And they still sacrificed the Linux port since Epic doesn't support it.

This super-aggressive approach in order to secure those exclusivity deals while eliminating consumer-choice doesn't make it any less repulsive and disgusting either. Steam's a choir boy compared to Epic's store.

Seeing this fiasco and broken promises i can definately say i'm happy i cancelled my pledge halfway through the FIG campaign back when it was announced, shame on you Julian and Epic.

Can't say i'm happy that another developer tarnish the trust of crowdfunding again though, been enough devs doing that already.

Favorite question from the AMA: Julian didn't answer of course but it was the best one asked!

Other points:

Snapshot Games approached Epic Games.

Even if every last backer refunded Snapshot Games would still be in the black because of the deal.

Chinese backers are screwed since Epic Games is blocked in China.

Yeah, but only for putting it on their store. I assume* Epic then asked for exclusivity.

Edit: *Added, because I can't be really sure.

lack of healthy competition is never a good thing is a market... however, not every kind of competition is an healthy one either, especially not for the consumer...

That's true. I haven't decided whether I will bother with the Epic client at all or just wait (I am a backer, or I would definitely just wait). My main thing is getting the games DRM-free, or as close to that as I can get. I don't mind making a dummy email to give when making an account, and never giving the storefront a red cent of revenue.

I rarely back games on Kickstarter / Fig, and to date have only backed ones that give GOG codes ... so this is annoying, but I guess there's always some risk with these things.

Steam is every bit as toxic and anti-consumer as Epic. And Steam has way more exclusives than Epic does. The defenders of Steam who simulataneously hate Epic are just applying a double standard because they buy games that use the Steam DRM but have not bought games that use the Epic DRM.

Yeah but there's also the understandable role of chronology : "yet another additional client" gets more and more unwelcome.

Steam exclusives exist mostly because of the devs/publishers have chosen so though, not because Valve is actively buying or forcing exclusive deals. The reason for this is, that for the longest time Steam was the only noteworthy digital games seller and managed to stay that way because their platform works.

Super bummed - I remember the thread here about the game when it was getting Ki... er Figstarted and I made a comment like "Time to forget about it for two years so I don't have to wait!" ...

... guess I'll have to wait an extra two or so :(

Extra bummer points for me - I had actually never really "followed" the game because I was totally sold just based on the words "XCOM" and "Julian Gollup" ... seeing this news actually caused me to pull up some screenshots of the footage.

Holy shit did it look awesome. Legit 21st C undate of the X-Com world map and the sweet looking turnbased action of the new XCOM games. Sucks :(

Steam buying up exclusives around say 2005 or so is what helped them to get to that position.
Steam having a virtual monopoly over the PC market has been the main reason for lack of consumer choice in the PC gaming market. For over a decade now, the only "choice" the consumer has in the case of most PC games is to either accept Steam DRM, or not play the game. One could also point out that a store like Steam paved the way for a store like Epic.

Thank you. It's a let-down that we're not getting it at release anymore, but it's still better than no release at all. Plus, at least we know we when to expect it, instead of the usual vague promises of 'eventually' getting a GOG version. I'm still waiting on Axiom Verge.

Thinking about it, I'd be pretty stoked if a trend were to start of high profile games regularly coming out a year after release on GOG. Imagine getting Monster Hunter World, Dark Souls III, Dishonored 2, Prey, Nier, and all those other titles. Sure, getting them at release would be even better, but it would be an improvement.

I feel you man, I was super stoked as well. But hey, we won't have to wait for the DLC to be developed and the game will have had plenty of patches, so no chance of them not patching the game! It's all about being optimistic.

No it isn't! Steam is wonderful, and Gabe is my friend. Tim isn't my friend though, he's Chairman Xi's friend. Steam got where it got by being fantastic and great and wonderful and kind and just marvelous in every way. That's completely different from the Epic Store which is just bad and terrible and takes games away from the one place I want to buy them. No it doesn't. Exclusives are bad, and Steam is good! Therefore Steam cannot have exclusives. That's just basic logic? Also DRM is bad and Steam is good, so Steam cannot have DRM.

Quod erat demonstradum, as the Greeks would say- checkmate, atheists, Gabe is your God now.

Also Steam doesn't have any exclusives anyway. You can buy a steam key from other places which is the true definition of competition since we know Gabe is wonderful and would never target a key seller if they started taking too much custom from Steam- after all, he learnt his business practices from wonderful free market and never ever anti competitive (except that Windows Store, ick, so anticompetitive just like Epic Store and both suck too) Microsoft. No, this is wrong! I'm not sure exactly why it's wrong logically, but you seem to be saying bad things about Steam, so you must be wrong because Steam is so awesome as I proved above with Science and Logic! Are you sure you're not a Chinese bot or being paid by Epic to say these things? I'm not being paid by Gabe to say these things, I say them because Gabe is so nice and the saviour of gaming, that's why, and because Steam is so great and wonderful and offers just the bestest of best deals with no catches and absolutely no drawbacks whatsoever just loads of essential features that make my life utter bliss; but everyone who disagrees with me seems to be a Chinese or Russian bot or bribed by Epic or maybe have been getting all the zlotys from GOG. Maybe that's why GOG is losing money and is going to shut down next week? Unlike Steam, Steam will be here forever!

(Meh to be serious for a bit, the Phoenix Point situation is pretty shitty for backers who are absolutely wedded to Steam or GOG, but I see why both sides of the deal did it. One side gets guaranteed minimum sales- also good for the Fig investors- while the other gets a differentiated user base from Fortnite which is crucial to their long term success. A lot of people will also see the Epic key as being 'free'/ added value as well, since you get a GOG/ Steam key later anyway and get free dlc etc on Epic Store. Those people won't be loud about it though.)

I might have missed some answers and won't mention the ones that were only about the design of the game, but here's my summary of the AMA (of course they dodged the most critical questions and there was a lot of PR speak):

- On the first day only 3% of the backers asked for refunds.
- The Epic Store/Epic Launcher is blocked in China. Snapshot games have no idea how backers from that country will be able to play the game on release day. They hope they'll have an answer soon.
-The game will be DRM-free and run without he Epic launcher. You'll need it for updates though.
- The exclusivity deal even forbids snaphot games to offer a DRM-free download from from their own homepage for backers.
- Snapshot games approached the Epic store and not the other way around (in a later answer they clarified that they only approached Epic Store about distribution; they didn't give an answer how the exclusivity deal happened).
- Even before the exclusivity deal they had enough money to develop and offer the promised game.
- Snapshot thinks the deal is in the best interest of the backers, because it will help them to deliver the best game possible.
- They weren't allowed to inform backers backers beforehand and ask them about their oppinion (because of a confidential clause).
- Snapshot thinks investors will get the best return possible, but they can't share confidential data on the AMA (in the comments an investor revealed that upfront payments by distributors count as revenue and so they will get a share from the Epic deal).
- Game will have limited modding support a while after release (but not before the first major DLC).
- There will be 3 major DLCs.
- All free DLCs for backers during the first year after release doesn't mean all DLCs. There will still be exclusive DLCs for high-tier backers.
- Right at the moment there's no indication that Steam or GOG won't host the game after the exclusivity deal.