Epic has revealed numerous details for its upcoming redesigned storefront, including that its game launcher is getting a much-needed overhaul. Users have long criticized the game launcher for its slow opening times, not to mention at one point getting attention for its unusual processor usage in comparison to other launchers such as Steam or GOG, and so an improvement of 5x quicker launching will be noticed. Leaked slides from a recent presentation show that Epic has multiple target goals for both the launcher and its storefront.
Presentation Highlights
- Adding in-store patch notes
- Store will open 5x to 6x faster
- Universal controller support
- Personalized home for game recommendations with suggestions matching users’ interests and playstyle
- Quick-access categories and a scrollable hero, allowing players to search without leaving the page they are on
- Dynamic game pages that connect to the game’s community and detail its story and player progression
- User Reviews
- Publisher Funded Coupons
- Library management improvements
- Cross-Region Gifting
- Game publishing directly from the developers’ portal, utilizing rich text, images, and scheduling options
- Players will receive notifications when a game they are interested in has been published
some other things:
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• Rebuilding the store from the ground
• Adding in-store Patch Notes
• Player reviews are finally coming
• The store will be 5x to 6.5x times faster
• Universal controller support
• All this will be in conjunction with Fortnite pic.twitter.com/zLp3ySHUzG
Epic is obviously hoping to attract more users to its storefront as Steam remains the go-to for many PC users. It has also mentioned in its presentation that it is looking to further develop cross-platform support, and so console owners will be able to take advantage of the multitude of changes inbound across the next 12 months. EGS has already established itself as a resource for those looking for free games, something that Valve has largely pulled back from in recent years with Steam, but despite reports of increased traffic, it still has a long way to go in approaching the user volume, so hopefully these changes will improve that.
Discussion (10 replies)
Join Discussion →Wow.
It's been *checks watch* 8 years since EGS launched and 23 years since Steam launched.
Problem is EGS is founded on contempt for gamers, with the belief that free games and exclusivity deals would be enough for gamers to choke down a dogshyte launcher as their primary PC storefront, and gamers proved them thoroughly wrong.
These changes are years late and millions of dollars short, and are only happening because the Fortnite mint is showing cracks in the foundations.
EGS is ... pretty bad.
Loads slow. Doesn't add any benefit, other than occasionally throwing a free game your way. Transactions occur slow. Nothing really great on there in the first place. I don't really know why I even have it installed, other than occasionally checking to see what free crap they throw out.
Meh, I hope the EGS succeeds. It'll nice having another good game launcher.
Steam, in the early days, wasn't all that great either.
It's been about 5 years since I opened EGS.
I hope it doesn't. Not after their slimey tactics and complete disregard for the user experience.
Hope for GOG to succeed instead.
I don't remember when I last ran it. I don't even have it installed right now. I still grab the free games from the website, but I've almost never used the launcher program to run even the ones I was interested in playing.
The only one who actually does it right is GOG. There the launcher is optional. Galaxy may not be the best, but at least I don't have to use it if I don't really want to.
Yeah I remember those days...
I didn't come in right at the beginning. Like a lot of people, my first use of Steam was for HL2, which I got a few months after launch. It was still rough in those days. Took them a looooong time to fix a lot of issues.
Out of all of these storefronts, the only one that truly deserves to succeed is GOG.
I was not using steam for a long time for anything outside of half-life. My first 3rd party Steam game was DeusEx Human Revolution in Aug 2011, and I don't remember it being bad at that point.
At 8 years old EGS can't use the excuse of being new or not having time to work it out. They simply don't care.
It took me a long while to embrace steam. But I have, and EGS lives in the background along with ALL of the others.
I'm platform agnostic. I'd like to see GOG sell through more... but I'm not holding my breath. With no licensing checks publishers are not likely to embrace them and that's the real issue.
- I agree that having healthy competition (Healthy = competition via features/pricing rather than exclusives) is ultimately good for everyone and keep Valve on their toes.
Problem is EGS has been completely uninterested in actual healthy competition, so I have the same contempt for them that they do me.
GOG has a great mission, but it exists in its own little niche and isn't even really competition against steam but really more of a game preservation company. It's entire model ensures that publishers won't bring releases to it quickly or at all.
Lastly, I really dislike the "Steam wasn't great early on either" argument. Steam was the trailblazer, if anything they've laid out a blueprint for what a successful storefront should look like so everyone coming after them should have their work cut out.
Epic isn't some podunk start-up either, their most recent valuation puts them around something like ~$22 Billion dollars. They have and had the money to put out a storefront that could compete with Valve/Steam. The fact that EGS is so bare bones is a *choice* not just growing pains.
Tim Sweeney seems less mentally stable to me than Gabe so I don't want his store doing better than Steam. Just my two cents. I'm fine as long as it is the reason Steam stays honest or as honest as it can try to be.
Its a storefront, buy the game or not?