Could anyone have predicted that Epic Games - developer of Fortnite and Gears of War, creator of the Unreal Engine, and powerhouse behind the Epic Games Store, Steam's biggest rival - would buy up Mediatonic, the studio behind hit pandemic game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout? Not us, that's for sure.
Tonic Games Group, the parent company of Mediatonic, joins other properties such as Rocket League dev Psyonix and Infinity Blade dev Chair Entertainment in Epic's growing portfolio of studios.
Here's part of the statement that Mediatonic issued today:
"Since Fall Guys broke out in August, we’ve put everything we have into the game, and the Fall Guys team has already grown massively from 35 to 150+. Yet, there is so much more we want to build for our players.
With our publisher Devolver Digital supporting and championing us along the way with Fall Guys, Foul Play and Hatoful Boyfriend, we've been able to bring some truly unique experiences to players as an independent studio.Joining forces with Epic will accelerate our plans to improve the game and bring Fall Guys to as many players as possible, while continuing to support the community."
In the FAQ on their site, Mediatonic talks about Fall Guys getting similar support to what Rocket League has - "account systems, cross-play, squad vs squad modes, etc." They specifically cite Fall Guys as the main reason that this partnership happened, stating that their future goals are to "take the game to new (dizzying) heights."
Fear not, the game is still coming to Switch (and remaining on current platforms, too) - Epic's involvement seemingly does not include exclusivity. "If you own the game on [Steam or PlayStation], you’ll still be able to play it from there and will receive future updates," the FAQ reads. "We are also still planning to bring Fall Guys to Nintendo Switch and Xbox."
https://twitter.com/ballmatthew/status/1366814112995508226
Epic founder Tim Sweeney mentions that the company is interested in building up their "Metaverse" - a uniquely modern concept in which a virtual place can become a hub for social and economic activity, that is persistently online and available whether you're logged in or not. If it sounds like a science fiction idea, that's because it is - "the Metaverse" was coined by speculative fiction writer Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel Snow Crash. (For a more detailed insight into the Metaverse, Washington Post's article is a great read.)
It seems like Epic and Mediatonic are mostly interested in furthering the popularity and possibility of Fall Guys as an ongoing service, similar to Rocket League, and not so much in the creation of new games - at least for the time being.
What are your thoughts, worries, and unanswered questions following this news? Let us know in the comments.
[source mediatonicgames.com]
Comments 83
That's great for Tonic, I hope that bolsters their business. Never understood the vitriol levied at the Epic store, it seems like they really want to do the best for developers.
Then again, I'm old enough to have seen when people were saying the exact things about Epic that they were about Steam when it first came to fruition, years ago.
NINJA APPROVED
Of course. Yet another company to produce exclusives for Epic games.. the bully of the gaming industry.
I knew this game was going to get eaten up by some big company
Oh no.... jonsey in fall guys....
Falltnite. Fort Guys.
We can't have this keep happening...
It’s a shame that so many indie devs get swallowed up by larger companies. Of course, Epic are just as dreadful as Nintendo as far as large corporations go. I don’t really understand singling them out for hate when they’re essentially doing the exact same as every other massive corporation.
Wanted to buy this when it released on Switch. Now I'm not sure anymore.
@nessisonett I don't see Nintendo doing as much shady stuff as Epic.
If anything, Nintendo is pretty open about how out of touch they are with the gamers at times.
Nintendo also doesn't do sneaky stuff with your data (sell it to China).
Not only that, but its usually great when Nintendo takes a company under it's wing. Like when they saved Bayonetta.
Aw gosh darn it @Sandro89 My thoughts completely, they're going to make this game have so many more microtransactions and game passes
@KateGray why. just why
@nessisonett lol
@BloodNinja people are upset about monopolies and the Chinese money, my dude.
Hopefully everyone at Mediatonic got a nice payoff.
@GraphicJon Nintendo are closely linked to Tencent through their Chinese Switch release which actively bans certain games from running on it to adhere to censorship laws. That’s just as much of a valid complaint as Epic’s ties to Tencent.
Ick. I’d love to what the offer was that they couldn’t pass up? Maybe Forbes has some numbers.
@Kalmaro I wish Nintendo would hire the ex staff of the Sony Japan Studio Sony recently closed. Maybe they could make a 3D Donkey Kong game, seeing as they developed Ape Escape.
Yeah this.. suddenly makes me not want to buy Fall Guys anymore.
I will down the line if it doesn't end up getting a ton of ***** microtransaction content but for now I'll hold off.
Awwww damnit
@nessisonett You have to keep in mind that, if they want to sell anything in China, they have to follow their rules.
I don't like the censorship either, I also don't think Nintendo can do much about it. This change will have to happen from somewhere else.
@nessisonett one is a distribution partner in a country with tight and restrictive video game laws ... another owns 48.4% stake of your company.
NOT THE SAME THING IN THE SLIGHTEST and not even up for comparison.
Epic have given me a lot of very good games for free. Wonder if they'll give me Fall Guys for free.
@GraphicJon So if more companies appear, like when Discord attempted an online shop, and now Epic exists on top of Steam, origin, Nintendo’s, Sony’s and Microsoft’s online markets, itchio, and any others I may be missing, where is the monopoly?
@Nerdtendowastaken Yes, actually.
There's taking your data and selling it to another company for profit and there's collecting the data of people working against you and actually considering offering them a job.
Both are shady, I think one is way worse than the other.
Thanos_collecting_infinity_stones.jpg
What every one else said.
I prefer independent game studios. So this sucks.
@Kalmaro
This. We also wouldn't have the masterpiece that is Astral Chain if Nintendo didn't have a close relationship with them.
Well.. there goes Fall guys. I was going to buy it on Switch, but I am not supporting Epic Games.
A shame. Id prefer not to support Epic, so ima pass
@sanderev I think you should still give it a chance When it comes to switch, Its a really great game.
@FroZtedFlakerZz I hope not the battle pass was always free and they had so skins you had to buy with money, but it would come with about three skins for five bucks, but yes I to fear the same thing, GOD PLEASE.
@Snatcher Even if it was the best game ever, I am not going to support Epic Games. Especially because of their actions against Apple and how they force exclusive deals on PC games.
@Nerdtendowastaken lmao okay
Wouldn't be surprised if they buy Innersloth next
Never gonna support Epic and their scummy business practices. It's a shame because I really wanted to pick this up
@sanderev That't thats fine you do you man, I'm just going to get it bc I have been waiting for it to be on the switch plus I played it on ps4 before epic got it. But I understand you not wanting to support epic, I don't like fortnight so I stop'd playing.
@Entrr_username LORD PLEASE
As long as this doesn't negatively affect the quality of the game when it is finally released for Switch, I don't really care. I'm happy for the Mediatonic guys - nice big payday for them.
Another one bites the dust.
@FroZtedFlakerZz never understood this logic about micro transactions. I've been playing Rocket League for years. Never once have I spent additional money on it in micro transactions. They're completely optional.
Say what you will about Epic, but they definitely are shaping their company to have a solid identity. All these devs and games that they're buying really do fit together in a unifying way despite initially coming from different devs. Like seriously, Rocket League, Fall Guys, Fortnite. I get it, that feels like solid cohesion right there.
@Clyde_Radcliffe It wasn't closed, it's still going. The studio had multiple development teams, but they've been merged and now operate as one big team, focusing mainly on Astro Bot.
@blockfight I think its the people with no self control LOL. (Like me sob)
Epic will make this game better and extend its life by adding more and better events, plus with epics money they can add more new stages and modes at a faster pace to keep fhe game fresh.
Also can guarantee this game will go free to play within a few months just like rocket league did and rocket league is just still as good as it was before epic bought it
@VoidofLight How is Epic Games the bully of the game industry? They are like the most pro-developer company in the industry. Next to that, all their games are multiplatform, so what exclusive games are you talking about?
@DrkBndr Mainly because they held games ransom by offering exclusivity deals, forcing Steam to change unless they want more business stolen from the platform. These games were planned/promised to come out on steam as well, but were taken right before launch.
@UltimateOtaku91 I would be lying if I said this is not a good idea, and its the truth with epics money the game to shill out way more stages much faster with there money and maybe more crossovers, ( Looks at fortnight) AWWWWW SH**.
@KateGray "They specifically site Fall Guys as the main reason that this partnership happened" They cite them I guess?
Edit: Oh I found another one, "f you own the game"
If you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em
It looked cool, but, I'm suddenly not at all interested in picking this up. Oh well.
Not good news 🥲🥲🥲 also you guys have had a lot of typos lately in your articles. 3rd one I’ve seen in the last day
So if more companies appear, like when Discord attempted an online shop, and now Epic exists on top of Steam, origin, Nintendo’s, Sony’s and Microsoft’s online markets, itchio... where is the monopoly?
@BloodNinja You don't have to be a monopoly to be toxic.
Never once have I spent additional money on it in micro transactions. They're completely optional.
@blockfight When game design is completely skewed in order to encourage them, and development resources are redirected in order to enable them, microtransactions are not benign and invisible. Kudos to you for avoiding them - many other people don't. That's the point.
Yay, a game that I wanted to get, cause I don’t want to get it on my PlayStation, will now be riddled with “spend money for in game cosmetics!!!!” Or I’ll get the ad “season 15 battle pass!!!! Buy so you can unlock all cosmetics!!!!!” Looking at you fortnite. It’s sad to see that a company that made a great game, get taken up by one of the greediest. Next will be a #FreeFallGuys, when it gets removed from iPhone, and all of epics teenage followers will rage on twitter.
@Slinkoy1
I always ignore games that use the term “battle pass” and variants of it and so far it hasn’t failed me.
@nessisonett For what it's worth I'm with you in agreement on this. I don't get the Epic games hate either. In the past year Nintendo has had anti consumer limited time physical and digital releases, and people are calling out Epic Games as a villain?!
I'm not chuffed that another Indie Developer is gobbled up by a big gun, but totally agree that Epic/Nintendo/EA/Activision are all the same these days.
This, ironically, is not epic.
@sanderev What did they do to Apple?
Step-siblings*
@COVIDberry that seems pretty far off topic, do you mind leaving me alone? Not in the mood for your edginess today. In fact, I’ll just block, you’re not worth my time.
@Paddle1 epic has enough money to have their own payment methods so they wanted to avoid the AppStore. Apple wants a level playing field, forcing everyone to sell through the same route. Though that does lead to a lot of profit for Apple as well it also brought equality in the app/game dev market so that smaller developers actually make a shot at selling their games with the AppStore serving kind of as their publisher. Epic actually pretended to stand up for the smaller developers, with the goal to make the money from smaller devs themselves (making it a percent cheaper for the smaller devs, yay)
Its a messy fight which either way will end up not changing anything for us/smaller devs. Just for epic. Also epic might have less strict rules for their apps, potentially opening possibilities for apps to appear with harmful code or Unstable performance, something Apple has been guarding tightly since the AppStore launched
They sold out... No other answer... They are now "the man" not cool.
@nessisonett What indie devs has Nintendo swallowed up?
One thing Iv'e praised about fall guys is the fact that it has a battle pass, and skins, but they're all through in game currency so you can get everything for free, also I like how crowns cannot be purchased so you have to actually get gud to get good skins
Epic Games only take 12% of shares while Valve take 30% below 10 million sales 25% over 10 million and 20% over 50 million. Developers put their games on Epic to gain more revenue. Sure, they could their games on both stores but Epic would not see any sales if players prefer to buy their games on Steam. Sure, pulling & preventing games going on Steam is anti-consumer but from a business sense, exclusivity deals is a smart decision for Epic Games and their partners for them to compete with Valve.
@OnlyItsMeReid Ya I like that to its nice that they don't force you to buy crown to get good skins Just pay 20$ and you get all that for free.
@Slinkoy1 Yeah, fall guys already has a battle pass type thing but it's free and cosmetics are all in game currency based , you can buy some of one of the in game currencies but you get way more by just playing the game and then crowns you actually have to win games to get them
I cant wait until its free in a couple of months no point in buying if its going to be free on computer.
@TheLightSpirit
I agree. Competition encourages businesses to support quality service and products. If there is no competition, a business such as Youtube who has a monopoly on a service or product will not care at all.
Isn't Epic Games the people who own Fortnite?
Oh no...
Who owns what doesn't matter to me. It's still coming to Switch and I'm still gonna check it out. Although... maybe it'll go F2P with the new owners, so I might wait.
Fall Guys took a fall.
@nessisonett
a) people love going "fortnite bad"
b) They fought apple in court
c) people hate epic games exclusivity
...lol, basically theres a lot of things for people to remember them for... many not too great depending on how you look at them
@Gus_Campos To a three year old game, no less.
@Paddle1 Too much offtopic to start about it here. But if you google Epic games vs Apple you'll find what I'm writing about.
@COVIDberry I load up Rocket League. I get a pop up at the start to buy something. I click and it goes away. Proceed to menus, setup my game, play game for 5 minutes. At the end of game I win a skin or whatever and another link maybe to buy something. I click skip.
So that's twice in over 5 minutes I've had the inconvenience of having to press A. Not bad for a game that cost a lot of people literally nothing to play.
@nessisonett Source?
@BloodNinja I just don't respect Epic. The Apple store stunt was just sad.
@GraphicJon Yeah, I heard the same when Steam was first founded, and in 5-10 years nobody will bat an eye at the Epic store. They'll be complaining about some other digital games shop, instead.
NINJA APPROVED
@ferryb001 Thanks for explaining.
@sanderev I know what they did but I just don't know why that would make you upset with Epic. If Epic somehow manages to make a difference it would likely have a positive impact for consumers/devs despite their apparent self-serving intentions.
For example, Apple recently lowered the cut they take for smaller app developers, something which could reasonably be attributed to this.
Though if you just meant that Epic is being hypocritical then I see what you're saying.
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