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There's nothing like Steam Input, Steam Networking, the inventory service, etc. Not to mention all of the additional functionality provided in the Steam website

There's nothing like Steam Input, Steam Networking, the inventory service, etc. Not to mention all of the additional functionality provided in the Steam website/client itself like proper reviews, remote play, trading/marketplace, etc. Yes, making games depend on Steam-specific APIs will obviously make it more difficult to publish on other stores. But many games only publish to one store anyway. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the 30% cut Steam takes is justified, but they take it because the competition isn't there yet.

BoorishBears 3y ago
- Steam Input: Steam can already do XInput and DirectInput, so just support those. - A Steam Networking equivalent is part of EOS: https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/game-services/p-2-p https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/game-services/p-2-p - Epic offers a Steam Inventory equivalent: https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/epic-games-store/services/ecom/ecom-overview https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/epic-games-store/services/eco... > But many games only publish to one store anyway. Exactly the problem. Why exacerbate it? > Don't get me wrong, I don't think the 30% cut Steam takes is justified So then your original comment was just you being contrarian as you said "You get what you pay for." implying Steam is in fact offering what the game creators are paying for :/
- Rohansi 3y ago
  Steam Input is an abstraction layer on top of controllers. It helps you support any type of controller in your game. It also provides remapping support from within the Steam UI. Players can browse for and share their controller configurations too. Steam Networking is not P2P. It's client-server. Steam also has P2P networking but using P2P networking is a big risk these days when it exposes your players' IP addresses to others. Steam Networking has a sub-feature called Steam Datagram Relay which deals with routing issues and hides player IP addresses. Steam's inventory service takes this to another level. It's not just microtransactions. Items can be traded with others, can be bought/sold on the marketplace for store credit, etc. The marketplace alone is a significant additional source of revenue for some Steam games because the game gets a cut out of each sale. I simply meant that you get more out of Steam with it's bigger cut.
  - BoorishBears 3y ago
    > Steam Input is an abstraction layer on top of controllers. It helps you support any type of controller in your game. It also provides remapping support from within the Steam UI. Players can browse for and share their controller configurations too. And it does this by integrating with XInput and DirectInput. So players who have Steam can use it, and players who don't have Steam can't use it anyways so it's not a loss. > Peer connections will only ever use relay servers. This will add latency to all connections, but will hide IP Addresses from peers. https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/en-US/api-ref/enums/eos-e-relay-control https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/en-US/api-ref/enums/eos-e-rel... You can't have modern P2P without relay servers of some kind for NAT reasons anyways It feels like you don't really know the tech you're talking about tbh. Steam's inventory system is not something that I'd call a net positive. An unregulated black market that's been tied to gambling and theft is not something most game developers are clamoring for (and that's reflected in how many games actually use the inventory system for anything of note)

BoorishBears 3y ago

- Steam Input: Steam can already do XInput and DirectInput, so just support those. - A Steam Networking equivalent is part of EOS: https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/game-services/p-2-p https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/game-services/p-2-p - Epic offers a Steam Inventory equivalent: https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/epic-games-store/services/ecom/ecom-overview https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/epic-games-store/services/eco... > But many games only publish to one store anyway. Exactly the problem. Why exacerbate it? > Don't get me wrong, I don't think the 30% cut Steam takes is justified So then your original comment was just you being contrarian as you said "You get what you pay for." implying Steam is in fact offering what the game creators are paying for :/

Rohansi 3y ago
Steam Input is an abstraction layer on top of controllers. It helps you support any type of controller in your game. It also provides remapping support from within the Steam UI. Players can browse for and share their controller configurations too. Steam Networking is not P2P. It's client-server. Steam also has P2P networking but using P2P networking is a big risk these days when it exposes your players' IP addresses to others. Steam Networking has a sub-feature called Steam Datagram Relay which deals with routing issues and hides player IP addresses. Steam's inventory service takes this to another level. It's not just microtransactions. Items can be traded with others, can be bought/sold on the marketplace for store credit, etc. The marketplace alone is a significant additional source of revenue for some Steam games because the game gets a cut out of each sale. I simply meant that you get more out of Steam with it's bigger cut.
- BoorishBears 3y ago
  > Steam Input is an abstraction layer on top of controllers. It helps you support any type of controller in your game. It also provides remapping support from within the Steam UI. Players can browse for and share their controller configurations too. And it does this by integrating with XInput and DirectInput. So players who have Steam can use it, and players who don't have Steam can't use it anyways so it's not a loss. > Peer connections will only ever use relay servers. This will add latency to all connections, but will hide IP Addresses from peers. https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/en-US/api-ref/enums/eos-e-relay-control https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/en-US/api-ref/enums/eos-e-rel... You can't have modern P2P without relay servers of some kind for NAT reasons anyways It feels like you don't really know the tech you're talking about tbh. Steam's inventory system is not something that I'd call a net positive. An unregulated black market that's been tied to gambling and theft is not something most game developers are clamoring for (and that's reflected in how many games actually use the inventory system for anything of note)