6 ms·

I mean, Valve's games (as few and far between they are these days) did and still do get preferential treatment. It just so happens that because Valve doesn't re

I mean, Valve's games (as few and far between they are these days) did and still do get preferential treatment. It just so happens that because Valve doesn't really make games anymore, Steam works out being mostly fair. But if Valve went and released HL3 tomorrow, you can bet it'll be at the top of the store for half the year.

kroltan 6y ago
Would it? Alyx didn't really overstate its presence earlier this year either.
- eropple 6y ago
  Alyx is also a VR game. Bit more niche.
  - kroltan 6y ago
    Steam has a very powerful recommendation engine, and knowledge about the hardware of its users. I would be surprised if they weren't able to focus their marketing to VR owners if they wanted.
    - gommm 6y ago
      In the past year, I've used my steam account for VR games 50% of the time roughly and they still didn't really push Alyx all that much. That said given I mostly only do short game sessions , maybe they figured that I wouldn't be that interested in it?
      - Dylan16807 6y ago
        How short? The chapters in Alyx average a bit over an hour each but nothing stops you from only doing half a chapter.
        gommm 6y ago
        oh I didn't know that, I somehow thought the chapters would be much longer. I've mostly played VR games in 30 minutes sessions about. I get dizzy beyond that and it's the time I've got available anyhow :)
metalliqaz 6y ago
I'm not sure the comparison is apt. There is a lot less competition in the space that Steam occupies. If I buy Half Life, I'm more likely to buy another similar FPS, not less likely.
dubcanada 6y ago
Artifact is a Valve game [1], and on it's release it was advertised no more then any other game in the strategy category. It has a banner at the top for a new release as they do for any other game. And that was about it. [1] - https://store.steampowered.com/app/583950/Artifact/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/583950/Artifact/ Not to say HL3 wouldn't get more attention, I don't believe Valve treats their marketplace similar to Amazon.
- kroltan 6y ago
  To be fair, Artifact's announcement even before it ever got to Steam was met with a literal chorus of "BOO"s [1]. It wouldn't be [2] the best measure to prove Valve wouldn't favor its own game. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0qZTS38cjw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0qZTS38cjw [2]: 6.4k likes vs 81k dislikes at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA5mY8XqrHU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA5mY8XqrHU
  - jrockway 6y ago
    I think the dislikes came after the initial launch. I remember everyone being super hyped about Artifact, but then the game came out, and they didn't really like it. (I also bought it, played a few games, bought a few decks, and decided Hearthstone was better.) The game lost all of its players (something like 30 active daily users at one point), and Valve said they were rewriting it. They called it "the long haul", and that is where most of the dislikes came from. People paid for the game, paid for cards, and then were told they couldn't play anymore. The community was furious. Sometime recently they did release a beta of the new version. I have a beta key but wasn't all that interested in trying it. I imagine most people feel the same way. Honestly, I think the game was so bad that pushing it on everyone on Steam wouldn't have improved their numbers. It came at a very bad time -- card games were on the way out, auto battlers were on the way in. They gave up on Artifact and focused on Dota Underlords, and probably made the right decision. (I have not followed the auto battlers at all, so I don't know if people like Underlords or not. Maybe it's another Artifact, I'm not the right person to ask.)
ashtonkem 6y ago
The tricky thing is that it would probably be at the top of the store even if Valve didn’t put it there; a lot of gamers would be thrilled to see HL3 released. Teasing out the difference between fair and unfair market behavior here is non-trivial.

kroltan 6y ago

Would it? Alyx didn't really overstate its presence earlier this year either.

eropple 6y ago
Alyx is also a VR game. Bit more niche.
- kroltan 6y ago
  Steam has a very powerful recommendation engine, and knowledge about the hardware of its users. I would be surprised if they weren't able to focus their marketing to VR owners if they wanted.
  - gommm 6y ago
    In the past year, I've used my steam account for VR games 50% of the time roughly and they still didn't really push Alyx all that much. That said given I mostly only do short game sessions , maybe they figured that I wouldn't be that interested in it?
    - Dylan16807 6y ago
      How short? The chapters in Alyx average a bit over an hour each but nothing stops you from only doing half a chapter.
      - gommm 6y ago
        oh I didn't know that, I somehow thought the chapters would be much longer. I've mostly played VR games in 30 minutes sessions about. I get dizzy beyond that and it's the time I've got available anyhow :)

metalliqaz 6y ago

I'm not sure the comparison is apt. There is a lot less competition in the space that Steam occupies. If I buy Half Life, I'm more likely to buy another similar FPS, not less likely.

dubcanada 6y ago

Artifact is a Valve game [1], and on it's release it was advertised no more then any other game in the strategy category. It has a banner at the top for a new release as they do for any other game. And that was about it. [1] - https://store.steampowered.com/app/583950/Artifact/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/583950/Artifact/ Not to say HL3 wouldn't get more attention, I don't believe Valve treats their marketplace similar to Amazon.

kroltan 6y ago
To be fair, Artifact's announcement even before it ever got to Steam was met with a literal chorus of "BOO"s [1]. It wouldn't be [2] the best measure to prove Valve wouldn't favor its own game. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0qZTS38cjw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0qZTS38cjw [2]: 6.4k likes vs 81k dislikes at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA5mY8XqrHU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA5mY8XqrHU
- jrockway 6y ago
  I think the dislikes came after the initial launch. I remember everyone being super hyped about Artifact, but then the game came out, and they didn't really like it. (I also bought it, played a few games, bought a few decks, and decided Hearthstone was better.) The game lost all of its players (something like 30 active daily users at one point), and Valve said they were rewriting it. They called it "the long haul", and that is where most of the dislikes came from. People paid for the game, paid for cards, and then were told they couldn't play anymore. The community was furious. Sometime recently they did release a beta of the new version. I have a beta key but wasn't all that interested in trying it. I imagine most people feel the same way. Honestly, I think the game was so bad that pushing it on everyone on Steam wouldn't have improved their numbers. It came at a very bad time -- card games were on the way out, auto battlers were on the way in. They gave up on Artifact and focused on Dota Underlords, and probably made the right decision. (I have not followed the auto battlers at all, so I don't know if people like Underlords or not. Maybe it's another Artifact, I'm not the right person to ask.)

ashtonkem 6y ago

The tricky thing is that it would probably be at the top of the store even if Valve didn’t put it there; a lot of gamers would be thrilled to see HL3 released. Teasing out the difference between fair and unfair market behavior here is non-trivial.