Since I am already playing the game, I have to say it's not bad.  It is still a little rough so for you guys wanting to play the final version, I would wait.  As far as Epic and Steam, I think they already said the final version will be available on Steam so if you wait, you can get it. Only the technical Preview is on Epic.  Personally, I think some people are getting more worked up about it then they should be. Even the DEVS were surprised by the Hate they got for going with just Epic for the Preview.  I guarantee they are looking at everything people say so if you truly like Sins but hate Epic, just wait till it's on Steam.  Personally, I prefer Steam over Epic because it is better and not for the social media aspect of it that I could care less about.  

Gal Civ 4 entered early access on EGS in June 2021 (more than 12 months ago).

I believe the 12 month exclusivity deal period begins at full release, not when the game enters early access.

you are correct

Same here, sad end to what was a promising dev.

Wow, all the Epic Hate... 

While I do get and understand the love for Steam, I prefer it as well... I do still own a few games on Epic, and for those who are posting that they're going to refuse to buy the Early Access to Sins2 until its on Steam?

Well, you DO realize that based on Epic's Refund Policy, which is highlighted on Sins2's purchase page.... 

You can SELF-REFUND to yourself, the full purchase price of the Early Access "pre-purchase" of the Game at ANYTIME before the Official Release Date of the finished game product?!?   You DO know that, right ?

So you can, get into the Early Access version here on Epic.... then later Refund yourself the FULL price and then RE-PURCHASE the Finished Game on Steam when its released there.

I mean, its already been quoted in this very discussion, that its only this Early Access version that's exclusive to Epic, and that the Developers are obviously planning to release the final finished product across multiple platforms.  You'll just have to be active and vigilant about the final finished release date, and make sure you initiate the Self-Refund process before that Date.

This isn't Gal Civ 4 and unless you can provide documentation to prove otherwise, I will go with what the DEVS have put out and bank on seeing SOES2 on Steam in about a year.  They have plainly stated that only the Tech Preview is exclusive on Epic, not that I care either way. 

I am unaware of any such posts from the dev stating that only the tech preview is Epic exclusive.  I've searched this thread, and can't seem to find such a reference.  Do you have a source?

Read the FAQ, that pretty much tells you what the DEVS have in mind.

Exact quote from FAQ at https://www.sinsofasolarempire2.com/faq

I'm afraid they are being vague.

WILL SINS OF A SOLAR EMPIRE II BE ON STEAM OR OTHER PLATFORMS?

We would love to have Sins of a Solar Empire II on as many platforms as possible; right now, we are focused on delivering the best game possible on Epic.

i’m sorry, but you are wrong, this has nothing to do with Sins 2. This is how things work on epic for all games, when the game is exclusively released on epic. The year contract of exclusivity begins on the date of the game going live now regarding Sins 2, since early release is going to last for a year then the game will be tied to epic for two years in total.

I found this quote from another thread on this subject:

Thread: How long Epic exclusivity will last?

I'll just leave this here for everyone to read, to me it makes the most sense, got it from the Stardock forum.

I'll say everything I have to in one post and disappear again. I have limited free time and energy, and I would rather use that towards doing things I enjoy and are more relaxing (like video games). So I apologize for that. This is a pretty nuanced and challenging topic, and the same pushback you see here happens with most of Epic's exclusivity deals.

Game development isn't cheap or easy, and these deals tend to offer baseline payment guarantees. That can help out with early funding and reduce the risk involved. No game is guaranteed to sell well, and nobody knows what Stardock's accounting looks like. Many developers I enjoyed have gotten absorbed or shut down over the years because they couldn't afford to keep making the games they wanted to. Gas Powered Games is the first that comes to mind.

Also, Stardock isn't a one-man-band or a massive gaming studio that's 100% immune to changing market conditions. There are a lot of people that rely on the pay they receive to support themselves and their families. Even if some people don't like the decision, this provides better financial stability for those creating the game. If these Epic deals existed earlier, other devs might still be around. Potentially great games never got the chance to exist because of a lack of funding.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion's peak players are pretty misleading. If you look at lifetime concurrent player stats on Steam across the past 10 years, it's floated closer to 1-1.5K players with some dips below that. It only had a few massive short-term spikes during two different free promotions and a humble bundle. I'd imagine a solid chunk of that activity isn't new players/buyers either. Stellaris sustains much larger ongoing player counts, and has frequent updates and DLC. They also have multiple large development teams, have a much bigger and equally loyal fanbase, and can fund everything internally. It's also a really good 4x game, which helps.

If people dislike Epic's launcher, wait for the full release elsewhere. It'll be a more complete game after early access is finished. It will likely end up on GOG and Steam eventually. If people are concerned about the game quality, check out gameplay videos and wait for reviews to decide. If people dislike the price, wait a few years and buy it at a discount. If people dislike Stardock for accepting a deal with Epic and think it's a deal-breaker, then don't buy the game.

Life is too short and complicated to get overly caught up or angry at a developer, person, game, or situation within this industry. At the end of the day, game developers are trying to bring something fun to others. Video games are entertainment, after all. They also have to make enough money to make that possible, and a deal with Epic is far less intrusive then some of the in-game microtransactions out there. I'm okay with the deal because it's the right thing for everyone who works for Stardock, not just Brad.

Unfortunately, none of this answers the question about how long the exclusivity lasts. Nobody knows, and the contract is likely too air-tight for anyone to even hint at it. There's a decent chance of it being one of a few things:

1. 1-year exclusivity, which is how Epic often structures these.

2. Full early access exclusivity, estimated at 1 1/2 years based on their FAQ.

3. 2-year exclusivity. So full early access + 6-month launch exclusive.

Longer than 2 years seems unlikely unless they offered a long-term deal that was too good to refuse. It's equally unlikely that it's shorter than a year.

Then you got your answer.

I came in here just to express my disgust for you all selling out to Timmy Tencent and his joke of a store. It makes no sense whatsoever to sell out to Timmy Tencent after years of loyal players playing your game on Steam and Impulse before it. I own Sins, Rebellion, and ALL of the DLCs and I will pirate your game before giving Timmy a dime. See you at Steam release.

Every game fails on the Tencent store. This will be no different.

Same for me and 2 of my friends, we will not buy from epic store.

Please go on Steam.

exactly, in two years 🫣👍

That you think, but you don't know.

On top of all the other already mentioned reasons, regarding community and everything other posters said above...

To make it simple -- EPIC annoys me endlessly with ad-popups on windows desktop which steam never does
and so far I have zero interest in any other game on that crap-store

And there is even a technical reason - the epic crap so far is the only thing on the internet I came across so far that is supposed to be set up by professionals but does not work with DNS-sec, they simply are too stupid to set up their glue records for their tracking infrastructure or maybe it would interferes too much with their privacy-violating user tracking
so the epic crap is the only thing on the "insecure exception list" here

As an Aside to whom it may concern....
Sadly that "zero interest for any other game on Epic" currently includes GalCiv IV since I am unable to finish any game due to crashes on "next turn" on the current patchlevel..

I missed whatever game that was, I guess.  That speaks much more to the marketing power of the Epic Game Store than it does my credibility.

I love the game!, i can't understand why some users hate Epic?

So I get it, you're manchildren and won't install another launcher. 

But you all have to remember that it's epics initial funding that ALLOWS stardock to get Sins 2 going. I am thankful to epic as I've grown up a little bit since it's inception.

I hated epic, especially with the borderlands 3, then anno 1800. HOWEVER.

I love both the games and understand that unless steam starts funding projects like epic, we will see a more and more likely migration to the epic store from developers. Why wouldn't they?

I like games, I want new games. I can't fund them myself, so I love epic for that at least.

there is a lot more to it than that like they’re anti-customer business practices, their business plan is not sustainable in the long-term, flat out quote by the CEO and oh let’s not forget that PRC owns 45% of the company . . .

And Steam aint for charging 30%.          

Welcome to the business world.

As for the PRC thing, Tencent also owns large shares in Riot, Activision-Blizzard, PUBGCorp and Ubisoft so you better not be playing any of those games either if that is an issue with you.  I agree that a 40% cut is concerning, and I hope our government will do something about China cutting into our businesses (it's not just the Gaming industry) but Tim Sweeney has the controlling shares of the company.  So far, there has been no proof of Chinese Duplicity with Epic.  

Once again, I like steam better but if you are going to spit out spin, at least get it correct.

I did get it correct, the correct number is 45% not 40% so 6% more and the PRC would have the controlling interest