The most current projections is China will never catch up to US GDP. Just for posterity, China GDP per capita is under $14k, while US is above $80k. There is no conceivable path to closing this gap. Not with an authoritarian in charge who shuts down entire industries on a whim and murders political rivals who disagree with him.
It's getting pretty tiring on Reddit. You'd think Sweeney were Hitler. I get that Epic's exclusives were annoying, but they also give us free games every week. The hate is far past justification.
That's not quite the situation here. The EU is preventing price discrimination within the EU. Price discrimination is generally disallowed in the EU single market. This is intended to foster greater synergies and efficiencies of scale, as opposed to current international trade agreements which are slow to form, and even slower to update as necessary. Part of the single market is the requirement that products and services not discriminate solely on the basis of nationality. Companies are permitted to charge differing amounts based on location and channel, but every consumer in the EU must have the right to purchase that product or service at that location or channel for the same price.
The single market has been one of the major economic drivers for success in the EU, ensuring poor countries have been able to quickly catch up with developed nations. Poor nations can charge developed nation prices for their products and services without risk of systemic barriers or anti-competitive arbitrage. Software is no different. Harmonised access maximises competition, promotes growth, and keeps aggregate prices low. The cost is that prices will rise in some EU nations, as they fall in others.
Within the EU, kind of. This doesn't prevent Steam from offering different prices by region, but they must allow users to log into different regions to make purchases at the localised prices. In practise, like all other products and services in the EU, prices will harmonise. In other words, they'll rise in some countries, and drop in others. There are a litany of benefits for the EU single market, so this law will not change. Valve must adapt.
Suppose you are an European citizen and you live in Egypt.
I don't think that is correct. The investigation began in 2015 by Margrethe Vestager. The focus is within the EU. Valve cannot prevent geo-blocking between EU countries. They're free to use IP geo-blocking, but users within the EU must be given the ability to switch to different EU stores. I.e. a Dane must be allowed to log into the Hungary store and purchase games at the local price. This has implications for keys as well, as a Dane must not be prevented from redeeming a Hungarian key, for example.
Despite previous reports revealing the game's 2026 release window, The Elder Scrolls VI is at least five years away and is likely to release, unsurprisingly, only on PC, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S....
On the one hand I fully agree. They have plenty of resources to be working on multiple projects at once.
On the other, it’s very easy for studios to lose their way when spread too thin. There is value in staying focused.
On the third hand, it’s taking an absurdly long time to build their games now. It’s clear the Gamebryo/Creation Engine is no longer fit for purpose. I don’t give a fuck about object permanence for 10,000 cheese wheels. I want fewer loading screens, much better facial animations, much better lighting, much better performance, and MUCH better collision handling. Unreal proved YEARS ago that functionally unlimited polygon assets were achievable with good performance with dynamic mesh loading. Gamebryo is absolutely shitting the bed with the assets in Starfield. Maybe it wouldn’t take 5+ years to build these games if they weren’t shackled to Gamebryo.
I wonder if the utterly generic and inoffensive stories are intentional. People LOVE to be outraged today. They tried to boycott the latest Harry Potter game because they hate J. K. Rowling. Maybe Bethesda is just trying to stay as far away from the outrage as possible, and the result is… this. Maybe all the interesting stories get canned or neutered and turned into side quests.
Fans have taken to the likes of X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok to question NetherRealm's decision to market Mortal Kombat 1 as a $70 Switch release. It has been called "robbery" and "disrespectful" to users.
To say it’s been a bad week for Unity is the understatement of 2023. First they announced a terrible new Pricing scheme, then their customers revolted, as the week goes on though, it gets worse and worse for Unity, from threats from an employee shutting down their offices, to more studios threatening to leave, to scummy secret...
They’re just different pricing models, not different verticals. Unity is still cheaper, but incurs significant risk now. Whereas Epic will take their 5% after $1M, Unity has no revenue split. However now that they’re charging per install, devs need to be sure their marginal profit clears this bar. No one is sure their pricing model works before launch, so I think this risk is unreasonable.
Unity has announced dramatic changes to its Unity Engine business model which will see its introduce a monthly fee per game install beginning on 1st January next year - a move that has already send shockwaves across the development community....
Some of Steam’s oldest user accounts are turning 20-years old this week, and Valve is celebrating the anniversary by handing out special digital badges featuring the original Steam colour scheme to the gaming veterans....
For those who have pre-ordered it is already here, the rest have to wait a little longer. Starfield is finally here! Have you bought it, why or why not? If you’ve already played it, what do you think of it? We are very curious!...
This is one of the more biting criticisms I've heard of the game. It results in a lack of feeling of scale and scope. The universe just feels like connected places, instead of worlds within a galaxy. No Mans Sky got this right, and it's surprising that Bethesda would fumble such a core mechanic. It looks like they tried to cover up this wart by... removing city maps.
Careful. The last time I spoke ill of Gamebryo+++++++ I was the subject of a short-lived harassment campaign. Bethesda fans are bizarrely protective of this Frankenstein engine. Get this: you still can't climb ladders! It's fucking 2023.
UE5 doesn't still have UE2 limitations. Gamebryo still won't let me climb ladders. It's clear that UE has been upgraded extensively, while Gamebryo has not.
Skyrim and Oblivion definitely hooked me with exploration. It was a significant reason for playing and completing those games for me. If I want story there are a thousand better games out there. One without the other feels like a loss for me.
Epic Games to update Unreal Engine pricing for devs not making games (www.gamedeveloper.com) angielski
Excerpts:...
Epic Games Cutting 870 Jobs, 16 Percent Of Its Workforce, also selling Bandcamp (kotaku.com) angielski
Valve loses a court case in the EU and has to pay 1.6 million euros in fines for geoblocking (mezha.media) angielski
Doom Studio id Software is Seemingly Working on new Version of its Game Engine - id Tech 8 (wccftech.com) angielski
The Elder Scrolls VI Is at Least Five Years Away, and Is Likely to Launch on PC, Xbox Series X|S Only (wccftech.com) angielski
Despite previous reports revealing the game's 2026 release window, The Elder Scrolls VI is at least five years away and is likely to release, unsurprisingly, only on PC, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S....
$70 Mortal Kombat 1 Switch version called "robbery" as graphical comparisons flood the internet (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
Fans have taken to the likes of X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok to question NetherRealm's decision to market Mortal Kombat 1 as a $70 Switch release. It has been called "robbery" and "disrespectful" to users.
Unity ...It Just Keeps Get Worse (youtu.be) angielski
To say it’s been a bad week for Unity is the understatement of 2023. First they announced a terrible new Pricing scheme, then their customers revolted, as the week goes on though, it gets worse and worse for Unity, from threats from an employee shutting down their offices, to more studios threatening to leave, to scummy secret...
Unity reveals plans to charge per game install, drawing criticism from development community (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
Unity has announced dramatic changes to its Unity Engine business model which will see its introduce a monthly fee per game install beginning on 1st January next year - a move that has already send shockwaves across the development community....
Steam's Oldest User Accounts Turn 20, Valve Celebrates With Special Digital Badges - IGN (www.ign.com) angielski
Some of Steam’s oldest user accounts are turning 20-years old this week, and Valve is celebrating the anniversary by handing out special digital badges featuring the original Steam colour scheme to the gaming veterans....
[MEGATHREAD] Starfield - Your experiences! (cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com) angielski
For those who have pre-ordered it is already here, the rest have to wait a little longer. Starfield is finally here! Have you bought it, why or why not? If you’ve already played it, what do you think of it? We are very curious!...
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, a real world experience set in a 100 room hotel designed to look like a spaceship (adrianhon.substack.com) angielski