Ooblets Goes to Epic Games Store; Devs Defend Their Decision

Exclusive titles on Epic Games Store are still controversial. Many devs, however, are not afraid to cooperate with the company and strongly defend their position, putting forward strong arguments. One of them is the team at Glumberland, responsible for creating Ooblets.

Ooblets will be an exclusive title in Epic Games Store.

Glumberland is a small publisher responsible for creating Ooblets. Recently, the title has caused a little commotion on Reddit, all due to a controversial decision of the studio. Glumberland has decided to sign an agreement with Epic Games and put its game on the list of exclusive PC titles on Epic Games Store. This was received rather coldly by the player community who criticized the devs and Epic itself. However, Glumberland stood up for the decision that had been taken, explaining why they had taken such a step.

Financial freedom

Money is one of the main problems for small dev teams who want to introduce their first title to the market. Glumberland is no exception, and the studio's representatives speak openly about their concerns. Epic Games offered upfront money, while guaranteeing sales at a level that satisfied Glumberland. This means no more trouble and worries, while at the same time being able to focus all your attention on the game itself.

In fact,only one programmer worked for Glumberland, and thanks to the funds obtained from Epic, the group will be able to grow. In addition, there will be no need to introduce the title to the market as soon as possible, just so it earns money to fund itself, and there will be a possibility of fine-tuning every detail.

Because Epic doesn’t yet have the same market share as their competitors, they offered us a minimum guarantee on sales that would match what we’d be wanting to earn if we were just selling Ooblets across all the stores. That takes a huge burden of uncertainty off of us because now we know that no matter what, the game won’t fail and we won’t be forced to move back in with our parents (but we do love and appreciate you, parents!). Now we can just focus on making the game without worrying about keeping the lights on.

What's wrong with Epic Games Store?

There's no denying that throwing mud at EGS on the web has become the norm. Players have a lot to say, but is it all important at all? Glumberland's representatives don't think so! In their view, all the arguments come down to a few basic points.

Exclusive titles are an action against the consumer - this argument is very common. Glumberland thinks there's nothing like it. Epic Games Store is not a place like HBO or Netflix, where you have to pay to use the content. The service is fully free and the player only needs to install an additional client on their PC.

Another argument is the lack of many features on Epic Games Store that have long been available to competitors. The people at Glumberland think it's important to give the company some time. After all, 15 years ago Steam wasn't what we're dealing with today. Everything requires work, and time is needed to accomplish that work.

The devs also express their regret about threats that can sometimes be heard from the community. Many players predict that they will pirate a title if it is not available on their favourite platform. A very mature attitude.

When the launch

Ironically, additional measures will slightly delay the planned release of the game. Due to the additional possibilities and lack of pressure, the developers want to refine the title and devote much more time to it, which will automatically cause some dalays. However, it was not specified when the game will appear on the market.

Many players see signing a contract with Epic as selling their souls to the devil.

What is Ooblets?

Ooblets is a game with a premise similar to the Pokemon series, but with some elements of agriculture. Players will have creatures at their disposal - the title Ooblets - to battle, but the creatures will first have to be bred from a small seed. This is where the agricultural element of the game comes into play.

The PC version of the game will initially only be available on Epic Games Store. The same rule will of course not apply to the Xbox platform, where Ooblets will also appear.