• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney Calls For Unified Digital Games Store

Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Messages
1,519 (1.04/day)
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney recently spoke at the Coalition for App Fairness conference in Seoul where he called for a unified digital store for game platforms. Sweeney stated that Epic Games had already begun working with publishers and service providers to create this vision of a unified store where customers could be confident that their purchases would work across all platforms. The system described by Sweeney would be a radical departure from existing ecosystems such as Xbox, PlayStation, Steam, Nintendo, and Epic where digital purchases are often limited to an individual companies platform.

This new system would allow games purchased from any ecosystem to be fully playable on all supported platforms without requiring multiple purchases. The success of this vision is entirely dependent on game studios signing up to the program which will likely be a hard sell given the expected fall in sales. While there are limited options currently exist for cross-buy games the movie industry has implemented a similar program with Movies Anywhere which boasts large studios such as Disney, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros.

Tim Sweeney said:
What the world really needs now is a single store that works with all platforms



View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 

bug

Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
13,163 (4.07/day)
Processor Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard Asus H670 TUF
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s) Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s) Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard G.Skill KM780R
Software Arch Linux + Win10
Preferably one that exclusively uses Steamworks, right? :wtf:
 
Joined
Aug 4, 2020
Messages
1,567 (1.18/day)
Location
::1
 

bug

Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
13,163 (4.07/day)
Processor Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard Asus H670 TUF
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s) Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s) Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard G.Skill KM780R
Software Arch Linux + Win10
Joined
Jan 13, 2021
Messages
109 (0.09/day)
Processor AMD 5800X
Motherboard MSI MPG B550 GAMING EDGE WIFI
Cooling Water Cooler SilverStone PF360-ARGB
Memory HyperX Fury, 32GB (4x8GB), 3600MHz, DDR4, CL17, HX436C17FB3K4/32
Video Card(s) RX 6800 XT Sapphire Nitro+ OC
Display(s) Acer Predator X34 34"
Power Supply Sharkoon 850W, 80 Plus Gold, SilentStorm CoolZero
Software Windows 11 21H2 Build 22000.318
Let me get the bullshit translator: Epic games store should be the only gaming store available for all platforms.
 
Joined
Feb 6, 2021
Messages
2,554 (2.22/day)
Location
Germany
System Name Sunk Cost Fallacy
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard ASRock B650E Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 Rev. 7
Memory 2x16GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO 6000 CL30
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X
Storage WD Black SN850X 1TB + 2x 2TB, 2x 4TB Crucial MX500, 4TB Samsung 870 Evo.
Display(s) Alienware AW2723DF, LG 27GR93U, LG 27GN950-B
Case Lian Li O11 Air Mini
Audio Device(s) Bose Companion Series 2 III, Sennheiser GSP600 and HD599 SE - Creative Soundblaster X4
Power Supply bequiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1500w Titanium
Mouse Logitech GPRO X Superlight & G502 X
Keyboard Corsair K65 RGB Mini, Razer Black Widow V3 TKL
VR HMD Oculus Rift S
he wants "freedom" for players.
pays 150 million dollars to make games at least time exclusive on epic to take away the freedom of choice.

now he wants to fight against the evil monopoly from apple, google and steam.
starts to work on a single platform for every platform on the world.

tim sweeney is a complete joke.
 

bug

Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
13,163 (4.07/day)
Processor Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard Asus H670 TUF
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s) Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s) Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard G.Skill KM780R
Software Arch Linux + Win10
he wants "freedom" for players.
pays 150 million dollars to make games at least time exclusive on epic to take away the freedom of choice.

now he wants to fight against the evil monopoly from apple, google and steam.
starts to work on a single platform for every platform on the world.

tim sweeney is a complete joke.
What he's talking about has been obvious from the beginning.
And yet everybody built their store into a walled garden. They thought it was smart to corral in players. And now they face extinction since publishers built their own stores, denying others their 30% cut (at least upon launch date, which is what counts). Store operators might pull a miracle and somehow unite, but they'll never get big publishers back.

If I had to guess, I'd say Tim is playing the hero/good samaritan card to draw some sympathy.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jun 18, 2021
Messages
2,253 (2.22/day)
This meme is so old, it talks about IM standards :D

It's not a meme, it's XKCD - a famous webcomic about romance, sarcasm, math, and language. (and yes, I got triggered by hearing a xkcd being referred as if it were just a common meme :D)

he wants "freedom" for players.
pays 150 million dollars to make games at least time exclusive on epic to take away the freedom of choice.

now he wants to fight against the evil monopoly from apple, google and steam.
starts to work on a single platform for every platform on the world.

tim sweeney is a complete joke.

I mean, the idea is great but it's motives are of course very misguided. And as bug said, it comes way too late, now that every publisher has it's own store front we'll be stuck with multiple different stupid launchers :banghead:

The closest thing i've seen to a solution is GoG galaxy and even then it's far from perfect and only works on pc (for obvious reasons, consoles are closed and their economics are just different).
 
Joined
Dec 26, 2006
Messages
3,471 (0.55/day)
Location
Northern Ontario Canada
Processor Ryzen 5700x
Motherboard Gigabyte X570S Aero G R1.1 BiosF5g
Cooling Noctua NH-C12P SE14 w/ NF-A15 HS-PWM Fan 1500rpm
Memory Micron DDR4-3200 2x32GB D.S. D.R. (CT2K32G4DFD832A)
Video Card(s) AMD RX 6800 - Asus Tuf
Storage Kingston KC3000 1TB & 2TB & 4TB Corsair LPX
Display(s) LG 27UL550-W (27" 4k)
Case Be Quiet Pure Base 600 (no window)
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1220-VB
Power Supply SuperFlower Leadex V Gold Pro 850W ATX Ver2.52
Mouse Mionix Naos Pro
Keyboard Corsair Strafe with browns
Software W10 22H2 Pro x64
I thought GoG was supposed to do this, or wanted to??
 
Joined
Jun 18, 2021
Messages
2,253 (2.22/day)
I think what could solve the problem is if publishers united to form an interest group (like hdmi or usb) where they define a common drm scheme that is compatible across store fronts/launchers, not that hard to do but there's no advantages for them - if they keep you tied to their own launcher you're more likely to spend money with them again - so why would they bother!?
 

bug

Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
13,163 (4.07/day)
Processor Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard Asus H670 TUF
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s) Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s) Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard G.Skill KM780R
Software Arch Linux + Win10
It's not a meme, it's XKCD - a famous webcomic about romance, sarcasm, math, and language. (and yes, I got triggered by hearing a xkcd being referred as if it were just a common meme :D)
I know it's xkcd (I've liked to it more times than i care to remember). But this one in particular one has been quoted so much, it definitely turned into a meme ;)

I think what could solve the problem is if publishers united to form an interest group (like hdmi or usb) where they define a common drm scheme that is compatible across store fronts/launchers, not that hard to do but there's no advantages for them - if they keep you tied to their own launcher you're more likely to spend money with them again - so why would they bother!?
Not going to happen. Publishers' entire business model is built on the assumption they will sell you a game as many times as they can. If they can sell it to you once for PC, once for PS and once more for Nintendo, that's what they'll do.
That will only change when they'll steer gaming towards mobile gaming and their p2w model.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 27, 2015
Messages
1,065 (0.32/day)
System Name loon v4.0
Processor i7-11700K
Motherboard asus Z590TUF+wifi
Cooling Custom Loop
Memory ballistix 3600 cl16
Video Card(s) eVga 3060 xc
Storage WD sn570 1tb(nvme) SanDisk ultra 2tb(sata)
Display(s) cheap 1080&4K 60hz
Case Roswell Stryker
Power Supply eVGA supernova 750 G6
Mouse eats cheese
Keyboard warrior!
Benchmark Scores https://www.3dmark.com/spy/21765182 https://www.3dmark.com/pr/1114767
I thought GoG was supposed to do this, or wanted to??
if you're thinking about what i have in mind, it was little more than a gamer launcher (to rule them all). it was great to see my games in every library but having to still use those launchers - which half always seem to need an update - it got to be an added hassle.
 

bug

Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
13,163 (4.07/day)
Processor Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard Asus H670 TUF
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s) Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s) Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard G.Skill KM780R
Software Arch Linux + Win10
if you're thinking about what i have in mind, it was little more than a gamer launcher (to rule them all). it was great to see my games in every library but having to still use those launchers - which half always seem to need an update - it got to be an added hassle.
The launcher was always optional. I have always launched my games directly. But yes, you had to look in the game's folder, the shortcut placed on the desktop by default went through the launcher iirc.

However, even in the absence of DRM, cross platform is hard to achieve because games implement Steamworks and the like.
 
Joined
Sep 1, 2020
Messages
34 (0.03/day)
Okay now im confused, isnt the point of doing epic game store is so that Steam will be more competitive on its dev cut? And competition in general? Now he wants a unified store?
 

bug

Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
13,163 (4.07/day)
Processor Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard Asus H670 TUF
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s) Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s) Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard G.Skill KM780R
Software Arch Linux + Win10
Okay now im confused, isnt the point of doing epic game store is so that Steam will be more competitive on its dev cut? And competition in general? Now he wants a unified store?
You're so cute. Epic Store is about "we're late to the party and desperately need you to shop with us. despite no competitive advantage whatsoever".
 

Solaris17

Super Dainty Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Messages
25,776 (3.79/day)
Location
Alabama
System Name Rocinante
Processor I9 14900KS
Motherboard EVGA z690 Dark KINGPIN (modded BIOS)
Cooling EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB
Memory 64GB Gskill Trident Z5 DDR5 6000 @6400
Video Card(s) MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage 1x 500GB 980 Pro | 1x 1TB 980 Pro | 1x 8TB Corsair MP400
Display(s) Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC
Case Lian Li o11 Evo Dynamic White
Audio Device(s) Moondrop S8's on Schiit Hel 2e
Power Supply Bequiet! Power Pro 12 1500w
Mouse Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD Quest 3
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores I dont have time for that.
What the world really needs now is a single store that works with all platforms

Your right:

steam_latest.deb

steam.DMG

SteamSetup.exe
 
Joined
Nov 11, 2016
Messages
3,045 (1.13/day)
System Name The de-ploughminator Mk-II
Processor i7 13700KF
Motherboard MSI Z790 Carbon
Cooling ID-Cooling SE-226-XT + Phanteks T30
Memory 2x16GB G.Skill DDR5 7200Cas34
Video Card(s) Asus RTX4090 TUF
Storage Kingston KC3000 2TB NVME
Display(s) LG OLED CX48"
Case Corsair 5000D Air
Power Supply Corsair HX850
Mouse Razor Viper Ultimate
Keyboard Corsair K75
Software win11
Joined
Sep 1, 2020
Messages
34 (0.03/day)
You're so cute. Epic Store is about "we're late to the party and desperately need you to shop with us. despite no competitive advantage whatsoever".
Free games, sometimes better regional pricing than steam (main reason for me), making some console exclusive possible for throwing money at them(KH), and 12% dev cut sounds like a competitive advantage to me.
 

INSTG8R

Vanguard Beta Tester
Joined
Nov 26, 2004
Messages
7,955 (1.13/day)
Location
Canuck in Norway
System Name Hellbox 5.1(same case new guts)
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard MSI X570S MAG Torpedo Max
Cooling TT Kandalf L.C.S.(Water/Air)EK Velocity CPU Block/Noctua EK Quantum DDC Pump/Res
Memory 2x16GB Gskill Trident Neo Z 3600 CL16
Video Card(s) Powercolor Hellhound 7900XTX
Storage 970 Evo Plus 500GB 2xSamsung 850 Evo 500GB RAID 0 1TB WD Blue Corsair MP600 Core 2TB
Display(s) Alienware QD-OLED 34” 3440x1440 144hz 10Bit VESA HDR 400
Case TT Kandalf L.C.S.
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster ZX/Logitech Z906 5.1
Power Supply Seasonic TX~’850 Platinum
Mouse G502 Hero
Keyboard G19s
VR HMD Oculus Quest 2
Software Win 10 Pro x64
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Messages
100 (0.05/day)
Location
Kaunas/Klaipeda, Lithuania
Cooling Cooler Master Seidon 240P rad / whatever fans)
Memory Just about any under the Sun. Lost count.
Video Card(s) Powercolor RX580 8GB Red Dragon V2
Storage 1TB Kioxia Exceria NVMe M.2
Display(s) LG 22MK430H-B
Power Supply Seasonic SSR-550FX
Mouse Westrom (store brand) with the RGBs
Keyboard Aula Dawnguard
Software Win10 Education
The irony of a "Steam Sets New Concurrent User Record" heading being right under this article and poll. Mind you this is coming from a GoG fancase (even after the 2077 fiasco).

Let me get the bullshit translator: Epic games store should be the only gaming store available for all platforms.
^^^
 
Joined
Nov 21, 2010
Messages
2,223 (0.46/day)
Location
Right where I want to be
System Name Miami
Processor Ryzen 3800X
Motherboard Asus Crosshair VII Formula
Cooling Ek Velocity/ 2x 280mm Radiators/ Alphacool fullcover
Memory F4-3600C16Q-32GTZNC
Video Card(s) XFX 6900 XT Speedster 0
Storage 1TB WD M.2 SSD/ 2TB WD SN750/ 4TB WD Black HDD
Display(s) DELL AW3420DW / HP ZR24w
Case Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL
Audio Device(s) EVGA Nu Audio
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Gold 1000W+750W
Mouse Corsair Scimitar/Glorious Model O-
Keyboard Corsair K95 Platinum
Software Windows 10 Pro
I thought GoG was supposed to do this, or wanted to??
Yes, that's why it's drm free. That's what is making Sweeney the prime candidate for comedian of the year. GoG has been doing this forever and no one thaat matters ever cared. But because he flaps his lips a few times people are supposed to be like "oh no, we need to do sumthin' "
 
Joined
Mar 28, 2020
Messages
1,632 (1.12/day)
I may be wrong, but from what I observed, EPIC's actions vs their lofty goal of "freedom for gamers" kind of contradict one another. The timed exclusive itself is not freedom for gamer because it requires gamers to use a specific platform. Based on this "unified digital game store", he is also starting to target the console makers. I guess he don't dare to sue them at this point in case everyone shuts them out.
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2013
Messages
6,728 (1.68/day)
he wants "freedom" for players.
pays 150 million dollars to make games at least time exclusive on epic to take away the freedom of choice.

now he wants to fight against the evil monopoly from apple, google and steam.
starts to work on a single platform for every platform on the world.


tim sweeney is a complete joke.
Hey if anything he's consistent in his absolute BS stand & hypocrite statements.
 

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
17,866 (3.00/day)
Location
Quantum Well UK
System Name Quantumville™
Processor Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling Noctua NH-D14
Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage Samsung 850 Pro 256GB | WD Black 4TB | WD Blue 6TB
Display(s) ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) | Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply Corsair AX1600i
Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard Yes
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Sounds like a utopian ideal so I can't see it happening with all the vested interests involved. This is a purely commercial arena which no one needs for the basics of life such as healthcare etc.

Personally, I find the Steam platform far and away the best for updates and overall functionality, so I wouldn't want to be forced onto some inferior one just because it was "industry standard". Never mind, never gonna happen. ;)
 
Top