OpenTTD on the Epic Games Store

[La1eon]

From the beginning, OpenTTD was developed as independent of any digital distribution platform (due to the years in which it was created, but that doesn't matter . This allowed OpenTTD to be released on a wide variety of popular PC storefronts: on Steam, GOG, and even the Microsoft Store.

But there is another popular storefront on the market, the Epic Games Store, which I personally really like, among other things, because it pushes a relatively open, storefront-agnostic, platform-agnostic, and really promising set of tools and services for games called Epic Online Services, as opposed to the closed Steamworks (which only works the platforms where Steam is available).

The Epic Games Store currently offers relatively few free/free-to-play games (several dozen at the time of writing this), so OpenTTD could gain a lot of discoverability there. There are also people who only play free games, so they could be tempted to try OpenTTD too.

As of March 9, 2023, the Epic Games Store is open to all developers whose games meet the store requirements, which was officially announced in this article: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/news/ ... publishers. Until now, it was not so simple and straightforward, which is why I'm writing this forum post only now, even though OpenTTD was released on Steam and GOG in 2021, and in theory, it could have been released on the Epic Games Store back then too. In theory.

Hence my suggestion for the OpenTTD Team to take a look at those new self-publishing tools and the store requirements and consider releasing OpenTTD on the Epic Games Store as well, making it available on probably all popular PC game storefronts.

[kamnet]

The big question that I foresee (which I didn't see an immediate answer to) is if any of the APIs that Epic would like developers to use is compatible with OpenTTD's GPLv2 licensing. If they require software to have restrictive licensing in order to keep their APIs from being adopted by competitors, then that' is just not going to happen period.

Aside from that, it doesn't appear that Epic actually requires developers to use any of their APIs. OpenTTD already has its own multiplayer service and game content distribution service, and it's un likely that they will ever adopt any features that offer benefits only to players on a certain platform, such as Steam Achievements or in-platform network saves.

It took a long time for Steam to get adopted as a distribution platform, but it made sense because of the huge number of players. Adding Microsoft Store and GOG were dead-simple easy with a low (virtually no) barrier to entry. I don't know what Epic would offer, or how many more players the game would pick up who aren't already plugged into Steam, GOG or MS Store.

[La1eon]

As far as I know, there is no requirement to implement the Epic Online Services in your game before it can be released on the Epic Games Store (I've even bought one that doesn't use any Epic Online Services APIs at all and is normally sold on the Epic Games Store).

Of course, without implementing the appropriate Epic Online Services APIs, you won't be able to have, for example, a rich presence in your game, but it doesn't really matter in a game like OpenTTD. So OpenTTD could be released with no Epic Online Services integration, and eventually that integration could be added somewhere in the future if it makes sense. I mentioned this set of tools and services for games from Epic Games because, in my opinion, it is a very promising replacement for the closed Steamworks (like mod.io or Nexus Mods vs the closed Steam Workshop) and, personally, I really like how they do it.

OpenTTD is a self-sufficient game, as I've already mentioned and you've confirmed, so I don't think that releasing OpenTTD on the Epic Games Store will require any more effort than on those platforms where OpenTTD has already been released. In my opinion, this is a proposal that is worth considering.

[Eddi]

replacement for the closed Steamworks

we don't use that anyway, so what's this doing in this discussion?

[La1eon]

@Eddi, here's the answer:

I mentioned this set of tools and services for games from Epic Games because, in my opinion, it is a very promising replacement for the closed Steamworks (like mod.io or Nexus Mods vs the closed Steam Workshop) and, personally, I really like how they do it.

Have you missed it somehow?

[odisseus]

Looks like this "Epic Games Store" thing is just another distribution platform. However, it charges a $100 submission fee per game.

OpenTTD is already present in the package repositories of all decent operating systems (and for those who are out of luck, there are Homebrew and Chocolatey), so I don't see the point of it.

[La1eon]

Yes, it seems to be true that Epic Games charges $100 per game (just like Steam), and it's a little sad. But I don't think it would be the biggest blocker to OpenTTD's release on the Epic Games Store, wouldn't it? However, if it really turned out to be the only blocker, I could consider donating to OpenTTD.

[kamnet]

The $100 one-time fee isn't a significant barrier, if the devs wanted to pursue that a quick one-week fundraiser would probably be sufficient if needed. I think the real question at this point is what being on Epic's store really brings for players, and if distribution to Epic is as easy to streamline as it has been for the rest of the platforms.

[Michi_cc]

However, if it really turned out to be the only blocker, I could consider donating to OpenTTD.

I don't think money would be the issue here. Adding another distribution platform mostly costs time for initial setup, maintenance, and fixing things if they break. So what is needed is a time donation, not a money donation.

[La1eon]

It's all up to you and other OpenTTD Team members, as no one in their right mind would trust a random guy like me to publish OpenTTD and maintain it. Also, unfortunately, I'm not a game dev myself, so I can't explore this myself and then tell you how it went.

However, I really don't think it would require much more effort than:
1. Register your company
2. Add game information by copying this data from one of those storefronts where OpenTTD has already been released.
3. Upload game files needed to run it.
4. Release.

[kamnet]

That's the way it would have been done ten years ago, but since then OpenTTD has moved to an environment where any platform that they publish to will be done automatically and simultaneously, and with as little intervention from the devs as possible. It is part of the reason that all but generic Linux binaries were dropped.

... as no one in their right mind would trust a random guy like me to publish OpenTTD and maintain it...

Except they do, and also they can't stop you if that's what you wanted to do. The binaries and distributions that are maintained for various Linuxes, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch are all ran by individuals apart from the OpenTTD devs. So long as you abide by the GPLv2 license you can do whatever you want.

[La1eon]

@kamnet I wasn't clear enough, haha. I don't know anything about gamedev, and I'm not competent enough even to maintain packages for some niche UNIX derivative, let alone maintaining OpenTTD on one of the top PC game distribution platforms