Month: July 2019

Fortnite developer Epic Games shook up the video game industry when it launched its own PC store. The Epic Games Store pays developers/publishers 88 percent of revenue, with Epic itself taking 12 percent as the store owner. This is a far more developer-friendly percentage than the industry average of 70/30 that holds on Steam, as well as PS4, Xbox One, and Apple.

Fredrik Wester, the executive chairman of the board at Cities: Skylines publisher Paradox Interactive, said at an event this week that the 70/30 split is “outrageous.” He made the comment at a Gamelab panel in Barcelona this week attended by GI.biz.

“I think the 70/30 revenue split is outrageous,” he said. “I think the platform holders are taking too much money. Everyone in the press here, just quote me on that.”

Wester went on to say that the 70/30 revenue split is antiquated. It might have made sense in an entertainment world dominated by physical media, but now that games are increasingly digital–especially PC titles–the revenue split should change, he said.

“So Epic has done a great job for the whole industry, because you get 88%. Fantastic move. Thank you very much,” he said.

Wester went on to say that Epic paying 88 percent of revenue is advantageous for new, less established studios because they get to keep a larger portion of revenue. Apart from business considerations, Wester said giving developers more money is the decent thing to do.

“I think it’s also a matter of decency. I mean, how much does it actually cost to deliver a game” he said. “When the competition is low, the platform holder can get a big share of the pie; as competition increases, they need to lower their part of the pie, as well. That’s how the market works, right?”

It is a complicated matter. Developers who take Epic’s money are often criticized for doing so, especially in cases where a Steam version was previously promised. But at the same time, taking the money can offer a level of financial stability that is rare in the gaming industry, especially for smaller teams. Qube creator Dan da Rocha said on the panel that Epic’s 88/12 revenue split is a “huge boon” for developers.”

For what it’s worth, Epic has said it will stop pursuing exclusives so aggressively if Steam changes its business policies to pay developers a bigger share. It remains to be seen if any change will happen on console, where store-owners like Microsoft and Sony keep 30 percent of revenue.

Epic Games CEO and founder Tim Sweeney recently defended the company’s exclusivity strategy, saying it is the only way to spur change and encourage storefronts to pay developers a bigger share of revenue.

The 14 Days of Summer event continues in Fortnite: Battle Royale, delivering daily challenges that are available for the duration of the event, which runs until July 16. Some of these are quite easy, while others are most easily done with a guide or map. Case in point: Epic Games asks you to pop party balloon decorations. Here’s what you need to know about how the challenge works and where to find the party balloons around the map.

Where Are Party Balloon Decoration Locations?

You can find party balloon decorations all around the map–we’ve found more than a dozen scattered throughout the island. A common location is where you find the beach parties, which are part of an earlier 14 Days of Summer challenge. If you haven’t done that one yet, you can double up–just head to those locations, do a dance, and pop the balloons.

You can see all of the party balloon decorations we’ve found in the map below. These are found at ground level and are attached to another object, such as lounge chairs or coolers.

How To Pop The Party Balloons

This is quite straightforward, given this is a shooting game: you just shoot the balloons to pop them. You can also use your pickaxe if you want to save your ammo or haven’t found a weapon. But it’s notable that you can use a gun, because this means long-range weapons like snipers will allow you to dispatch those no-good, rotten balloons without actually having to get close to them.

Something else to bear in mind is that certain locations have a bunch of balloons near each other. While each individual bunch only counts as one decoration popped–you have to pop five in all–these other balloon bunches in the same location do each count. You can see this in action in the video above.

Party Balloons Challenge Reward

Complete this challenge and you’ll earn yourself a spray called Sunny, which paints a cute little sun when used. You’ll also be one step closer to earning the Smoothie back bling, which is available to anyone who completes all 14 of the challenges in the 14 Days of Summer event. These are available to all Fortnite: Battle Royale players, whether or not they own the current Battle Pass.

14 Days of Summer Challenges

Sony’s streaming TV service, PlayStation Vue, is raising prices yet again. Every PlayStation Vue multi-channel plan is going up in price by $5 USD.

Those who are existing subscribers won’t be charged extra until their first billing cycle begins after July 31. New customers pay the higher prices now.

PlayStation Vue general manager Dwayne Benefield said in a blog post that prices are going up in response to the rising annual costs of available content. “We constantly evaluate each deal to ensure we continue to deliver the content you want while considering the overall value of each package,” he explained.

Benefield went on to say that Sony is sticking with PlayStation Vue with the ambition of making it “the premier destination for live TV streaming.”

PlayStation Vue, which is only available in the United States, features packages that include major channels such as HBO, FX, ESPN, the NFL Network, and HGTV, along with more than 650 local stations depending on where you live.

This is just the latest price hike for PlayStation Vue. Sony also raised PlayStation Vue pricing by $5 USD a year ago this month. According to Variety, the latest price increase is due to Sony reaching new licensing deals with NBCUniversal, AMC Networks, WarnerMedia, and Discovery.

With the new price increase, the base-level Access package is now $50 USD per month; the Core package is now $55 USD, the Elite subscription is $55 USD, and the Ultra package is $85 USD.