long-awaited sequel on what is, by far, the world’s largest digital PC gaming storefront.
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“…It is difficult to buy the message when there are demonstrable cases of games underperforming as a result of the tactic,” Douse expands. “Ultimately, 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.”
Epic Games assisted financially in the development of Alan Wake 2, but Remedy did not turn a profit on the project until around November 2024. Folks are still buying the game, to be sure, but probably not in droves. Those droves might’ve been dipped if it had been on Steam, especially during Valve’s deep discounts. Alas.
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