Epic is taking responsibility for its bold moves

Refunds are in order for Shenmue III backers. 

We’ve been covering Epic’s bold and disruptive moves on the gaming market for quite some time now. Epic Games has been taking some decisions that fire up both praise and critique across the board, most of them related to exclusivity and availability of games.

From Triple-A productions like Metro Exodus and The Division 2, to indie games such as Untitled Goose Game, Hades and the almost-indie Shenmue 3. The case of Shenmue 3 heading exclusively to Epic’s Store raised massive backlash due to the massive amount of players that had pre-ordered it on Steam.

And here’s where Epic’s disruption required some storm sailing, which I think they answered in time and as correctly as possible. Let’s face it, Epic wants to break the status quo in PC gaming and needs to make some audacious moves in order to accomplish that. These may and will often lead to trouble, but the ability to navigate through it is what will define Epic’s fate as a competitor against Steam.

“Epic is funding the cost of all Kickstarter refunds resulting from Shenmue III’s move to the Epic Games store, so that refunds won’t reduce Ys Net’s development funding.”, tweeted Tim Sweeney, Epic Games CEO. And that’s what I call navigating through a storm. Sure, they most certainly will still receive criticism, but at least the offered a fair solution.

So, if you’ve backed Shenmue on Kickstarter for a key on Steam, then you’ll get your money back and Epic’s taking responsibility for that.

Market disruption is something that needs to be handled previously and not on the go, but the gaming industry is not a traditional one where experience has taught us the way to go. Especially when one company like Steam has ruled the market for so long.

Back in June, Sweeney had addressed their disruptive strategy, also through Twitter. “In judging whether a disruptive move like this is reasonable in gaming, I suggest considering two questions: Is the solution proportionate to the problem it addresses, and are gamers likely benefit from the end goal if it’s ultimately achieved?”.

Well, Shenmue’s case will mark an important moment that will be analysed in the future when all things are said and done with Epic’s bold moves.