My take on the Future of Epic Games (Opinion)

 

Is Epic Games in a Crisis? Will Fortnite shutdown soon? In my opinion the answer to the first question is “Yes” and the answer to the second question is “No”, at least not any time soon and not even for a long time, if Epic starts to acknowledge their mistakes, which, on the other hand, seems somewhat doubtful.

In 2023 Epic fired over 800 employees to save costs and now in 2026 they have let go of another 1000 Fortnite developers. Additionally, they have increased the prices for their Vbucks and announced the shutdown of a couple of Fortnite Gamemodes.

To understand the significance of this, it is important to highlight that Fortnite is currently the only thing that keeps Epic Games alive. Epic has made it their mission to rival Steam, which so far is a fruitless effort. I understand the desire to want to become a big player, but you can’t force it. The Epic Game Store is the second-biggest launcher for PC Games. There is no doubt about this, but the question remains: At what cost?

Epic offers an apparently attractive deal for developers by taking a smaller commission for publishing games. Steam or the Playstation Store, for example, usually take around 30% commission of games published on their platform, while Epic only takes around 12%.

The problem, however, is that the Epic Game Store is not popular among players. On the contrary, the Epic Games Store probably has the most negative reception among all Launchers. A lot of that is Epic’s fault, like the shady spying on their own players scheme or their questionable business ethics, for which they already got sued and lost. I would therefore argue that most developers would rather allow Steam and Playstation to take bigger cuts on platforms, they can actually sell a lot of copies on. A smaller part of a large cake is better than a large part of a tiny pie.

And let’s also not forget that while Epic might take a smaller commission, they are the safe haven of Microtransactions and NFT games. All the NFT Games, which are not allowed on most other platforms and stores, are more than welcome in the Epic Games Store, which is openly pursuing them.

Whenever Epic gets involved in a game, they also get spiked up with Microtransactions. You just have to remember how tame Fall Guys and Rocket League, for example, were, before Epic got their greedy hands on them. It’s a difference like day and night. Just ask some of their players.

Epic tried and still tries to force themself on the map by regularly paying for time-limited exclusivity of games for a year or two before they will also launch on Steam or, in some cases, even permanent exclusivity for some smaller studios. Epic invests a lot in this and it is simply not paying off. Whether the negative perception is deserved or not, but they can’t seem to shake it off and they spend way more money on those deals than they seem to get out of it. Most players just either wait it out or buy the games on console instead.

Epic is also giving away free games to its users every single week. As a consumer I find that awesome. Over the years I have collected around 400 games on Epic, many of them either AAA or very promising Indie titles and I haven’t ever spent a cent on the Epic Games Store. But you also kind of see the problem. These games are great for free-riders like me, but it doesn’t convince anybody to actually start spending money on this store now. And giving away games for free isn’t cheap for Epic. They have to spend a lot of money to do so, which simply isn’t profitable.

You can start to see how all of this combines. The Epic Game Store has never been profitable or sustainable. They make a big loss with it every year in the hope of one day magically turning everything around. It might be understandable that they tried it in the beginning of the big Fortnite Hype between 2017 and 2021, but after that point most companies would have come to the conclusion that it simply didn’t work and downsized their store to a more healthy size, similar to EA or Ubisoft (not that their stores would be role models by any means). It nearly seems like arrogance that Epic refuses to accept this reality.

But it isn’t just the Epic Game Store. Most other games from Epic are also not big money-printing machines. Rocket League and Fall Guys are probably some of their most successful assets besides Fortnite and both games have their peak times behind them and get less support by Epic nowadays. Both games still generate income, but it isn’t massive. Rumbleverse might have been a good game, but it went up in flames and their famous Unreal Tournament franchise they have for unknown reasons completely abandoned. Most other games they were involved with were big commercial failures. Fortnite is really keeping the lights on at Epic.

 

Result:

Epic Games is, in my opinion, a house of cards with only one solid pillar, which is Fortnite. If this pillar gets even in a small crisis, then the whole building is starting to shake. This is a huge problem and it’s baffling how Epic hasn’t been able to change this. You usually have two options. You either invest a lot and try to diversify, which is obviously what Epic tried to do. If that, however, fails, you have to downsize to a healthy level to guarantee your long-term survival. Epic hasn’t done that yet and I am not convinced they really will. They just fired a lot of people, made a few marketing statements and will probably call it a day now.

You just have to compare Epic to Sony or Valve to see how fragile the situation of Epic Games is. If Helldivers 2 or the next Horizon or Last of Us flops, it’s not great for Sony, but they don’t have to worry about the future of the company whatsoever and the same goes for Valve. If Fortnite would lose 50% of their players overnight, then the whole of Epic Games would get in a life-threatening situation. It’s like a company, where you see all the executives wearing the most expensive suits and dining in the best restaurants in town and you think they probably have a very successful business, but they can barely afford to pay their monthly interest rate.

I am far from being a business consultant, but I don’t understand why Epic isn’t stopping these unsuccessful exclusivity deals, which cost more than they gain, remove or at least reduce the amount of free games, which are just the gaming equivalent of sportswashing and equally unsuccessful. And Epic should also stop paying money for Fortnite creative maps. Since the launch of UEFN, they have spent around 900 million dollars on those maps. This should be 0, since Fortnite Creative will a) never be the next Roblox and b) doesn’t need any money to do what it’s doing right now anyway.

If Epic would do all of that (which I would call reconnecting with reality) than the company could have a bright long-term future. I, however, think their hubris will prevent them from doing so. They will continue their failed dream of becoming the biggest and most popular launcher for PC Games and the next real crisis at Fortnite will get close to knocking them over and they will need a bailout from a scammy company like the Chinese giant Tencent and nobody can really want that.   

Unchained (PC) Review

 

Today we are taking a look at Unchained, the F2P Horror Game on Steam. It is easily confused with Unchained, the F2P FPS Game on Steam, which actually looks even more interesting than the Horror one.

Anyway, the Horror Game Unchained has a potentially interesting AI feature. The game actually involves your Computer settings and Desktop into the gameplay. Some say the game interacting with your Desktop is the real Horror. I indeed have to agree. The first time this happened, I actually got quite spooked.

The game is essentially split into two sides. The one side is talking with the AI and using your PC settings to interact with it. The other part is more classic Horror Walking Simulator gameplay we know from most smaller Horror Games. This part, however, was also a bit underwhelming. The Horror elements are mostly audio-based. There isn’t really anything to interact with or look at. The sound effects are pretty decent, though.

The ending of Unchained also feels both pointless and rushed. Just as you thought the game was actually going to start now, it abruptly ends. The ending could have been a good plot point to go on from, but Unchained doesn’t do anything with it and just gives up. It nearly seems like the developer lost interest halfway through and just released the game as is.  

Unchained only has 1 linear ending and features no Steam Achievements.

 

Result:

Unchained had an interesting premise with the AI feature, but sadly doesn’t do anything with it. Once you think the feature might now actually interact with you in a meaningful way, the game already ends. The classic Horror gameplay in Unchained is not strong enough to save the game. Unchained has left a lot of potential unused. It might be worth a look to some Horror fans for the AI feature, but the game is ultimately rather mediocre and left me disappointed.

 

4.5/10

AAA Dynamic Scenes (PS5/PS4) Review

 

I have previously been checking out the Slide Puzzle Games ‘Slide N’ Go’, ‘Avatar Island’ and ‘Splash of Color’ as well as the more classic Puzzle Games ‘HIQ Ace’ and ‘HIQ Ace Unlimited’. Today we are looking at another more classic Puzzle Game called ‘AAA Dynamic Scenes’.

This game has exactly one feature that makes it stand out from other classic Puzzle Games: the name-giving ‘Dynamic Pictures’.

Other Puzzle Games all have static images. This means the background images of the puzzles are constantly the same. With Dynamic Pictures this is different. The image itself isn’t moving around in the background, but the content on the image is. That being said, it’s not like the picture would continuously change around and become unrecognizable after a while. The majority of the content on display stays the same, but you get elements like birds flying throughout the picture, clouds moving around or neon lighting signs flashing brightly. Additionally, you will see weather going on and hear the wind howling or rain falling down while you place the pieces.

This is a really cool element, that freshens things up. You can, for example, struggle to place a specific puzzle piece, but then you suddenly see a bird passing by on this piece and a second later you see it on another puzzle piece, which you actually have already positioned. Based on this, you now have an idea on where the other piece belongs. This is something you don’t get to experience in any of the other Picture Puzzle Games.

AAA Dynamic Scenes feature only 1 Gamemode, which is your classic Puzzle Picture placement. There are 3 difficulties, but those only change the size of the puzzle. The only way to bring in some variety is the Rotation feature. With this feature activated, you not only have to guess the right position of a puzzle piece, but also the right angle for placement. Like most Picture Puzzle Games, AAA Dynamic Scenes also supports a Preview Feature. In this game, it is nearly a bit too generous, however. While in most other games the preview image replaces the placed pieces till it is deactivated to give you just an idea of how the finished image should look like, in AAA Dynamic Scenes the Preview image is being put over the placed pieces and makes it really easy to complete it.

The biggest downside of this game is, in my opinion, certainly the lack of content. The free base game only features 3 pictures for free. This is the lowest amount of any Picture Puzzle Game I have ever played and unfortunately makes the game go stale after a while. I understand that dynamic pictures require more effort to produce, but this amount is simply too low. 42 additional pictures can be purchased for 2 Euro each (That’s expensive!), in small combination packages or with the “All Scenes” DLC for 20 Euro, which includes all of them.

AAA Dynamic Scenes features 24 Playstation Trophies, including a Platinum and 7 Gold Trophies. Unlocking the Platinum, however, does require some effort. You have to, for example, place 1000 puzzle pieces in a row without an error (I recommend Playstation Cloud saves for this), place and rotate 5000 pieces in total and complete 10 hard Puzzles. It should take around 8-10 hours to complete the game. Since the game features both a PS4 and PS5 version, there are even two Platinum trophies to be earned, but there is no autopop between versions. The game might be worth a look for Trophy hunters, if you either really like Puzzle Games or you have a lot of patience. I strongly recommend not attempting to complete it in one setting, however. Instead, I would suggest completing 2-3 puzzles per day over a span of a couple of weeks. This is much more enjoyable and lets you maintain your sanity.

 

Result:

AAA Dynamic Scenes is a strong addition to the Picture Puzzle Game genre. The Dynamic Pictures feature is a game changer. It vitalizes the otherwise more rigid format. It is certainly one of the most fun Picture Puzzle Games I have ever played. Unfortunately, the amount of content of the free version is devastatingly low. After a short while, you will know the 3 puzzles inside out despite the dynamic element and the possibility of rotation. This negatively affects the score, but I would still recommend the game to Picture Puzzle enthusiasts.

 

6.8/10

Hawked (PS5) Review

 

Hawked was an Extraction Shooter from My.Games, who also published games like Warface or Allods Online. The big twist of Hawked was its focus on PVE and in particular Treasure Hunting. You could say it was the Indiana Jones version of Extraction Shooters.

While in most Extraction Shooters you are only focused on collecting weapons and gear that you extract and sell after the match, in Hawked there was a big emphasis on exploring jungle ruins and solving puzzles instead. This is also what made the game stand out in the Extraction Shooter genre. Most of the puzzles were switch and lever puzzles, but there were also some combat challenges. Players needed to solve 3-5 puzzles to unlock glyphs around the map, which would allow you to retrieve a final artifact from a treasury. You then had to escort the artifact to an extraction site while other players were hunting you and trying to steal the artifact for themselves. During Season 3 of the live service, they removed the treasury and from now on hid the artifacts in a final Boss Dungeon instead.

The dungeons weren’t bad, but I always preferred the race to the extraction points instead. Extraction points still existed but became nearly obsolete now. Hawked was always an extraction shooter with a bigger emphasis on PVE than most games, but this change moved Hawked even further into that direction. I do like PVE, but I also believe a strong reason for this decision was the small playerbase of Hawked. During the Open Beta in late 2023 Hawked still had decent player numbers, but even in the first months after launch in early 2024 there was already a severe lack of players present. I encountered much fewer enemy teams during the matches and sometimes my own squads didn’t fill up anymore. It is nearly surprising that the game managed to last another 2,5 years before the inevitable server shutdown.

The lack of players definitely influenced the experience. Where previously you had to hurry up while solving the glyph puzzles, so that other teams didn’t get the chance to third party you and where you constantly had to look over your shoulder while trying to extract the artifact, this all changed without the human competition. While I enjoyed the intensity of these moments, it’s fair to point out that Hawked always had a smaller focus on this pure survival feeling than many other extraction shooters do. Apart from the PVE and Puzzle focus, the colorful comic-book art style probably contributed to this as well. Games like Hunt Showdown or Escape from Tarkov are dark in tone and visuals, while Hawked is a very vibrant game instead. That’s also why a lot of people referred to it as the Fortnite of Extraction Shooters.

There honestly isn’t all that much to say about the gameplay. Hawked was a third-person shooter and both gunplay and movement felt at least competent. If I had to choose, I would clearly give the edge to the movement, however. Sprinting, sliding and climbing animations were very fluent. There were special grappling and rope-swinging opportunities and you could use a hovering board for traversal on water. The gunplay was pretty decent as well, but weaker than in the best extraction shooters. Weapons could have used more impact and sometimes the hit registration just felt a bit off. Nothing too major, but nobody would have been drawn to Hawked because of the gunplay alone.

Hawked featured a large and beautiful Jungle map. It was a lot of fun to explore that map and to search for the glyph chambers and temples. Since the map was huge, you would only get to experience a certain part of it every match, which helped to keep things fresh for a while.

Hawked also had an underwater base as a hub area, where players could relax outside of matches. You could access different settings or functions, similar to many other games, but you could also talk there with NPCs to gather some equipment or progress some background story via cutscenes. While I do think it’s a positive part of the presentation that they included some kind of overarching narrative, it was very bland and forgettable and players who ignored it haven’t really missed out on anything.

In the beginning Hawked only featured regular monsters in the form of reptilians called ‘The Disciples’. Season 2 would add robotic aliens in the form of the ‘The Vektr’, while Season 3 provided us with new corrupted mutants. Each of these factions also had different gamemode queues to face them. I am not entirely sure if it was a good idea to divide the small playerbase even further with additional queues, but what do I know… The gamemodes to play against the Vektr and corrupted enemies were, btw, also paid DLC till the shutdown announcement of Hawked.

This feels like a good moment to also talk about P2W aspects in Hawked. While Hawked was not the most P2W game in the Extraction Shooter genre, it still had some really annoying elements. Players with an active Hawked subscription, called Grail+, not only progressed faster, but they also got an additional sub-exclusive loadout slot. Season 2 and Season 3, furthermore, introduced some of the best gear and abilities in the game and locked them behind a DLC paywall. Players could also pay to skip the grind for gear and boosters. Non paying players could get there too, but it required much longer time to become competitive. At least players in Hawked could never lose their once-unlocked weapons and gear, so there were no purchasable insurances, like in many other Extraction games.

 

Result:

The Treasure Hunting focus gave Hawked a unique position inside the Extraction Shooter genre. It was a good game and fun for a couple of hours, but it’s also fair to say that Hawked never achieved greatness. The best moments were when you got caught in between solving puzzles, extracting artifacts and fighting off other squads. The game, however, suffered from a lack of players pretty early on, which only sped up its downfall. The art style was controversial, the gunplay nothing special and the story was very shallow and forgettable. P2W aspects like a subscription-exclusive gear slot or gear locked behind paywalls prevented the game from ever attempting a comeback. I liked Hawked, but I also understand why it didn’t succeed in a highly competitive market.

 

7/10