The Epic Games Store Mega Sale went live only yesterday, and already there seems to be some sort of rowdy kerfuffle about. Not long after the sale went live, publisher Paradox Interactive removed the newly announced Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 from the store. Why? Well, it may have something to do with Epic’s 2FA $10 USD sign-up deal, eligible for games over $14.99 USD. Supposedly, the publisher doesn’t want to sell the yet-to-be-released game at a discount.
Of course, this is all speculation at the moment. Paradox hasn’t confirmed that its intention was to dodge the possible discount. And I highly doubt it would admit to such a move. Epic Games, however, stands by the decision to pull the game.
“If a developer or publisher chooses to not participate in our sales, we will honor that decision,” an Epic Games representative said to PCGamer. “Paradox Interactive has chosen to not participate in the Epic Mega Sale and the game has been temporarily removed from sale.”
Bloodlines 2 will return to the Epic Games Store following the end of the sale, Paradox said. According to PCGamer, the publisher will still honor any sales of the game bought at a discount before they removed it.
“The game will return to the store soon! Any purchases made while the game was discounted during the Epic Mega Sale will be honored and no Masquerade violations will be assessed,” public relations manager Jesse Henning said.
That’s not all, folks
Bloodlines 2 isn’t the only game greeting players with a 404 page on the Epic Games Store. Mosey on over to the page for Oxygen Not Included, and you’ll be met by the same screen. Developer Klei Entertainment also removed that game not long after the sale began. Many theorize that they removed the game because of the sale, as well as the aforementioned 2FA discount. The game is listed normally at $25 USD but was being sold at 25% off. After the discount, you could have bought Oxygen Not Included for under $10 USD. It’s a hefty price drop, and perhaps one Klei wasn’t willing to live with. Klei hasn’t provided any comment.
Hades developer Supergiant Games has also come under fire. The developer apparently dropped the price down to €14.86 in Europe after the sale went live, making it ineligible for the 2FA discount. After taking some heat, Supergiant brought the price back up. Except this time, it was priced to $25 USD, $5 higher than the game’s price before the sale. According to Supergiant designer Greg Kasavin, the developer planned to raise the price to “reflect the game’s current value,” but “communicated poorly.” Supergiant has since brought the game back to the original price of $19.99 USD.
“After the sale is over, on June 14, we will be raising the game’s retail price to $24.99,” Kasavin wrote. “We had intended to raise the retail price of the game soon, but made the decision rashly as part of the sale—we didn’t provide advance notice to our customers, despite previously stating we would do so. That was our mistake, and we sincerely apologize.”
One for the road
Finally, we have Borderlands 3. Oh Borderlands 3, how you still yearn for that sweet controversy. Yes, 2K Games has elected to remove its upcoming shooter looter from the Mega Sale. However, you can still find the game on the storefront. But while you can pre-order it, you can’t use the $10 discount.
For a store platform so embroiled in controversy, I suppose it’s not surprising to see another one crop up even for a simple summer sale. The Epic Games Store Mega Sale has been live for less than a day, and already people have started gnashing their teeth. Can we write this off as growing pains, or is it a symptom of something worse? I suppose we’ll find out soon.
[Cheers, PCGamer]
