Last week, Ooblets developer Glumberland released a statement on the game’s official website. The statement explained the developer’s reasons for accepting a one-year exclusivity deal on the Epic Games Store, as several other developers and publishers have done recently. It also addressed the potential issues that some PC gamers might have with the exclusivity deal. As expected, a vocal contingent (mainly denizens of Reddit) took umbrage with the statement and its tone. Since then, there have been reports of a coordinated campaign of misinformation and threatening messages to developers.
Epic Games’ statement
Epic Games released a statement today to address the entire imbroglio, which we include below.
Epic’s Statement on Misinformation & Abuse
We at Epic Games have often shared our views about the game business and companies in it, and we support the entire game community’s right to speak freely and critically about these topics, including the topic of Epic, our products, and our store. When everyone shares their earnest views, the best ideas ultimately prevail.
The announcement of Ooblets highlighted a disturbing trend which is growing and undermining healthy public discourse, and that’s the coordinated and deliberate creation and promotion of false information, including fake screenshots, videos, and technical analysis, accompanied by harassment of partners, promotion of hateful themes, and intimidation of those with opposing views.
Epic is working together with many game developers and other partners to build what we believe will be a healthier and more competitive multi-store world for the future. We remain fully committed, and we will steadfastly support our partners throughout these challenges. Many thanks to all of you that continue to promote and advocate for healthy, truthful discussion about the games business and stand up to all manners of abuse.
Obviously, Epic is entirely in the right here, and the behavior displayed by that vocal contingent is terrible. Most PC gamers will agree that this contingent of the community is only a vocal minority. They don’t speak for all of us in any way. Most of us will readily condemn any form of harassment and intimidation, not just threats and hateful comments. Even if we reserve some criticism toward Epic as a company, there is no justification for what’s going on. This is a sad situation, and it’s a constant challenge we must try to rise above. We can only try to foster open dialogue in the spirit of tolerance and civility, hoping that things might change in time.
No statement on features delay yet
On that note, let’s also point out that Epic has not yet addressed its quiet delay of features for the Epic Games Store. It continues to offer a poor service with its launcher and a baffling inability to deliver results. This will keep emboldening those who criticize the company, and it does nothing to help its image. A statement on the reasons for this delay and more transparency into the development process would go a long way.
What do you think of the whole Ooblets controversy? What can we do to address the elephant in the room? Drop your comments below and tell us your opinion!
