Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation
What Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality developers are talking about
The Epic Games Store is less than a week old, but it's already making waves among indie studios. Multiple studios have announced that their games will be timed exclusives on the Epic Games Store, with one studio forgoing Steam completely.
The post The Epic Games store is already luring indie studios away from Steam appeared first on Digital Trends.
Erst letzte Woche berichteten wir über die neue Distributionsplattform von Epic Games, in welcher das Studio zukünftig zu fairen Konditionen diverse Software für die Spielerschaft bereitstellt. Der neue Epic Games Store wurde nun veröffentlicht und besonders VR-Enthusiasten sollten einmal vorbeischauen, denn ab dem 14. Dezember ist der VR-Unterwassertitel Subnautica kostenlos erhältlich. Zukünftig sollen alle zwei Wochen ein weiterer Titel verschenkt werden.
Auch wenn das aktuelle Angebot im neu eröffneten Epic Games Store noch überschaubar ist, kann sich ein gelegentlicher Blick durchaus lohnen, denn die Verantwortlichen locken neue Kunden im zwei-wöchigen Rhythmus mit Gratisspielen. Den Anfang macht ab dem 14. Dezember das VR-Surivival-Abenteuer Subnautica von Unknown Worlds für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive.
Innerhalb des Unterwasserabenteuers taucht ihr in die virtuelle Tiefsee ein, um Ressourcen zu sammeln und euer Überleben zu sichern. Dafür taucht ihr in den Meeren eines fremden Planeten nach Nahrung und Ausrüstung, denn Trinkwasser und essbare Rohstoffe sind Mangelware. Nebenbei sammelt ihr Materialien mit eurer Tauchausrüstung ein, die ihr wiederum in bessere Ausrüstung umbaut. So versucht ihr nach und nach eure zerstörte Rettungskapsel wiederherzustellen und euch an die überlebensunfreundliche, nasse Flora und Fauna zu gewöhnen.
Währenddessen gibt es einiges zu erkunden, denn nicht nur zahlreiche Höhlen und Schluchten warten auf euch, sondern auch interessante Lebewesen und Meeresbewohner. Doch Vorsicht: Nicht alle sind euch wohl gesonnen. Für größere Unterwassertiere steht ihr selbst auf der Speisekarte und besonders nachts warten zahlreiche Gefahren auf euch.
Wir haben das Survival-Game bereits für euch getestet. Was euch darin erwartet, erfahrt ihr in unserem Review.
Zukünftig sollen weitere PC- und VR-Spiele folgen. Entsprechend soll alle zwei Wochen ein neuer Titel im Store verschenkt werden. Den Epic Games Store findet ihr hier.
(Quellen: Epic Games Store | Video: Subnautica YouTube)
Der Beitrag Epic Games Store: Subnautica kostenlos ab 14. Dezember erhältlich zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!
Epic Games has recently opened its own digital distribution platform in hopes that its industry-leading revenue share split will attract developers. Inaugurating the new Epic Games Store, the company is giving away underwater survival game Subnautica (2018) for free. As in, download it now for free and keep it forever.
Update (December 14th, 2018): Subnautica is now free on Epic Games Store, and will remain free to anyone who downloads it between now and December 27th. As far as we can tell, the version available through Epic appears to be the same a the one on Steam, replete with native support for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
Original Article (December 7th, 2018): Subnautica was first developed for PCs, although during its lengthy stint in Early Access on Steam its developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment added preliminary support in 2015 for the Oculus Rift DK2. Now the game boasts support for both the consumer Rift and HTC Vive, although users are still confined to using a mouse and keyboard setup.
Subnautica will be permanently free to users who download the title from December 14th to December 27th. The game normally retails for $25.
Epic Games says they’ll be giving away a free game every two weeks; you can keep an eye on which free games are coming to Epic Games Store here.
Lets just hope there’s some more VR games in there.
The post ‘Subnautica’ is Now Free on Epic Games Store, Download Period Lasts Until Dec. 27th appeared first on Road to VR.
When it comes to buying videogames online Valve’s Steam platform has the market pretty sown up. There are alternatives, and now Unreal Engine and Fortnite developer Epic Games is entering the mix with its own digital marketplace, the Epic Games Store.
Epic Games is looking to shake up the industry – and possibly loosen Steam’s control – by offering developers a much better deal than they’d get elsewhere. Currently, on Steam the platform takes a 30 percent cut of sales revenues from each title sold. On the Epic Games Store however, Epic will only take a 12 percent cut of sales, leaving developers with a much healthier 88 percent share of the revenue.
And the videogames don’t specifically need to be made using Unreal Engine. Studios working with Unity or other engines can still put their titles on the store. If you do happen to be using Unreal Engine Epic Games will cover the 5 percent engine royalty for sales out of its own 12 percent.
To help further connect developers with YouTube content creators, Twitch streamers and bloggers with their fans, there’s the Epic Games Support-A-Creator programme. If studios opt into the programme creators who refer players to buy a videogame will receive a share of the revenue that the studio sets. To start this process off, Epic Games will cover the first 5% of creator revenue-sharing for the first 24 months.
The Epic Games Store is due to launch by the end of 2018 for PC and Mac, with plans for Android support to arrive in 2019, aiming for as open a store as possible. In an interview with Epic Games’ CEO Tim Sweeny, Game Informer found that while the company would like to add support for iOS this doesn’t look likely due to Apple’s current policy’s. Additionally, the store won’t support consoles either.
When it comes to virtual reality (VR) the news is much better. VR compatible titles can be sold through the store if developers wish to, but the store itself won’t have a VR interface of any kind.
When the Epic Games Store arrives VRFocus will let you know, hopefully, filled with juicy VR experiences.
Epic Games tritt zukünftig mit Steam und weiteren digitalen Spieleplattformen in Konkurrenz. Im eigenen Blog kündigen die Entwickler den Epic Games Store an, welcher ein lukratives Angebot für Entwicklerstudios bereithält: Anstatt der üblichen 30 % Abzüge bei Verkäufen sollen die Entwickler insgesamt 88 % des Verkaufspreises erhalten. Der neue Digital Store soll Spiele anbieten, die auf den Engines Unreal Engine 4 und Unity basieren. Das Angebot beschränkt sich allerdings nicht ausschließlich darauf, sämtliche Spiele-Engines sind willkommen. Die Verkaufsplattform soll bereits in Kürze starten, und während des Jahres 2019 kontinuierlich ausgebaut werden.
Innerhalb des Epic Games Launcher erhalten die Nutzer/-innen in Zukunft Zugriff auf den hauseigenen Epic Games Store mit einem Spieleangebot für PC und Mac. Dabei soll der Fokus auf einer direkten Kommunikation mit der Community sowie fairen ökonomischen Bedingungen für Spieler und Entwickler liegen.
Und das sind nicht nur leere Worte, denn Epic Games weicht vom derzeitigen Standard der Verkaufskonditionen bei digitalen Spieleplattformen ab: Anstelle der üblichen 30 % Abzüge eines verkauften Titels, wie es bei Steam und im Oculus Store gängig ist, fordern die Verantwortlichen lediglich 12 % vom Verkaufspreis ein. Dadurch werden die Entwickler deutlich besser belohnt und streichen 88 % des Preises ein.
Nach einem Kauf werden die Spieler per Newsfeed dauerhaft über Neuigkeiten und Updates zu ihrem Titel informiert. Um für den gewohnten Komfort zu sorgen, sollen zahlreiche Bezahloptionen zur Auswahl stehen. Möglich ist dies dank des kommerziellen Erfolgs von Fortnite.
Auch VR-Spiele werden innerhalb des neuen Stores angeboten. Den Entwicklern wird offen gestellt, ob sie VR-Titel anbieten möchten. Allerdings ist derzeit noch kein spezielles VR-User-Interface in Planung.
Der neue Epic Games Store soll bereits in Kürze veröffentlicht werden und ein überschaubares Angebot für PC und Mac bereitstellen. Im nächsten Jahr soll das Angebot kontinuierlich ausgebaut werden und weitere Titel sowie Software beinhalten. Weitere Informationen sollen uns bereits morgen am 6. Dezember auf den The Games Awards erwarten.
(Quellen: Unreal Engine | Road to VR)
Der Beitrag Epic Games Store: Eigene Distributionsplattform für PC- und VR-Spiele angekündigt zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!
Steam is widely considered the de facto platform for PC games, VR or otherwise, but Unreal Engine creators Epic Games want change that with a new storefront that they say will leave more revenue to developers than Steam and other major digital distribution platforms.
Update (12:20 PM ET): Tim Sweeney has confirmed in a Game Informer interview that VR games will have a home on the platform, although the store “doesn’t have any sort of VR user interface.”
Both Steam and the Oculus Store take an industry standard cut of 30% of a game’s revenue, although Epic CEO Tim Sweeney today announced in a blogpost that the company would soon be creating their own dedicated storefront that will only take a 12% slice of the pie; that includes games created with Epic’s Unreal Engine 4, Unity, and other game engines.
Fittingly dubbed ‘Epic Games Store’, the distribution platform will likely take the place of the Epic Games launcher on PC and Mac, which most famously features battle royale sensation Fortnite and the Unreal Engine itself.
There wasn’t a specific announce surrounding support for VR games (see update), although as Khronos Group’s OpenXR standard marches ever onward in its mission to make market fragmentation a thing of the past, it’s possible those “open platforms” will also include VR. Epic Games is a prominent member of the Khronos Group working alongside a host of industry pros including Oculus, HTC, Valve, Microsoft, Google, AMD, NVIDIA, and Unity.
Epic Games Store is said to launch soon and begin what Sweeney calls “a long journey to advance the cause of all developers.” The store will first launch with a set of games curated by Epic for PC and Mac, and then allow other games and “open platforms” throughout 2019.
Content creators like YouTubers can also take part in what the company calls ‘Support-A-Creator’, an opt-in program that provides revenue-sharing kickbacks to creators who refer players to buy a game on the Epic Games Store. Developers can set a specific percentage shared to content creators, although Epic intends to cover the first 5% of creator revenue-sharing for the first 24 months.
“We’ve built this store and its economic model so that Epic’s interests are aligned with your interests,” explains Sweeney, talking directly to developers. “Because of the high volume of Fortnite transactions, we can process store payments, serve bandwidth, and support customers very efficiently. From Epic’s 12% store fee, we’ll have a profitable business we’ll grow and reinvest in for years to come!”
Sweeney says more details (and launch games) for Epic Games Store will be revealed at The Game Awards this Thursday, December 6th.
The post Epic Aims to Take on Steam with Newly Announced Epic Games Store appeared first on Road to VR.
The team behind Fortnite and the Unreal Engine which created it is going one level deeper and making a push for its own game storefront to challenge Valve’s Steam on PC and potentially Google Play on Android.
The Epic Games store promises more revenue per sale to developers than other options and “will launch with a hand-curated set of games on PC and Mac, then it will open up more broadly to other games and to Android and other open platforms throughout 2019,” an announcement post states.
Here’s the chart used to explain revenue split options to developers releasing virtual worlds made with Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 toolset or the leading competitor, Unity.
In an emailed Q&A with Game Informer, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney wrote “the Epic Games store doesn’t have any sort of VR user interface, however, games released on the store can support VR if they choose.”
We reached out to Epic Games representatives for more information about how VR support will be implemented, but we haven’t received a detailed response yet. Sweeney is quoted on the OpenXR website in support of the Khronos standard, stating “we’ll adopt and support the resulting API in Unreal Engine.”
We’ll update this post with any new information from Epic about how its store will enable discovery of VR apps or how end users can make sure their system can run an app available through Epic’s store.
Tagged with: Epic Games Store, Fortnite, Unreal engine
The post Tim Sweeney: Games Released On Epic Games Store Can Support VR appeared first on UploadVR.