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That’s because people don’t actually give a rats ass about competition directly. They care about _cost_ AND _convenience_. Steam is great on both fronts and you

by isatty 2y ago

That’s because people don’t actually give a rats ass about competition directly. They care about _cost_ AND _convenience_. Steam is great on both fronts and you don’t have to create yet another account or have another buggy pos launcher on your computer.

protimewaster 2y ago
I'm not sure why people would actively want their game to require either EGS or Steam, though, even if it's convenient. EGS has business practices that drive a lot of people crazy, and Steam has an awful security track record and was also convicted of anticompetitive pricing. (Though people seem to like Steam's business practices even with that conviction, which also always struck me as a little weird.) It seems like not requiring either one would be the more neutral, agreeable position to take.
- wokwokwok 2y ago
  ? It’s like putting an android apk file on your website for an app. If you’re giving it away for free to friends, sure. If not, how do you sell it? How do you stop people stealing it? How do people find out about it? Obviously, you the answer is usually “you write your own installer / updater” and do your own marketing. Maybe that’s fun, and there’s something to be said for owning the entire stack… but it’s a loooot of work and probably not a reasonable financial decision to make.
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    >If not, how do you sell it? How do you stop people stealing it? How do people find out about it? we solved that issue long ago: make the APK a thin client to the actual service you keep on a server. Devs don't care where you download your APKs anymore. that's what the 90+% piracy took from us: the idea of premium, offline games. advertising is tricky, but if we're being honest with ourselves: google play has only been a hinderance to discovery these days. My ideal pipeline is uploading to F-droid and throwing an APK release on Github as well.
  - protimewaster 2y ago
    I was thinking more just use a third party service like GOG. But, yeah, I guess you could write your own.
johnnyanmac 2y ago
yup. And that cost/convinience is how we get trapped in the FAANGs of tech. The steam gamers are naive if they think the same can't happen to Valve. Gabe won't live forever. and as a last bit of irony, we're already seeing those backdoor deals being opened up as we see how there was a point to the price fixing argument Wolfire accused of. They could have just let Overgrowth sell on their website, and now Valve is playing a game of cat and mouse on whether they re getting mass arbitration or class action. >and you don’t have to create yet another account or have another buggy pos launcher on your computer. Steam is another account I don't care much for personally. And steam has always allowed for third party accounts to be needed. You think then GTA 6 launches in 2029 on PC or whatever that people are gonna complain about needing a Rockstar account? A lot of that "discourse" is just turf wars and entitlement.

by isatty 2y ago

protimewaster 2y ago

I'm not sure why people would actively want their game to require either EGS or Steam, though, even if it's convenient. EGS has business practices that drive a lot of people crazy, and Steam has an awful security track record and was also convicted of anticompetitive pricing. (Though people seem to like Steam's business practices even with that conviction, which also always struck me as a little weird.) It seems like not requiring either one would be the more neutral, agreeable position to take.

wokwokwok 2y ago
? It’s like putting an android apk file on your website for an app. If you’re giving it away for free to friends, sure. If not, how do you sell it? How do you stop people stealing it? How do people find out about it? Obviously, you the answer is usually “you write your own installer / updater” and do your own marketing. Maybe that’s fun, and there’s something to be said for owning the entire stack… but it’s a loooot of work and probably not a reasonable financial decision to make.
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  >If not, how do you sell it? How do you stop people stealing it? How do people find out about it? we solved that issue long ago: make the APK a thin client to the actual service you keep on a server. Devs don't care where you download your APKs anymore. that's what the 90+% piracy took from us: the idea of premium, offline games. advertising is tricky, but if we're being honest with ourselves: google play has only been a hinderance to discovery these days. My ideal pipeline is uploading to F-droid and throwing an APK release on Github as well.
- protimewaster 2y ago
  I was thinking more just use a third party service like GOG. But, yeah, I guess you could write your own.

johnnyanmac 2y ago

yup. And that cost/convinience is how we get trapped in the FAANGs of tech. The steam gamers are naive if they think the same can't happen to Valve. Gabe won't live forever. and as a last bit of irony, we're already seeing those backdoor deals being opened up as we see how there was a point to the price fixing argument Wolfire accused of. They could have just let Overgrowth sell on their website, and now Valve is playing a game of cat and mouse on whether they re getting mass arbitration or class action. >and you don’t have to create yet another account or have another buggy pos launcher on your computer. Steam is another account I don't care much for personally. And steam has always allowed for third party accounts to be needed. You think then GTA 6 launches in 2029 on PC or whatever that people are gonna complain about needing a Rockstar account? A lot of that "discourse" is just turf wars and entitlement.