4 ms·

I've never understood this point. Other developers can just make their own platform or distribute games themselves individually. Nobody wants to do that for ob

by Pooge 1y ago

I've never understood this point. Other developers can just make their own platform or distribute games themselves individually. Nobody wants to do that for obvious reasons. There's clearly a network effect similar to Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook and the likes. But apart from regulating for service interoperability, there's nothing you can do. It's like claiming that Skype had a monopoly between 2008 and 2014. Just... Install something else then? Valve is not buying other store makers nor actively sabotaging efforts to do so.

RealStickman_ 1y ago
You're even allowed to sell your game cheaper on other platforms (not Steam keys, separate keys for those platforms) so by all means charge the 30% more on Steam if you need to.
- gruez 1y ago
  >You're even allowed to sell your game cheaper on other platforms (not Steam keys, separate keys for those platforms) so by all means charge the 30% more on Steam if you need to. How many people would even bite, given the huge premium?
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 11mo ago
    If you don't try,you will never know.
- ExpertAdvisor01 1y ago
  you are not allowed to sell cd keys cheaper than on steam
  - RealStickman_ 1y ago
    Do you have a source for that? I only know this [1] site laying out distribution of Steam keys [1] https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys
    - ExpertAdvisor01 1y ago
      "You should use Steam Keys to sell your game on other stores in a similar way to how you sell your game on Steam. It is important that you don’t give Steam customers a worse deal than Steam Key purchasers." https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys
      - scraptor 1y ago
        This only applies to steam keys sold off site, which is why the original comment specified non-steam keys.
happymellon 1y ago
> Valve is not buying other store makers nor actively sabotaging efforts to do so. This is really key, when you see Epic bribing devs to get exclusivity, giving away games for free, they do this and still not succeed because they are actively hostile to their users. Where is my Big Picture mode? Where is my support of Linux? They've been at it for years and yet still don't actually want to provide a service that is desirable to use.
- izacus 1y ago
  I'd be happy if Epic Store wouldn't log me out on every attempt to play anything there.
- ChickeNES 1y ago
  I'm literally waiting for Satisfactory to go on Steam sale so I can buy it again and not have to deal with the Epic launcher for one game I bought on sale when the store launched. :)
- gruez 1y ago
  >because they are actively hostile to their users. >Where is my Big Picture mode? >Where is my support of Linux? Calling the lack of linux and TV support "hostile" is bit of a stretch. The two combined probably makes up 5% of the user base at most, and there are probably workarounds (eg. using wine or the regular interface)
  - happymellon 1y ago
    I didn't. I asked where are these basic features. Two separate parts to my comment. The user hostile comes from Tim Sweeneys Twitter account where he openly mocks users who ask questions.
    - gruez 1y ago
      >The user hostile comes from Tim Sweeneys Twitter account where he openly mocks users who ask questions. link?
wongarsu 1y ago
> Other developers can just make their own platform or distribute games themselves individually. Nobody wants to do that for obvious reasons Where "nobody" is specifically "no users". Lots of publishers tried doing exactly that, and most eventually gave up because users don't want to deal with extra launchers or platforms. Offering games on your own distribution channel is fine, but not being on Steam is going to hurt your sales a lot. Epic is really the only still-running attempt (except for GOG)

by Pooge 1y ago

RealStickman_ 1y ago

You're even allowed to sell your game cheaper on other platforms (not Steam keys, separate keys for those platforms) so by all means charge the 30% more on Steam if you need to.

gruez 1y ago
>You're even allowed to sell your game cheaper on other platforms (not Steam keys, separate keys for those platforms) so by all means charge the 30% more on Steam if you need to. How many people would even bite, given the huge premium?
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 11mo ago
  If you don't try,you will never know.
ExpertAdvisor01 1y ago
you are not allowed to sell cd keys cheaper than on steam
- RealStickman_ 1y ago
  Do you have a source for that? I only know this [1] site laying out distribution of Steam keys [1] https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys
  - ExpertAdvisor01 1y ago
    "You should use Steam Keys to sell your game on other stores in a similar way to how you sell your game on Steam. It is important that you don’t give Steam customers a worse deal than Steam Key purchasers." https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys
    - scraptor 1y ago
      This only applies to steam keys sold off site, which is why the original comment specified non-steam keys.

happymellon 1y ago

> Valve is not buying other store makers nor actively sabotaging efforts to do so. This is really key, when you see Epic bribing devs to get exclusivity, giving away games for free, they do this and still not succeed because they are actively hostile to their users. Where is my Big Picture mode? Where is my support of Linux? They've been at it for years and yet still don't actually want to provide a service that is desirable to use.

izacus 1y ago
I'd be happy if Epic Store wouldn't log me out on every attempt to play anything there.
ChickeNES 1y ago
I'm literally waiting for Satisfactory to go on Steam sale so I can buy it again and not have to deal with the Epic launcher for one game I bought on sale when the store launched. :)
gruez 1y ago
>because they are actively hostile to their users. >Where is my Big Picture mode? >Where is my support of Linux? Calling the lack of linux and TV support "hostile" is bit of a stretch. The two combined probably makes up 5% of the user base at most, and there are probably workarounds (eg. using wine or the regular interface)
- happymellon 1y ago
  I didn't. I asked where are these basic features. Two separate parts to my comment. The user hostile comes from Tim Sweeneys Twitter account where he openly mocks users who ask questions.
  - gruez 1y ago
    >The user hostile comes from Tim Sweeneys Twitter account where he openly mocks users who ask questions. link?

wongarsu 1y ago

> Other developers can just make their own platform or distribute games themselves individually. Nobody wants to do that for obvious reasons Where "nobody" is specifically "no users". Lots of publishers tried doing exactly that, and most eventually gave up because users don't want to deal with extra launchers or platforms. Offering games on your own distribution channel is fine, but not being on Steam is going to hurt your sales a lot. Epic is really the only still-running attempt (except for GOG)