3 ms·

>the degree of monopolization simply doesn’t exist Yes, it does. Your only options are like Fornite, Roblox, or Minecraft. Saying make your own game, is like

>the degree of monopolization simply doesn’t exist Yes, it does. Your only options are like Fornite, Roblox, or Minecraft. Saying make your own game, is like saying make your own phone. There is tremendous value in the gigantic userbases these platforms have. This value is why platform holders can charge for access to them.

shakna 11mo ago
Those are my _only_ options? Wow. I guess Steam must be bankrupt and surviving off just four games. And I guess Epic and Steam just don't compete. And itch and GoG are just irrelevant with no market impact. Sorry for the sarcasm, but gaming is not "choose between these two" level of monopilisation. And indies just won game of the year awards! Things are just not monopolised.
- charcircuit 11mo ago
  Steam is not a competitor to Fortnite. Fortnite gives you a lot for free as a platform compared to what you get from Steam.
- Rohansi 11mo ago
  Steam must just be a front because none of those games are available on it.
Rohansi 11mo ago
> Your only options are like Fornite, Roblox, or Minecraft. What?? Unlike phones nothing locks people into only playing a specific game. And there are so many other games out there to choose from.
- charcircuit 11mo ago
  Nothing locks you into a specific phone. I have both a primary Android and iOS phone that I use. >are so many other games out there to choose from. But how many can you make a business on top of that can pay competitively? It's like how there are a ton of operating systems to choose from, yet only a few that are viable to build upon.
  - shakna 11mo ago
    And so many exceptions to that. One example? Stardew Valley. Runs on everything, not just "viable" OSs, made by a single person, and easily competes with an entire genre of gaming to pay the author.
    - charcircuit 11mo ago
      The upper bound of building a business on top of Stardew Valley appears to be https://www.patreon.com/pathoschild https://www.patreon.com/pathoschild which makes under $400 per month after Patreon's cut. That's not enough to work as a single person full time let alone hiring a team.
      - shakna 11mo ago
        Um... No? [0] A $400/mo Patreon does not exactly outweigh somewhere between 18-35 million sales on a single one of the platforms it supports. I would not call that the "upper bound". [0] https://steamdb.info/app/413150/charts/ https://steamdb.info/app/413150/charts/
        charcircuit 11mo ago
        That 18-35 million goes to the game's developer and probably not even a single penny goes to those building a business off of designing content on top of the game. That figure is irrelevant. Taking Fortnite as an example the relevant figure would be that creators on Fortnite can make over $10 million per year. Bringing up that Epic made a few billion dollars is irrelevant to what this conversation is about, which is games where it is financially viable to build content for them.
        shakna 11mo ago
        > which is games where it is financially viable to build content for them. If that was your interpretation, then it would have been better to have mentioned it anywhere upthread. What we have, so far, is people talking about the gaming industry, and you calling it a monopoly. Nowhere before do we have a mention of third-party developers.

shakna 11mo ago

Those are my _only_ options? Wow. I guess Steam must be bankrupt and surviving off just four games. And I guess Epic and Steam just don't compete. And itch and GoG are just irrelevant with no market impact. Sorry for the sarcasm, but gaming is not "choose between these two" level of monopilisation. And indies just won game of the year awards! Things are just not monopolised.

charcircuit 11mo ago
Steam is not a competitor to Fortnite. Fortnite gives you a lot for free as a platform compared to what you get from Steam.
Rohansi 11mo ago
Steam must just be a front because none of those games are available on it.

Rohansi 11mo ago

> Your only options are like Fornite, Roblox, or Minecraft. What?? Unlike phones nothing locks people into only playing a specific game. And there are so many other games out there to choose from.

charcircuit 11mo ago
Nothing locks you into a specific phone. I have both a primary Android and iOS phone that I use. >are so many other games out there to choose from. But how many can you make a business on top of that can pay competitively? It's like how there are a ton of operating systems to choose from, yet only a few that are viable to build upon.
- shakna 11mo ago
  And so many exceptions to that. One example? Stardew Valley. Runs on everything, not just "viable" OSs, made by a single person, and easily competes with an entire genre of gaming to pay the author.
  - charcircuit 11mo ago
    The upper bound of building a business on top of Stardew Valley appears to be https://www.patreon.com/pathoschild https://www.patreon.com/pathoschild which makes under $400 per month after Patreon's cut. That's not enough to work as a single person full time let alone hiring a team.
    - shakna 11mo ago
      Um... No? [0] A $400/mo Patreon does not exactly outweigh somewhere between 18-35 million sales on a single one of the platforms it supports. I would not call that the "upper bound". [0] https://steamdb.info/app/413150/charts/ https://steamdb.info/app/413150/charts/
      - charcircuit 11mo ago
        That 18-35 million goes to the game's developer and probably not even a single penny goes to those building a business off of designing content on top of the game. That figure is irrelevant. Taking Fortnite as an example the relevant figure would be that creators on Fortnite can make over $10 million per year. Bringing up that Epic made a few billion dollars is irrelevant to what this conversation is about, which is games where it is financially viable to build content for them.
        shakna 11mo ago
        > which is games where it is financially viable to build content for them. If that was your interpretation, then it would have been better to have mentioned it anywhere upthread. What we have, so far, is people talking about the gaming industry, and you calling it a monopoly. Nowhere before do we have a mention of third-party developers.