Will AMS 2 be a Steam exclusive or are Reiza looking at publishing AMS 2 on other digital platforms?

Hi @Renato Simioni

I have friends who are looking to join the early backing campaign however due to other games changing platforms during development e.g. Shenmue 3 which moved from Steam to the Epic Store and Metro Exodus which moved to the Epic Store for a exclusive period.

Can you please confirm that AMS 2 will be published on Steam. I don't see any verbage concerning Reiza moving away from Steam however anyone worried about where AMS 2 will be published will be put at ease.

Thank you in advance!

 

As long as you pay the Backing Fee then it doesn't matter where the game ends up released you'll get it, as Reiza will honour the purchase of course.

The bedwetting in the steam forums about certain games becoming 'Epic Exclusive' is very over the top, if it aids the developers to move to Epic or Another platform where they gain more percentage of sales then that's their choice and rightly so.

 

The game trailer clearly shows Steam sign in the end.

 

I think Metro Exodus also had a steam logo in one of their vids before they made the jump

 

As a level 5 backer from way back when, I'm not concerned however the people in question are worried about AMS 2 being moved off the Steam platform. At least one is a backer of the Shenmue 3 game and wasn't happy with the change.

I'll wait for @Renato Simioni to provide an answer, if he feels like it.

 

Do you already have <insert_launcher_here/> installed? If yes, it probably doesn't matter where AMS 2 is launched.

But AMS 2 will most likely launch to Steam only, as with other Reiza titles. Of course, that may change anytime soon but... (speculations incoming).. . given how everyone is saying Epic paid for those exclusives, I don't think they're interested in sim racing titles since the market is too small to justify the cost. Everything have to return a profit to make those bold moves viable.

 

What difference does it make which launcher is used? Other than the annoyance of having multiple launchers installed and running in the background, But then would we ever expect a complete monopoly on this? Would a complete monopoly be a good thing for us or game devs?

 

I also don't get the complaints. It’s not that you have to buy a new pc…you just have to install the other client and can enjoy the game. Or am I missing something here? I really want to understand the uproar.

 

It's "change", people can't accept that and when a game switches to another platform its hard for them to accept that.

As before, and i have to laugh at those disagreeing with me, if it means more income for the Devs then they have every right to switch platform.

 

For me it doesn’t matter from where I push the start button, as long as it starts it is ok for me.

 

@XTRMNTR2K instead of hiding behind the dislike button why don't you convey your thoughts with your keyboard? As I'd love to know your opinion

 

Ideally the game should be on as many platforms as possible, in that way people can choose whichever platform fits their needs and/or has the best price & features.
Imo right now the best places to buy pc games are Steam & Gog, personally I wouldn't be interested in buying Epic exclusive games atm for a number of reasons.

 

I just can't get this out of my mind but you're looking only at one small detail and not the whole picture.

It's a "small change", yes. Yet another game store and launcher. But the actual problem is what's happening behind the scenes. No one expected all these exclusivity deals to happen. This is exactly what monopoly is. Epic is not helping the industry, they're helping those in for the money including themselves and the developers.

Now, you're gonna say, "great! More money for devs!" but it doesn't stop there. What happen when a game gets pulled out of ALL other stores to suddenly be an Epic exclusive?

You guessed it right. You have to pay for them full price again. If the devs are willing to give out keys for previous owners, sure. We've already heard about the issue with Telltale Games games. Not much of a deal breaker to me since they probably deserve the money.

What will happen with crowdfunded games like AMS when these behind the scenes happen? Not good. In the case of Shenmue 3, when you funded the development, you expect the devs to at least communicate with you. Not do deals behind the scenes. Backers also expect to not get treated like dirt.

It's almost as if Ys loaned the money from the backers and they paid in full using "donation" money from Epic. Something like that.

It will get worse in the future. What Epic is doing is not for the gamers, but for the people running the money business. I'd have more faith if devs are the ones willingly move to Epic and give their customers a choice. Whether it's Epic or Steam or GOG or whatever. It's because it's an *exclusivity deal* that people are angry.

To be honest, I'm not angry or anything about Epic. I simply disagree with how they're fragmenting the PC gaming industry by force.

Competition is when you provide something as good as the one holding the throne for decades and devs volunteer to put their games there. Competition is also about offering better deals to customers buying the game when it's available in different stores. Customers have a choice.

Competition is not forcing people to go to your store. That's not competition. That's monopoly. Customers don't have a choice this way.

I won't be replying to this conversation anymore since I'd just be repeating what all of us know and already talked about somewhere else. Reiza already gave their answer so it's case closed.

 

To be short, “what If “ does not exist.

 

For gamers who just buy the product it's simple, here's an example:
Steam a game is £25 with £10 of that going to the Devs.
Epic get exclusivity and the game is £25 with £15 of that going to the Devs.

How does that harm users? Oh no they have to install another game launcher, the drama! I already have Steam, Origin and Uplay, one more isn't gonna hurt.

If users bought into an EA or Crowdfunded title then they knew the risks and if they didn't like those risks then they should've waited until the game was officially released, if the Devs honour the crossover then there is no issue, if the Devs take that money and run then that's something else entirely.

To me it's all a lot of gamers getting butthurt simply because they don't want to install another Launcher, not seeing the bigger picture of which is helping the development of the game they want to play by providing a better monetary income for the team.

Anyway as said, AMS2 is steam bound, but if...IF... It ever went exclusive to another launcher you won't see me crying!

 

Can i ask for any example? And little explanation on that Telltale case would be helpful as well, thanks a lot!

 

Good points all across the board. That's why I don't go around telling people about my disagreements with Epic's moves in the industry. In fact, I'm using and bought games on it. No regrets. New games, no problems. I also don't use the achievements system. Only bad thing about Epic so far is that there's no cloud save the last time I used it. That's huge for me.

You guys are right about the artificial monopoly that Steam have. They have so many users over that it's no brainer for developers to publish their game over there. Now devs too have a choice. Some were paid, some were volunteer.

A few years ago, we had Desura. But it didn't last long because it probably doesn't have better deals than Steam offered. I don't know what happened but my guess is that the mainstream never heard about it and it came from ModDB/IndieDB which isn't big in terms of userbase compared to Steam. I don't think Steam had that Greenlight thing either back then.

What happened with Telltale was that the upgraded version of The Walking Dead will be an Epic Store exclusive. I don't think it's a big issue but to some it is. Some people who already owned the game will have to buy the game again on Epic Store to get the upgraded version.

Usually people won't want to pay in full for this kind of upgrades because sometimes they're just higher resolution texture packs. I don't know how big this upgrade is but the usual deal is that owners usually gets a discount or free upgrades. Newcomers of course will pay in full.

Again, I say, it's not a huge deal breaker to me. Since, if I really like the game and I have the money, I'd gladly buy the game a 2nd time. If not, skip it. It's just graphics update.

Well, Telltale is dead. A lot of their games are gone but at least one of them is making it into the Epic Store. It would be a reach to say its a ploy by Skybound to move everything to Epic but some people are saying that it is.

 

And for me yes, I don't want much clients etc. And that $@$@$#&# spyware epic. Only steam and battle.net, and due to w10 I have installed ms store but no games here, waiting for steam, its good quality platform