Epic Online Services Launches, Giving Other Games Access To Fortnite-style Cross-play and More (polygon.com) 15
Epic Online Services is now available, giving developers free access to the same kinds of tools used to support Epic Games' massive Fortnite player base. From a report: The new suite, which went live on Wednesday, enables a unified gameplay experience across multiple platforms, including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, PC platforms (Windows, Mac, and Linux), and Xbox. It gives developers and their communities ready access to features like cross-play, cross-progression, unified matchmaking, lobbies, and more. Support for Android and iOS platforms will be added soon. "At Epic, we believe in open, integrated platforms and in the future of gaming being a highly social and connected experience," said Chris Dyl, general manager of online services at Epic Games, in a news release. "Through Epic Online Services, we strive to help build a user-friendly ecosystem for both developers and players, where creators can benefit regardless of how they choose to build and publish their games, and where players can play games with their friends and enjoy the same quality experience regardless of the hardware they own."
Today's Slashdot stories (Score:3)
Sponsored by Epic Games.
Linux? (Score:5, Insightful)
Is that the same Linux that Epic is dropping support for when they are buying exclusive titles away from Steam? Is that the same Linux that previously supported Rocket League but does no longer because of Epic?
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Well, guess I won't buy anything from Epic if that's the case.
I've been enjoying being able to game more and more on Linux, playing AAA titles without even having to do more than check the box in Steam for their custom version of WINE (which is not an emulator, for the umpteenth time. It's an actual implementation of the Windows APIs, so there's no "slowdown" there).
But if they plan to ditch the one stable major desktop operating system out there (OS X constantly decides to take away control from the users,
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I'm completely torn about this. One the one side Epic is absolutely predatory right now. I am actively boycotting the Epic store, which is a shame, there are some games exclusive to that store I'd like to play and the developers will get my money if they ever actually wisen up. But on the flip side Epic make a fantastic game engine.
I can boycot the Epic store, but I can't boycot the Unreal Engine, so Epic still get some of my money.
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One correction to this, Epic reportedly gave a $25,000 grant to Lutris to make the Epic Game Store work on Linux via Wine. That has been done now. https://lutris.net/games/epic-... [lutris.net]
I would prefer a Linux native EGS but that remains to be seen when that will be done now that Lutris is an alternative.
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The EGS is a pathetically small shell of a program that provides minimal functionality. That they can't create and maintain a port speaks volumes. But the fact remains there were games that had Linux support for many years, bought out by Epic, turned into Epic games exclusive because of their fucked up anti Steam (or rather pro more money to Tim Sweeney) stance, and as such no longer support Linux for no technical reason what so ever.
These are not the epic games I'm looking for (Score:2)
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https://www.gog.com/game/jazz_... [gog.com]
https://www.gog.com/game/jill_... [gog.com]
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Exclusives (Score:2)
Open platforms don't have exclusives.