https://kotaku.com/the-guy-behind-steam-spy-has-been-working-on-epics-stor-1830890162?IR=T
“I’ve learned a lot about how games are tracking [week] over week, how effective are sales (not as much as people think, exposure is more important), and more importantly, I got to talk to hundreds of developers to learn what they want from a digital store and what they like and don’t like about existing ones,” he said.
...
How developers will communicate with their fanbase:
This led to a slew of valuable insights that Galyonkin says directly informed the Epic store’s feature set. For instance, forums and other social media-like tools—a cornerstone of Steam—won’t be part of the package. Galyonkin said that this is because “not a single developer I talked to wanted forums” and “the toxicity it brings,” preferring to interact with communities on their own terms on platforms like Reddit and Discord instead.
“That’s why we won’t have forums on Epic Games store and will start with a ticketing system, so gamers can message devs about their problems instead of review-bombing them,” said Galyonkin.
Dealing with clutter:
Then there’s the issue of clutter, which often makes Steam feel less like a svelte 2018 video game store and more like a closet so stuffed full of games that if you tried to pull one out, it’d be like dislodging the wrong block from a Jenga tower. This is even an issue on individual game pages. Their “More Like This,” DLC, and bundle sections impact not just users’ ability to decide whether they want a game, but also developers’ ability to communicate what they’re up to.
“There was a problem with too many things competing for users’ attention on a game page and no way of ever reaching users unless a developer had its own account system set up,” said Galyonkin. “That’s why we’re trying to minimize the store presence on game pages and we’re adding a global Twitter-like newsfeed, so developers can update their players about recent changes to their games and their future titles. And they can have emails of their players if the players agree to it.”
What information developers will have access to to make informed decisions:
“We’re aiming to provide developers with as much information to make good decisions as legally possible,” Galyonkin said. “Contractually we can’t share other companies’ sales data—Steam Spy shows estimates—but we can share other useful stats, especially in an aggregated format. We use a lot of data ourselves and want the developers to have the same tools. And the partners obviously can share their sales information.”
What will happen at launch:
The Epic store will launch with a “very barebone backend dashboard,” he said, but his hope is that “eventually it will give developers way more information about their games that Steam Spy ever could.”
“I’ve learned a lot about how games are tracking [week] over week, how effective are sales (not as much as people think, exposure is more important), and more importantly, I got to talk to hundreds of developers to learn what they want from a digital store and what they like and don’t like about existing ones,” he said.
...
How developers will communicate with their fanbase:
This led to a slew of valuable insights that Galyonkin says directly informed the Epic store’s feature set. For instance, forums and other social media-like tools—a cornerstone of Steam—won’t be part of the package. Galyonkin said that this is because “not a single developer I talked to wanted forums” and “the toxicity it brings,” preferring to interact with communities on their own terms on platforms like Reddit and Discord instead.
“That’s why we won’t have forums on Epic Games store and will start with a ticketing system, so gamers can message devs about their problems instead of review-bombing them,” said Galyonkin.
Dealing with clutter:
Then there’s the issue of clutter, which often makes Steam feel less like a svelte 2018 video game store and more like a closet so stuffed full of games that if you tried to pull one out, it’d be like dislodging the wrong block from a Jenga tower. This is even an issue on individual game pages. Their “More Like This,” DLC, and bundle sections impact not just users’ ability to decide whether they want a game, but also developers’ ability to communicate what they’re up to.
“There was a problem with too many things competing for users’ attention on a game page and no way of ever reaching users unless a developer had its own account system set up,” said Galyonkin. “That’s why we’re trying to minimize the store presence on game pages and we’re adding a global Twitter-like newsfeed, so developers can update their players about recent changes to their games and their future titles. And they can have emails of their players if the players agree to it.”
What information developers will have access to to make informed decisions:
“We’re aiming to provide developers with as much information to make good decisions as legally possible,” Galyonkin said. “Contractually we can’t share other companies’ sales data—Steam Spy shows estimates—but we can share other useful stats, especially in an aggregated format. We use a lot of data ourselves and want the developers to have the same tools. And the partners obviously can share their sales information.”
What will happen at launch:
The Epic store will launch with a “very barebone backend dashboard,” he said, but his hope is that “eventually it will give developers way more information about their games that Steam Spy ever could.”
