I've just seen this article that makes it look like devs are thinking into the direction to make this game a complete either exclusive of Epic game store or google stadia.

https://www.gamewatcher.com/news/humankind-epic-stadia-exclusive

It's being made by Amplitude Studios, the talent behind Endless Legend and Endless Space, and their recent interview suggests that Humankind may yet launch as an Epic or Stadia exclusive. 

The developers also said:

"Frankly, if somebody comes in and says, ‘Hey, do you want $25 million and we’ll make you an exclusive?’ We’re going to go," said Spock in Amplitude's latest interview. "We are a for-profit organisation and you have to assume the consequences of that"

I must say i'm shocked. I'm definitely not buying into another platform just for this game no matter how good it turns out to be. I'm not angry, i'm just disappointed.

I do not think this is going to happen. If i recall correctly I read an interview with one of the devs who said that they also had a good relationship with Steam over the last 8 years.

But who knows... Time will tell.

tomsonhagen wrote:

I do not think this is going to happen. If i recall correctly I read an interview with one of the devs who said that they also had a good relationship with Steam over the last 8 years.

But who knows... Time will tell.

If Epic game store offers them money then steam will have to present more than just good relationship points.

It's already on the Steam Store. So I doubt they are going to pull it to make it exclusive to some shoddy third-rate digital distributor where it won't sell half as well.

I've read that from Metro. And I don't think your concern is valid one.

JS: [laughs] Right! But we are a for-profit organisation and you have to assume the consequences of that. But right now we’ve had a great relationship with Steam for eight years. There’s a lot of other options out there… of course we’re talking to them. Of course you have marketing visits from people.

But I don’t even know, marketing doesn’t, she’s PR [points to PR woman] and she doesn’t know… We’re talking to everybody, but I would hate to ruin our relationship with Steam or make the community angry.

Thankfully I just do the writing and a bit of design. That’s not my responsibility. [laughs]

It might be right to say Amplitude's Narrative Director was bit defensive on that matter, but I can't interpret that into "we're considering about publishing Humankind on Epic-exclusive" or something similar. Ampli-dudes are really sensitive to community reaction. This platform would be a strong evidence.

PARAdoxiBLE wrote:

I've read that from Metro. And I don't think your concern is valid one.

JS: [laughs] Right! But we are a for-profit organisation and you have to assume the consequences of that. But right now we’ve had a great relationship with Steam for eight years. There’s a lot of other options out there… of course we’re talking to them. Of course you have marketing visits from people.

But I don’t even know, marketing doesn’t, she’s PR [points to PR woman] and she doesn’t know… We’re talking to everybody, but I would hate to ruin our relationship with Steam or make the community angry.

Thankfully I just do the writing and a bit of design. That’s not my responsibility. [laughs]

It might be right to say Amplitude's Narrative Director was bit defensive on that matter, but I can't interpret that into "we're considering about publishing Humankind on Epic-exclusive" or something similar. Ampli-dudes are really sensitive to community reaction. This platform would be a strong evidence.

Yeah, that is the Interview I mentioned earlier. So i don't think this will happen.

To be fair if I was in the same situation, for 25 million €, I would probably do the same.

That being said, doing so would cripple the "Humankind" potential as staple series akin to "Civilization" on the long run (which I am 99% sure is the intention here) so I really doubt they would ever do that.

I only buy games on Steam or GOG.   NO.  EXCEPTIONS.   Not even for amplitude.     

I really don't like to think about Epic sniping a game from some of my favorite developers, eugh. It'd be a surprise for sure, since basically every game that Epic has sniped has had a ridiculous amount of community backlash, and Amplitude cares very much about their community. But man, without an official confirmation, the worry is always there...

It would certainly be a way to kill any hype for the game, can't have any of those pesky customers showing interest.

Honestly while I have zero love for Epic if a small developer wants to take that exclusivity deal I dont blame them. Now Amplitude is in Sega's stable so I dont imagine they are in a desperate need for cash to push Humankind along and Sega dont seem interested in Epics siren song so far. 

I would play it on Epic store if it meant we got a better game and more money for the developers themselves of course. But I feel like the Epic controversy has become such a toxic partisan issue its simply not worth wading into your better off just taking that rather hefty Valve cut into your profits.

dragontyron wrote:

But man, without an official confirmation, the worry is always there...

Exactly. If Amplitude is an honest company to their consumer they will clarify this issue and present us their current commitments regarding what platform they are 100% willing to commit to.  

A company, that doesn't hide secrets to their consumers is the most honest company.

The worst thing Amplitude could do right now regarding this speculation is be silent. Because someone, who isn't devoted to the player would also prefer to have an excuse to be silent whenever speculation regarding anti-consumer practices start to occur (like what happened to EA and so on). 

Yes, we could sit back here, pretend nothing is happening until it happens, and hope that amplitude does abide by some unwritten rules of fairness to their customers, but i would rather see them confirm this notion here explicitly without us having to speculate this by analyzing some old inteviews and interperating it favorably to cover the devs asses . Devs are active on these forums, I know, i wish they would explicitly deny or confirm the allegations.

MasterofMobius wrote:

Honestly while I have zero love for Epic if a small developer wants to take that exclusivity deal I dont blame them. Now Amplitude is in Sega's stable so I dont imagine they are in a desperate need for cash to push Humankind along and Sega dont seem interested in Epics siren song so far. 

I would play it on Epic store if it meant we got a better game and more money for the developers themselves of course. But I feel like the Epic controversy has become such a toxic partisan issue its simply not worth wading into your better off just taking that rather hefty Valve cut into your profits.

Honestly, if it eventually comes to EPIC exclusively, i would buy it just to show my support to the devs, uninstall epic and install a pirated version. I wouldn't even be bothered with multiplayer. If it's a good, it should be good in singleplayer. Multiplayer is just a cool bonus.

I am sick of these launchers and all these stupid menus and windows that you have to navigate through, it's BS and i'm entitled to feel that I'm not required to have them.

I fucking HOPE it comes on gog and not epic store exclusively

I'm planning on buying this the instant it hits pre-order.   But not unless we get a firm communication on this 'Epic' nonsense.  

Thank you!❤️

Catodion wrote:

dragontyron wrote:

But man, without an official confirmation, the worry is always there...

Exactly. If Amplitude is an honest company to their consumer they will clarify this issue and present us their current commitments regarding what platform they are 100% willing to commit to.  

A company, that doesn't hide secrets to their consumers is the most honest company.

The worst thing Amplitude could do right now regarding this speculation is be silent. Because someone, who isn't devoted to the player would also prefer to have an excuse to be silent whenever speculation regarding anti-consumer practices start to occur (like what happened to EA and so on). 

Yes, we could sit back here, pretend nothing is happening until it happens, and hope that amplitude does abide by some unwritten rules of fairness to their customers, but i would rather see them confirm this notion here explicitly without us having to speculate this by analyzing some old inteviews and interperating it favorably to cover the devs asses . Devs are active on these forums, I know, i wish they would explicitly deny or confirm the allegations.

What are they supposed to say?  "We will never be exclusive to one retail platform"?  No one could say that.  "Never" and "always" shouldn't be in any credible orgaizations communications.  If Sega strikes a deal with someone a month from now, a year from now, etc., then Sega strikes a deal.  

The game's listed on Steam.  That says a lot more than idle speculation from an interview.

Jodet wrote:

I'm planning on buying this the instant it hits pre-order.   But not unless we get a firm communication on this 'Epic' nonsense.  

Umm, if it hits pre-order, it's on that platform, right?  Unless you're pre-ordering it through Epic, I'm not sure there's a concern?  

Epic is one thing, but Stadia? Wouldn't that mean I have to stream the game??? Like no offline access?

Anything can be put into consideration. 

Does Epic Launcher an inferior platform? Yes but let me be the devil's advocate for a moment. The online player count for Amplitude games is quite low. Main issues: It's a 4x game (takes forever) and desync problems. So most of the people are in for SP anyways. 

That doesn't mean a platform is only good for multiplayer gaming. Online connectivity is a key aspect of building a community too. Not only mods but sharing guides, stories and all sorts of media helps to SP community connect with each other and continue playing. 

Making money is the sole purpose of for-profit corporations. So, If the money is right, I'll say launch the game in Epic for a year and spend Early Access time in there. Polish it and launch the gold version at Steam. Everyone is happy. 

does epic store even do early access?

i would imagine this is the decision of the publisher though. So would be in SEGA's hands rather than Amplitudes. I'm not 100%sure though

Of course, officially it won't be early access. I mean look at Hades after launching the game they are crawling back to Steam, still as an EA product.

Steam is no doubt has the biggest market there! Millions of people buying games or trading. A market with people who wants to spend money on different games rather than only cosmetic items(Fortnite). So If the Epic wants to adopt the role of a sugar daddy and pay for the "fine-dine" experience. I'll say let them. It will only last a year. 

When you burn all the bridges with small but loyal community, trusted partner and potential player base from Civ - I can't see how return from timed exclusive salvage that.

Epic launcher in its current form would also kill the modding community, since it offers no steam workshop equivalent. I know there have been talks about Epic including all those important features steam already has. But they have to deliver on that, currently its only talk, and the Epic launcher is clearly a worse choice from a consumer perspective.

Guys, for now this is all just speculation based on some unluckily worded interview. I'm pretty sure the guys at Amplitude know, they would make themselves pretty unpopular with the decision to make the game Epic exclusive.

Calm down and save your outrage for the moment, when something like this is actually announced.

They won't do Epic or Stadia since there is high potential that they need Early Access for this.

Sublustris wrote:
I've bought every single game and DLC Amplitude got to offer. When I got something for free, I've still bought a copy for a friend. The day they decide to pull off exclusivity bullshit, I'm out of this ship. And I know I'm not the only one. There are just some boundaries, that no developer or publisher can step over, if it expects to maintain any kind of respect from players.

Same here.  I've made plenty of youtube videos which turned people on to Amplitude games (including a quite successful ES2 tutorial), but I am not giving Epic money, no matter how good this is.

Personally I hope Humankind will be available on Steam/GOG day one.

Hey guys,

We are definitely planning to release the game on Steam.  We have not announced anything yet with regards to other platforms.

There was an article floating around at one point based on an out of context interview quote that may have caused some confusion (it has since been taken down :) ) 

Hope this helps,

Nat

That's nice to hear.

... who cares?
It's not like it lives and dies with the steam.

People want it on their platform of choice, and people are generally anti Epic because they poach games already previously announced for other platforms. Stadia is untrusted since it is an Alphabet product, who are known for selling customer information literally everywhere. Obviously everyone has their reasons for which they dislike and why, but Steam is the most user friendly platform with the most features, making it the platform of choice for a majority of people.

If they want to do Epic, I say go for it. Steam's dominance needs to be broken. Heck, maybe sell it everywhere *but* Steam. 

While Steam does need competitors, the way epic is doing it isn't the way to do it and retain value. Steam is still a very good platform whether it has a near monopoly or not.

CaptainCobbs wrote:

While Steam does need competitors, the way epic is doing it isn't the way to do it and retain value. Steam is still a very good platform whether it has a near monopoly or not.

The only way to get critical mass when you're facing a monopoly is to get exclusives, or at the very least get temporary exclusions from the dominant store. Epic's doing what they need to, and I support them (or anyone else) trying to break Steam's grip.

Alright... Lying and cheating is a really terrible way to do it though.

Okay, that's it, I'm bored with the subject.

Humankind is not an Epic exclusive, Humankind is definitely coming to Steam, and whatever else we think about online stores makes for rather tiresome conversation. Let's move on.