Last week, developer Glumberlands announced its upcoming simulator Ooblets would be an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC in a post whose tone was widely criticized by disappointed gamers.
Criticism, however, soon turned to harassment, which prompted Epic Games to issue a statement on the matter.
Epic Games Ooblets Harassment Statement
“We at Epic Games have often shared our views about the game business and companies in it, and we support the entire game community’s right to speak freely and critically about these topics, including the topic of Epic, our products, and our store. When everyone shares their earnest views, the best ideas ultimately prevail.”, the statement reads.
“The announcement of Ooblets highlighted a disturbing trend which is growing and undermining healthy public discourse, and that’s the coordinated and deliberate creation and promotion of false information, including fake screenshots, videos, and technical analysis, accompanied by harassment of partners, promotion of hateful themes, and intimidation of those with opposing views.”, it continues.
Epic Games has reinforced that it will support its partners facing harassment as they “build what we [Epic] believe will be a healthier and more competitive multi-store world for the future”.
While the statement isn’t necessarily illuminating, it does bring up an issue that’s been widespread ever since the Epic Games Store launched and began reaching for exclusives.
Every Epic Store exclusivity announcement is met with backlash that often goes further than simply expressing displeasure with a developer’s choice, devolving , as the Ooblets example shows, into threats.
You can read Epic’s statement in full here.
