What did Rocket League ever do to you?
Well, if there’s one thing you can count on, is that people don’t react well to current affairs. In a recent move, Epic Games announced they were acquiring Rocket League developer, Psyonix. Which, when you think about it is a good move for the studio. That’s more money in their pockets, which gives them an influx of cash to do more things for the game. While Epic Games can (attempt) to position Rocket League as a serious e-sports game.
Despite what some may think, this is all good stuff for Psyonix.
The only problem is that many feel that Epic Games is really gunning for Valve’s Steam. Between making several (suspect) deals to pull games that were originally slated to arrive on Steam. Dragging Steam’s name through the dirt regarding their stance on their (current) revenue split. And even most recently, the recent ultimatum regarding purchasing exclusive titles. The war between EGS and Steam has escalated and everyone’s been watching the events unfold.
With this acquisition, the worry is that Epic Games will essentially pull Rocket League from Steam. I’ll admit, as soon as I heard the news I figured that was going to be the case. Yet, they never really stated what the actual plans were for the title on Steam. While their original wording could be interpreted as such, they didn’t outright say the game was going to be removed from their competitor. This is what they actually said:
The PC version of Rocket League will come to the Epic Games store in late 2019. In the meantime, it will continue to be available for purchase on Steam; thereafter it will continue to be supported on Steam for all existing purchasers.
The problem is that it does say it will be supported for all existing purchasers, and that can easily be implied that once it does hit EGS that it will no longer be available for purchase on Steam. Which isn’t sitting well with others. Possibly removing a game that’s been available since 2015 also isn’t really doing any wonders. It also wouldn’t be the first time this has happened. A similar thing happened with the entire The Walking Dead Games Collection. None of the titles are available for purchase on Steam anymore either.
I’m not going to even talk about how much that bothers me. That’s a tale for another time.
There’s a lot of stuff happening, and people’s emotions are running high. I get that. Yet, I don’t approve on how many are lashing out at Epic Games. Namely, the review bombing of Rocket League on Steam. Ever since the announcement, the game’s store page has been flooded with negative reviews with many declaring their frustration with the acquisition. I’ve combed through many of them and as expected, a number of them don’t hold any real substance.
I, however, do agree with one person who pointed out the possible lack of Linux support when it comes to EGS. Which stems from Tim Sweeny’s past views on support games on Linux.
Installing Linux is sort of the equivalent of moving to Canada when one doesn’t like US political trends.
Nope, we’ve got to fight for the freedoms we have today, where we have them today.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 15, 2018
That’s not to say he may have changed, but the Epic Game Store as it stands now does not support Linux. Nor is there any plans on their roadmap to support the OS.
Ironically enough, Lutris, a popular open-source platform for Linux has made it possible to use the Epic Games Store with Linux. Unless that game uses the popular anti-cheat program, Easy Anti Cheat. Which isn’t friendly at all with Linux, not that a certain company hasn’t been trying to make it work.
Update – Nevermind. Apparently, Epic Games purchased Easy Anticheat and all of a sudden, they are pausing their Linux support. Meaning that EAC is never going to work for Linux. Source.
Good news! @EpicGames Store is now fully functional under Linux if you use Lutris to install it! No issues observed whatsoever. https://t.co/cYmd7PcYdG@TimSweeneyEpic will probably like this 😊 pic.twitter.com/7mt9fXt7TH
— @lutris@fosstodon.org (@LutrisGaming) April 17, 2019
Getting back to the review bombing, I really can’t say anything other than this. STOP IT! Seriously, I can’t say this enough. We get it, you’re frustrated, you’re upset. You dislike all that Epic Games stands for, we get it. Yes, I’ve stated in the past that I also have issues with the Epic Games Store. Mainly over the lack of critical features (no shopping cart, cloud saves, ability to gift games and regional pricing). As for this behavior, it’s silly and it really doesn’t do anything than give people ammo to point out that Steam users are immature.
Which is exactly what is happening now. If you want to voice your frustration, then do it in a civilized manner. Do it in a way that gets some actual conversation going, maybe even approach Epic Games or Tim Sweeny directly on Twitter. He’s on there more than enough. Review bombing ain’t it chief, especially if you’re placing your hate on a product that has not only reviewed well but is still played daily. Rocket League is amazing and to toss negative reviews in its direction because you’re upset is dumb. Pure and simple. Thankfully, Steam is on top of it and has regulated the mess. A mess that shouldn’t even have happened.
As it stands now, we only know that Epic Games plans to keep supporting existing users. However, with all the talk about acquisition occurring in various places on the internet, I have to wonder if this will force them to rethink their plans. They could possibly keep the game up for sale on Steam, or perhaps this is just another tactic to get Valve to change their revenue split.
We’ll just have to wait for Epic Games to officially announce what is going to happen. Until then, all we can do is watch, wait and maybe speculate some more.
** We did reach out to Epic Games for clarification, however, we’ve yet to get a reply. We will update this piece once we hear back from them. **
