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Humble Bundle seems like a good deal. They have a built in audience and you’re guaranteed visibility / promotion. The other 2 are a total scam unless you get

Humble Bundle seems like a good deal. They have a built in audience and you’re guaranteed visibility / promotion. The other 2 are a total scam unless you get put on a featured page. What’s the value of being alongside 1 million other apps with terrible discoverability? Developers still have to do all their own promotion and drive customers to the platform for purchase, but then Steam or Apple get 30 % for ringing through the transaction. IMO those 30% fees would drop to 10% very quickly if there were competition.

simonh 6y ago
If Steam is a scam, why do developers choose to be on it, when PCs are an open platform?
- rimiform 6y ago
  Because they're the best scam in town! I'm assuming it depends on the developer, though. Some are on Itch instead, mostly very indie devs.
- donmcronald 6y ago
  They’re the victims of demand aggregation commoditizing the supply side of the market. It’s not so much a choice as it is a requirement to access the market. I think if developers set their price and Steam listed their 30% as a “Steam Fee” you’d see outraged gamers.
- dwild 6y ago
  That's what happens when you get a huge portion of the market and get close to a monopoly. You could ask many Steam user what Steam got that others platforms doesn't, and most will say that it's because everything is on there. We prefer to use a single product instead of multiples, thus you choose Steam not because it's superior in any ways, simply because it's the default choice. Epic Store had to give games for free to start being considered.
  - jldugger 6y ago
    > you choose Steam not because it's superior in any ways, simply because it's the default choice. Well, how many platforms even run on linux?
  - PoignardAzur 6y ago
    It's not just that everything is on there. There's also the review system, the workshops, automatic updates, easy browsing, communities, friend lists, customer service (getting refunds is easier than on any other platform) etc. The competing platforms biggest problems is that they assume that all they need to do is set up a HTTP server to download games from and add a few discounts/exclusives to get a customer base. But their UX is miles behind what Steam offers.

simonh 6y ago

If Steam is a scam, why do developers choose to be on it, when PCs are an open platform?

rimiform 6y ago
Because they're the best scam in town! I'm assuming it depends on the developer, though. Some are on Itch instead, mostly very indie devs.
donmcronald 6y ago
They’re the victims of demand aggregation commoditizing the supply side of the market. It’s not so much a choice as it is a requirement to access the market. I think if developers set their price and Steam listed their 30% as a “Steam Fee” you’d see outraged gamers.
dwild 6y ago
That's what happens when you get a huge portion of the market and get close to a monopoly. You could ask many Steam user what Steam got that others platforms doesn't, and most will say that it's because everything is on there. We prefer to use a single product instead of multiples, thus you choose Steam not because it's superior in any ways, simply because it's the default choice. Epic Store had to give games for free to start being considered.
- jldugger 6y ago
  > you choose Steam not because it's superior in any ways, simply because it's the default choice. Well, how many platforms even run on linux?
- PoignardAzur 6y ago
  It's not just that everything is on there. There's also the review system, the workshops, automatic updates, easy browsing, communities, friend lists, customer service (getting refunds is easier than on any other platform) etc. The competing platforms biggest problems is that they assume that all they need to do is set up a HTTP server to download games from and add a few discounts/exclusives to get a customer base. But their UX is miles behind what Steam offers.