One of the earliest games to be announced to be exclusive to the Epic Games Store was Super Meat Boy Forever, the much-anticipated sequel to the indie sensation. The reaction online to the Epic Games Store has been polarizing to say the least, and how developers have handled that has varied. Largely, they have ignored it and weathered the storm, while some have poked fun at the criticism. It seems Team Meat is taking a bit of a different approach, and saying that they actually completely understand why people aren’t happy.
In an interview with Destructoid, Creator Tommy Refenes says the deal with Epic Games was a “no-brainer” due to the guaranteed upfront money that was offered. He was honest in saying that it was all about the money, something Team Meat, as a smaller developer, found invaluable. However, he did offer sentiments to those who are not a fan of the move, and the storefront as a whole. Despite taking the deal, Refenes admits there’s legitimate criticisms to level at the store, even if it’s getting muddy with some nonsense.
“Gaming is a super important thing to a lot of people. It’s a part of their lives,” he explains. “When something comes up and challenges that, it’s completely reasonable for the reaction to kind of assume the worst is going to happen. I can see the passion of having something that’s near and dear to you change, and being averse to that change.
“I was completely expecting that, and I was completely expecting people to bring up Tencent stuff. What’s unfortunate is that the concerns some people have are reasonable. You have people who are like ‘It’s not that great of a store’ or whatever. But then you have the wild bullshit of Chinese spyware conspiracy theory crap. It’s like ‘Okay, you people shut up’ because the people who have actual concerns are being drowned out, and I think it’s a shame. They all get lumped together.”
For the most part, developers and many of those covering the whole Epic Games Store situation have been dismissive of criticism aimed at the Epic Games Store, so it’s nice to see that Refenes understands where some detractors are coming from with legitimate concerns
Super Meat Boy Forever has been delayed a few times, but it will release at some point across all major platforms.
