Yeah, Steam may be effectively a monopoly, but it’s because nobody else really wants to compete with them at their level.
Steam has two types of customers. Us the gamers where we can decide which platform to use. They have an effective monopoly on us because they provide a good service. But with a large game library we are locked into steam as well and cannot just switch to a different platform. If valve ever did decide to be evil then we are screwed.
But developers are also customers of valve. And this is arguably where valve makes their money. They take a cut from the developers sales. Devs cannot just use a different platform without cutting out a huge userbase. This gives valve a real monopolistic control over developers.
But developers are also customers of valve. And this is arguably where valve makes their money. They take a cut from the developers sales. Devs cannot just use a different platform without cutting out a huge userbase. This gives valve a real monopolistic control over developers.
Can they not? I was under the understanding that developers aren’t limited to steam. They can use any other platform in addition to it, the main restriction being that they can’t sell the game for cheaper on platforms other than Steam.
Sorry badly worded on my part. They can use other platforms alongside steam. I really meant they cannot use them instead of steam without losing a massive audience. And likely making their game unprofitable. At least if they are not a very large game studio already.
And then if steam is pushing restrictions on what they can do on other stores then that is edging into the relms of abusing their monopoly.
But looking at it from Steam’s side: why should they list a game, promote it through their recommendation algorithms, forums, friend lists, reviews, workshop, etc. when the developers can use it just as free advertisement and sell it in their store for half the price? What is in it for me? Servers and traffic are not free after all, quite the opposite thanks to today’s AI craziness.
You can choose to buy new things on other platforms. But you lose access to everything you bought on steam if you choose not to use them anymore. That is a form of locking to their platform. You cannot just move you library to another platform.
But is there an alternative where I can take my games where I want? Sure, there is GOG, but if they decided to shut down their servers right now I’d be screwed the same. I don’t have storage space to regularly back up installers just for sure… So technically it’s possible but in reality it mostly isn’t.
Devs cannot just use a different platform without cutting out a huge userbase.
Most gamers I know, don’t care that much about where they get their games from. Heck, they would buy it from a dubious guy with USB sticks who is travelling on a donkey, if they had to.
Make a good game and people will follow.
I suppose the issue is rather about discoverability and getting people to learn about a game they might like. But steam is not necessarily easier in that regard. You’d still need to do some marketing to get the word around. If you’re lucky by scratching the itch of a lot of people, steam can boost sales by its trending and discovery lists, sales highlights, etc. But that’s not easy to achieve just by choosing steam as a distribution platform.
Most people I know don’t look outside of steam for games. Might be a regional thing. But there are a lot of people that just don’t care about the other stores. At least not while steam offer a good experience.
Steam has two types of customers. Us the gamers where we can decide which platform to use. They have an effective monopoly on us because they provide a good service. But with a large game library we are locked into steam as well and cannot just switch to a different platform. If valve ever did decide to be evil then we are screwed.
But developers are also customers of valve. And this is arguably where valve makes their money. They take a cut from the developers sales. Devs cannot just use a different platform without cutting out a huge userbase. This gives valve a real monopolistic control over developers.
Can they not? I was under the understanding that developers aren’t limited to steam. They can use any other platform in addition to it, the main restriction being that they can’t sell the game for cheaper on platforms other than Steam.
Sorry badly worded on my part. They can use other platforms alongside steam. I really meant they cannot use them instead of steam without losing a massive audience. And likely making their game unprofitable. At least if they are not a very large game studio already.
And then if steam is pushing restrictions on what they can do on other stores then that is edging into the relms of abusing their monopoly.
But looking at it from Steam’s side: why should they list a game, promote it through their recommendation algorithms, forums, friend lists, reviews, workshop, etc. when the developers can use it just as free advertisement and sell it in their store for half the price? What is in it for me? Servers and traffic are not free after all, quite the opposite thanks to today’s AI craziness.
“Locked in”? “Can’t”?
Huh?
Can’t people just use all of the stores if they want? Steam doesn’t lock you out of the xbox app, or the ubisoft store or whatever as far as I know.
You can choose to buy new things on other platforms. But you lose access to everything you bought on steam if you choose not to use them anymore. That is a form of locking to their platform. You cannot just move you library to another platform.
But is there an alternative where I can take my games where I want? Sure, there is GOG, but if they decided to shut down their servers right now I’d be screwed the same. I don’t have storage space to regularly back up installers just for sure… So technically it’s possible but in reality it mostly isn’t.
Most gamers I know, don’t care that much about where they get their games from. Heck, they would buy it from a dubious guy with USB sticks who is travelling on a donkey, if they had to.
Make a good game and people will follow.
I suppose the issue is rather about discoverability and getting people to learn about a game they might like. But steam is not necessarily easier in that regard. You’d still need to do some marketing to get the word around. If you’re lucky by scratching the itch of a lot of people, steam can boost sales by its trending and discovery lists, sales highlights, etc. But that’s not easy to achieve just by choosing steam as a distribution platform.
Most people I know don’t look outside of steam for games. Might be a regional thing. But there are a lot of people that just don’t care about the other stores. At least not while steam offer a good experience.