That's happened before and still happens to this day, admittedly with smaller scale films than blockbusters for obvious reasons.

I get people are angry, but this is a new concept nor is it a changing one. Best thing you can do is not buy the game and not lash out. You can express disdain without throwing to insults and calling things the devil (this isn't aimed at You Mr.Mumbles, but the OP and the general tone that seems to be going on).

Crowdfunding is not a purchase. Legally they work very differently

Ah, well. I do not condone outrage myself, but I also do not agree with this, or how Metro Exodus switched to kind of an Epic exclusive right before release. My point being more that yes, offering a refund is good, but otoh, this makes people disappointed and sour since they'll feel like they backed the project under false pretenses (although I do not remember whether Phoenix Point had made any platform announcements, only, people were likely expecting certain things). Getting a refund is not the same as getting the game you paid for in the form you were expecting.
It seems like bad practice, and Epic is already a bit under fire atm. I do not mind them, though I'll likely never buy from them, and their client is extremely lackluster.
Good for developers and publishers though, I'll give them that.

I'm sorry, there's nothing honorable about offering a refund.

This is not a failed project but a very successful one. A refund when they have their pockets full of money after crossing their backers by going back on your promises is nothing to be proud of.

I got refunds before from projects that promised to be drm-free and then went the denuvo route. The fact that it happened before doesn't make it any better. Luckily I didn't backed them this time. And seing how they acted I surely never will.

Check the fig page https://www.fig.co/campaigns/phoenix-point
Still has GOG and Steam listed so yeah they were promised.

Also note the Epic Store does not support Linux, meaning this too is a lie now.

While this is remarkably fucked up, I honestly hope it's a good business decision for Gollop and co. because they probably need the money after being in development for so long and not exactly achieving success with Chaos Reborn - which was a pretty good game at it's core.

The silver lining, if there is one, is that Epic users will be the beta testers for this and many other games, considering how most game launches occur nowadays.

I am.

Seriously, if people are actually outraged at this, the absolute best course of action is to let the devs know, get a refund, then buy the game on GOG when they release it here. The only thing that talks is money.

But I somehow doubt the vast majority of people will do that.

Yes you can refund the game in the next 28 days. But what about fig exclusive items?
Edit: Made a mistake about kickstarter. Too many projects to keep an eye on you know :)

Ok, not all hope is lost, here is an extract of an email conversation I've just had with the Snapshot Games community manager. I wouldn't say it gives much hope, but if the community outrage keeps growing, they might still reconsider their position a little

>Hi! I'm a Fig backer for Phoenix Point.
Probably you'll have received a good bunch of complaints about your Epic Store turncoat decision by now, so I'm not going to add my impressions. I'll take a deep breath and get straight to the point:
Is there any possibility to get the Epic key for the moment and deactivate it and switch to a GOG key after Epic's exclusivity year? This was what you promised (and I expected to get) when we backed the game and if there's still the possibility to get our legitimate rewards I won't ask for a refund. Or any other possible solution, other than just asking for a refund, so that I can finally receive my GOG key?

Thanks for your help.
Best regards.

>Hi ####,

Thank you for contacting us.

For more details on the Epic Store and what impact it has on you as a customer, please visit our Epic Store FAQ here.

If you'd like to know more about the reasons why we decided to opt for an exclusive launch on the Epic Store, you can read a letter from our company president here.

If you are an existing customer and wish to apply for a refund, you can do so via following this link.

Please note: the final date for refund applications is April 12th. Requests made after this time may not be considered.

>Hi, ####,
Thanks for your help but that response suspiciously looked just like a template for replying any complaint about Epic Store.
I'm afraid you haven't answered my questions... So, is there any possible solution that would allow me to get a GOG key for Phoenix Point as a backer?
Regards!

>We're looking into that possibility right now. We're just waiting to see if we can do that within our agreement with Epic.

Great bait and switch.
No Linux and no DRM-free version for at least a year.

Hence the refund. No one is forcing them to accept the change. If they get a full refund, I see no problem with this. It would be an issue if the devs would make it a take it or leave it situation.
A lot of GOG users tend to turn a blind eye if it's GOG doing the exclusivity. I haven't seen a lot of moaning about Diablo being exclusive here. Not here at least.

To be fair :

1) DRM-free exclusives and install-our-client exclusives are NOT exactly the same thing.

2) Taking money for a promise, and then refunding it because after all fuck that, is still very annoyingly bad practice. It's not zero-sum whatev'. It's still a cancellation of something that was announced and expected, and towards which people had made steps that require backtracking.

The gleeful apology of this behaviour is ridiculous.

Latest email:

>Hi ####,

I am pleased to say that we will be able to offer Steam/GOG keys to backers after the 1 year exclusivity period in addition to the Epic Store key. The Steam/GOG versions will also include the 1 year of free DLC.

I wouldn't say that's a 100% satisfactory solution, but I guess that's the best Snapshot can do for their backers after having signed the contract with Epic. I won't ask for a refund then.

I strongly disagree with that. DRM or not, you are still limiting the choice for people. It shouldn't matter if it is a store of your choice or if they give you a benefit you agree on.