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0 pointscodebje1d ago0 comments

You don't need to move stores, though, do you? Want to play a Steam exclusive? Fine, launch Steam. Want to play an Epic exclusive? Fine, launch Epic.

What you do need is to avoid tying your game socialisation to a _store_. Some day, Steam will be enshittified too.

0 comments

ryandrake1d ago

But I don't want all these app stores!!

The ideal number of app stores I want installed on my computer is ZERO. I don't want to have to load a damn "store" just to obtain and run your game. I am willing to angrily live with ONE store on my computer, Steam, but no way in hell am I going to tolerate having to have an Epic Store and a Microsoft Store and an Activision Store and a goddamn Rockstar Store and an Ubi Store and a fucking Adobe store for Photoshop. I don't want to have to install store after store for each damn app developer on my computer, yet that's the way the industry seems to be headed.

imtringued20h ago

I don't know why "zero" is ideal. That means going back to the old days where every single company would need their own launcher.

Having a separate company focus on distribution sounds more ideal.

Epic Games had an opportunity here to erode the app store margins through standardization, instead, they've become a copycat of what they resented with a slightly smaller cut.

phil2115h ago

Why would games need their own launcher?

Just install the damn game, ask if you want icons on the desktop as well as in the start menu.

OS handles it all for you.

Perhaps some multiplayer functionality and such makes sense to share cross-game, but I miss the bad old days of every game having a bunch of privately maintained servers and its own server browser list etc. You could eventually find a few servers that fit your playstyle and make online gamer friends that way.

The only benefit steam brings to the table as far as I can tell is making it easy to reinstall your library on a fresh PC.

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LtdJorge20h ago

A very bad copycat

mort9620h ago

I mostly play games on a computer in my living room. It boots into Steam Big Picture, which I use to launch a game (or sometimes buy new games) using an xbox controller.

happymellon9h ago

And yet Epic is shitty today.

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