Via a Steam news post, D3Publisher and Sandlot have announced that the Epic Games account requirement for Earth Defense Force 6ās multiplayer mode will be removed in the future. The real mystery is why it was there in the first place.
EDF 6 just released yesterday, and itās a pretty good time. After playing further into it from my Review in Progress, Iām tempted to say itās the best one yet by a considerable margin, even if it is a little too similar to previous games in the series. However, you wouldnāt think that if you looked at the user reviews on the Steam store page. Itās sitting at 43% āMixedā rating, and almost all the complaints are focused on the Epic requirement.
This isnāt simply because of the requirement of an Epic Games account for multiplayer, but the fact that players werenāt warned about it. Even for me, the first indication I had was when a window momentarily opened, telling me it was installing something Epic-related. Epic is something like an STD; it makes you think twice about getting in bed with a person.
Iāve lived through EAās Origin and Ubisoftāsā¦ thing. I even have an Epic Account because I needed it to play Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed for the first year of its existence before it moved to Steam. That doesnāt mean I want to see it ever again, and I donāt blame anyone who feels slighted by the sudden requirement. Other developers have tried to put this kind of thing past gamers, and itās gone terribly for them, too. When will publishers learn?
Initially, D3 put out a statement that basically said, āItās fine. It only asks you once.ā They said it was to āEnhance cross play and online functionality.ā Thatās valid, but even Ghostbusters just asked if you wanted cross play enabled rather than force you into another account.
In todayās post, theyāre a little more accommodating. āThe EDF6 development team for Steam is reviewing and planning changes to the specification that requires sign in to Epic Games account, which has received the most feedback,ā the post reads. However, they canāt give a timeline on when this will be accomplished. āAt this time, we are unable to provide specifics on how much time this will take, but we will continue to work on it as we address the feedback we have received.ā
If thereās one good thing about user reviews, itās that they provide a good platform to push back against this sort of behavior.
Earth Defense Force 6 is available now for PS4, PS5, and PC.
Published: Jul 26, 2024 01:22 pm