Baldur's Gate 3 publishing lead says Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney's "altruistic pro-developer talk" over the Steam vs Epic debate "doesn't sit well" after Alan Wake 2 studio "seemingly went into financial crisis"

Tim Sweeney's been talking up the value of the Epic Games Store as competition for Steam again, pointing out how good it is for both players and developers. This time, his comments are being challenged by a lead developer at Larian Studios, the team behind Baldur's Gate 3 and the Divinity series, who believes some context is missing.

"I understand Epic entirely funded Alan Wake 2 but this altruistic pro-developer talk doesn't sit well when Remedy seemingly went into financial crisis because they couldn't tap Steam for AW2 sales suffering potentially hundreds of millions in lost revenue," Michael Douse, the publishing director at Larian, says on Twitter.

He's quote-tweeting Sweeney, who is commenting on stats from publisher New Blood showing that taking part in Epic's giveaways increased Steam sales. "On some transactions, Epic wins. On more, Steam wins," the Epic Games CEO tweeted. "But one thing is constant on every transaction: gamers and developers win by having more options and better deals."

Douse adds it's "difficult" to take these comments at face value, knowing some games have underperformed overall due to exclusivity. He's unsure if the Epic Games Store as a platform is bringing in customers and converting them into solid revenue for studios in a way that’s worthwhile.

"Ultimately the viability of the store sits on their ability to convert hundreds of millions of Fortnite players into mid-hardcore premium gamers," he says, "and I don't see the Fortnite brand attempting to do that."

In the case of Alan Wake 2, although Epic helped front the cost in a publishing deal, it did take almost two years for the sequel to safely turn a profit for Remedy. Steam and the Nintendo Switch are the only two stores it didn't come out on, and either would've definitely made the accounting on the project easier.

Options are always good, doubly so in an industry as unpredictable as this one. But it's crucial teams are aware of what they're getting into whatever path they take, because it's sales that'll keep the lights on, first and foremost.

Steam will always dominate over the Epic Games Store because people don't want to "cheat on [their] home library with some other shop," says Witchfire lead