A remarkable correspondence between Valve and the Epic Games Store has appeared online. In particular, the head of Epic called Gabe Newell’s company “assholes.”
In 2021, Wolfire Games filed a lawsuit against Valve, accusing the latter of controlling computer game prices. Recently, email correspondence has surfaced in the case materials between Valve CEO Gabe Newell and Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney.
Tim Sweeney accused Steam owners of introducing a ‘sliding’ royalty scale for developers. The way it works is that the more a studio makes on a game, the smaller the percentage is given to Valve. For others, the rate is 30 percent. According to the head of Epic Games, this was very unfair to the developers. He did not mince his words:
You bastards tell the world that the high and mighty get special treatment while the little people pay thirty percent.
In response, Valve CEO Scott Lynch forwarded the email to Gabe Newell with a short message: “Bro, are you crazy?”
In late 2021, Wolfire Games’ lawsuit against Valve was dismissed. The studio stated that Steam owners were monopolizing the computer game market by forbidding games to be sold more cheaply on other platforms. The court has found no evidence of this, but the case is still not closed.
Valve recently canceled development of two fan games at once Teamfort and Portal. Gamers were very surprised by this act, because previously the company was very loyal to such projects.
A new battle pass for Helldivers 2 has been revealed – it will be free
Source: VG Times