Steam IS a giant in this industry now. They're aren't some scrappy little studio like you seem to be arguing.
Yes they are giant in the digital distribution, that's what they are focusing their business on. It took them 15 years to be where they are, they didn't bulldozer the market with the help of a truck load of money made by a lucky game (Fortnite). They are not trying to take over every branch of the gaming industry, and they are not bullying other companies out of their business with dirty tricks.
Steam are not the good Samaritans, but I trust them more running a universal digital store than EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Bethesda or Epic.
I hope someone else will be able to challenge Steam, as long as they are none of the companies mentioned above.
Could you imagine EA's Origin Store taking over the digital distribution market? If Epic can do it, maybe EA could give it a go too. And do you think customers would be better or worse off if that happens?
Then whether you want to admit it or not, you don't hope anyone challenges Steam.
You're not gonna find some kind of start-up that will ever compete with Steam. Period. It's a pipe dream you tell yourself to try and hold onto the idea that you're being company-agnostic when you're really saying I'd just prefer the landscape stay the same.
Then whether you want to admit it or not, you don't hope anyone challenges Steam.
You're not gonna find some kind of start-up that will ever compete with Steam. Period. It's a pipe dream you tell yourself to try and hold onto the idea that you're being company-agnostic when you're really saying I'd just prefer the landscape stay the same.
Could it be that at the moment there is no need to challenge Steam maybe? At least not right now.
You are arguing the fact that if Steam had more competition we would get better deals. You mean better than dozens of games discounted between 30% to 85%, every single week?
I don't know. How much you want to pay for a game, $1 Dollar?
I think Steam is already good value for money overall, and I don't want the big publishers to put Steam out of business, replacing it with the Origin Store or crap like that.
Then whether you want to admit it or not, you don't hope anyone challenges Steam.
You're not gonna find some kind of start-up that will ever compete with Steam. Period. It's a pipe dream you tell yourself to try and hold onto the idea that you're being company-agnostic when you're really saying I'd just prefer the landscape stay the same.
Could it be that at the moment there is no need to challenge Steam maybe? At least not right now.
You are arguing the fact that if Steam had more competition we would get better deals. You mean better than dozens of games discounted between 30% to 85%, every single week?
I don't know. How much you want to pay for a game, $1 Dollar?
I think Steam is already good value for money overall, and I don't want the big publishers to put Steam out of business, replacing it with the Origin Store or crap like that.
I'm not even sure why you think Epic's goal is to put Steam out of business. Or that Epic even believes they could do such a thing.
Now, instead of just a launcher that gives me discounts each week, I have that launcher AND a launcher that gives me a free game each week.
Steam IS a giant in this industry now. They're aren't some scrappy little studio like you seem to be arguing.
Yes they are giant in the digital distribution, that's what they are focusing their business on. It took them 15 years to be where they are, they didn't bulldozer the market with the help of a truck load of money made by a lucky game (Fortnite). They are not trying to take over every branch of the gaming industry, and they are not bullying other companies out of their business with dirty tricks.
Steam are not the good Samaritans, but I trust them more running a universal digital store than EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Bethesda or Epic.
I hope someone else will be able to challenge Steam, as long as they are none of the companies mentioned above.
Could you imagine EA's Origin Store taking over the digital distribution market? If Epic can do it, maybe EA could give it a go too. And do you think customers would be better or worse off if that happens? I don't even want to contemplate that scenario frankly.
Steam (Valve) got there start through a "truckload of money" made by a "lucky" game (Half-Life)
Valve have entered mobile; hardware - Steam Machine + SteamOS - to challenge consoles (and extend reach in PCs) and are working on VR (Hive) with HTC.
And lets not forget that in Australia they were found guilty (in 2016) of being engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and made false or misleading representations about consumer guarantees; a ruling which they appealed and lost in 2017. Which is why they started to offer refunds in Australia - having not offered refunds for over a decade and, if they had won their appeal maybe they would have stopped offering them in Australia.
Not to mention the (on-going) anti-consumer case in France and the (on-going) anti-competitive practices investigation in the EU.
And - there is more.
So do I "trust" Steam (Valve) the multi-billion dollar company? I'll say that again I think: multi-billion dollar company.
Well I don't "not trust" them - which is somewhat different. But nor do I "not trust" EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Bethesda or Epic to run a universal digital store. And there are others as well e.g. Microsoft, Sony, Amazon etc.
What I do trust is that COMPETITION is one of the best ways of keeping said companies honest. Plus oversight and if necessary legal nudges and persuasion to make sure they don't fall into cartel like, group think activity. And the Epic Store is competition.
You say you are not anti-competition and don't want a big distributor running things but .... Epic represents competition and Steam (Valve) is a big distribution company and then some. So ...?
Do you feel you've been ripped off by Steam? And if the answer is yes. Why?
i can show you why i'm ripped off by steam
steam price
Phyiscal Shop 10 minutes from my house that doesn't even specialise in games.. they are a general homeware store - white goods, TV's, appliances, furniture etc... the works.
Edit - Sorry i'm going to Clarify that $58 was release week special at https://www.harveynorman.com.au/ if you're wondering what the name of the store was... the standard price now is $79 - Still $20 cheaper for a physical copy than buying it from steam
It's baffling to me to see so many consumers who are anti-competition; who want Steam to reign forever with a stranglehold as a game delivery platform. Hint: Competition among corporations is good for you. You end up getting better and cheaper products as a result of them clawing to stay on top.
Not if the competitor is Epic. Might as well be EA next. No thanks.
I don't want big publisher to own distribution platforms
If you think that's healthy for the customers, you are quite naive.
I'm asking sincerely, why?
For me, it's quite simple. Exclusivity is NOT competition.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
It's baffling to me to see so many consumers who are anti-competition; who want Steam to reign forever with a stranglehold as a game delivery platform. Hint: Competition among corporations is good for you. You end up getting better and cheaper products as a result of them clawing to stay on top.
Not if the competitor is Epic. Might as well be EA next. No thanks.
I don't want big publisher to own distribution platforms
If you think that's healthy for the customers, you are quite naive.
I'm asking sincerely, why?
For me, it's quite simple. Exclusivity is NOT competition.
Refer to my second post. A few exclusive deals is part of the competition and in no way is even close to monopolizing the market.
Constantine, The Console Poster
"One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
Do you feel you've been ripped off by Steam? And if the answer is yes. Why?
i can show you why i'm ripped off by steam
steam price
Phyiscal Shop 10 minutes from my house that doesn't even specialise in games.. they are a general homeware store - white goods, TV's, appliances, furniture etc... the works.
Edit - Sorry i'm going to Clarify that $58 was release week special at https://www.harveynorman.com.au/ if you're wondering what the name of the store was... the standard price now is $79 - Still $20 cheaper for a physical copy than buying it from steam
I think too much is made of nothing. Most of the people complaining about the epic exclusive don't even intend to play the exclusive game. Obviously the worry is there will be more exclusive coming out. And it get annoying having to install multiple plateform...
It's baffling to me to see so many consumers who are anti-competition; who want Steam to reign forever with a stranglehold as a game delivery platform. Hint: Competition among corporations is good for you. You end up getting better and cheaper products as a result of them clawing to stay on top.
Not if the competitor is Epic. Might as well be EA next. No thanks.
I don't want big publisher to own distribution platforms
If you think that's healthy for the customers, you are quite naive.
I'm asking sincerely, why?
For me, it's quite simple. Exclusivity is NOT competition.
Refer to my second post. A few exclusive deals is part of the competition and in no way is even close to monopolizing the market.
I don't believe I said anything about "monopolizing the market." I was talking about competition and exclusivity is NOT competition, no matter how you want to justify it.
Who sold more "Epic Store Exclusive games", Steam or the Epic Store? Who won that specific competition?
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
It's baffling to me to see so many consumers who are anti-competition; who want Steam to reign forever with a stranglehold as a game delivery platform. Hint: Competition among corporations is good for you. You end up getting better and cheaper products as a result of them clawing to stay on top.
Not if the competitor is Epic. Might as well be EA next. No thanks.
I don't want big publisher to own distribution platforms
If you think that's healthy for the customers, you are quite naive.
I'm asking sincerely, why?
For me, it's quite simple. Exclusivity is NOT competition.
Refer to my second post. A few exclusive deals is part of the competition and in no way is even close to monopolizing the market.
I don't believe I said anything about "monopolizing the market." I was talking about competition and exclusivity is NOT competition, no matter how you want to justify it.
Who sold more "Epic Store Exclusive games", Steam or the Epic Store? Who won that specific competition?
It is actually a competition, but not between games but between stores. So the questions that could be asked are: Who sold the better games? and Who had the best games for sale? Then all of a sudden it makes sense, you just have to look at it from a slightly different angle.
Just to clarify, this is not a post about whether or not exclusivity is a good way of competing, it is however a way to differentiate your store from another store.
/Cheers, Lahnmir
'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
It's baffling to me to see so many consumers who are anti-competition; who want Steam to reign forever with a stranglehold as a game delivery platform. Hint: Competition among corporations is good for you. You end up getting better and cheaper products as a result of them clawing to stay on top.
Not if the competitor is Epic. Might as well be EA next. No thanks.
I don't want big publisher to own distribution platforms
If you think that's healthy for the customers, you are quite naive.
I'm asking sincerely, why?
For me, it's quite simple. Exclusivity is NOT competition.
Refer to my second post. A few exclusive deals is part of the competition and in no way is even close to monopolizing the market.
I don't believe I said anything about "monopolizing the market." I was talking about competition and exclusivity is NOT competition, no matter how you want to justify it.
Who sold more "Epic Store Exclusive games", Steam or the Epic Store? Who won that specific competition?
It is actually a competition, but not between games but between stores. So the questions that could be asked are: Who sold the better games? and Who had the best games for sale? Then all of a sudden it makes sense, you just have to look at it from a slightly different angle.
Just to clarify, this is not a post about whether or not exclusivity is a good way of competing, it is however a way to differentiate your store from another store.
/Cheers, Lahnmir
I guess "competition" was lost it's meaning, too. Oh, well...
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
It's baffling to me to see so many consumers who are anti-competition; who want Steam to reign forever with a stranglehold as a game delivery platform. Hint: Competition among corporations is good for you. You end up getting better and cheaper products as a result of them clawing to stay on top.
Not if the competitor is Epic. Might as well be EA next. No thanks.
I don't want big publisher to own distribution platforms
If you think that's healthy for the customers, you are quite naive.
I'm asking sincerely, why?
For me, it's quite simple. Exclusivity is NOT competition.
Refer to my second post. A few exclusive deals is part of the competition and in no way is even close to monopolizing the market.
I don't believe I said anything about "monopolizing the market." I was talking about competition and exclusivity is NOT competition, no matter how you want to justify it.
Who sold more "Epic Store Exclusive games", Steam or the Epic Store? Who won that specific competition?
It is actually a competition, but not between games but between stores. So the questions that could be asked are: Who sold the better games? and Who had the best games for sale? Then all of a sudden it makes sense, you just have to look at it from a slightly different angle.
Just to clarify, this is not a post about whether or not exclusivity is a good way of competing, it is however a way to differentiate your store from another store.
/Cheers, Lahnmir
I guess "competition" was lost it's meaning, too. Oh, well...
I don’t know. A competition is where at least two parties strive for a goal that can not be shared, where one parties gain is another parties loss. That seems to apply to this situation.
/Cheers, Lahnmir
'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
Epic Games made another 'Epic Fail' and violated GDPR, on second thoughts, before Epic fix the lack of a 'basket' in their store, they should make some kind of effort towards protecting peoples data, oopsie! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pibDZNlCKfg Sidalpha tends to be spot on with his reporting, the only question is whether or not those affected go ahead and prosecute over GDPR violations or not, interesting times!
It's baffling to me to see so many consumers who are anti-competition; who want Steam to reign forever with a stranglehold as a game delivery platform. Hint: Competition among corporations is good for you. You end up getting better and cheaper products as a result of them clawing to stay on top.
Not if the competitor is Epic. Might as well be EA next. No thanks.
I don't want big publisher to own distribution platforms
If you think that's healthy for the customers, you are quite naive.
I'm asking sincerely, why?
For me, it's quite simple. Exclusivity is NOT competition.
Refer to my second post. A few exclusive deals is part of the competition and in no way is even close to monopolizing the market.
I don't believe I said anything about "monopolizing the market." I was talking about competition and exclusivity is NOT competition, no matter how you want to justify it.
Who sold more "Epic Store Exclusive games", Steam or the Epic Store? Who won that specific competition?
It is actually a competition, but not between games but between stores. So the questions that could be asked are: Who sold the better games? and Who had the best games for sale? Then all of a sudden it makes sense, you just have to look at it from a slightly different angle.
Just to clarify, this is not a post about whether or not exclusivity is a good way of competing, it is however a way to differentiate your store from another store.
/Cheers, Lahnmir
I guess "competition" was lost it's meaning, too. Oh, well...
I don’t know. A competition is where at least two parties strive for a goal that can not be shared, where one parties gain is another parties loss. That seems to apply to this situation.
/Cheers, Lahnmir
What Sheep said. Competing for market share. It is pretty obvious in my opinion. Exclusive titles on different stores are the same as exclusive titles on different consoles.
Constantine, The Console Poster
"One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
Do you feel you've been ripped off by Steam? And if the answer is yes. Why?
i can show you why i'm ripped off by steam
steam price
Phyiscal Shop 10 minutes from my house that doesn't even specialise in games.. they are a general homeware store - white goods, TV's, appliances, furniture etc... the works.
Edit - Sorry i'm going to Clarify that $58 was release week special at https://www.harveynorman.com.au/ if you're wondering what the name of the store was... the standard price now is $79 - Still $20 cheaper for a physical copy than buying it from steam
Phyiscal Shop 10 minutes from my house that doesn't even specialise in games.. they are a general homeware store - white goods, TV's, appliances, furniture etc... the works.
Edit - Sorry i'm going to Clarify that $58 was release week special at https://www.harveynorman.com.au/ if you're wondering what the name of the store was... the standard price now is $79 - Still $20 cheaper for a physical copy than buying it from steam
That's normal. Steam doesn't do real localization (It doesn't get the games from Australian distributors who generally pay games to the publishers according to the local economy standards). You are basically paying for an American export.
Steam is an American Business that happens to sell worldwide, therefore their prices are based on the American prices and exchanged in the local currency.
Since the US Dollar is worth more than the Aussie Dollar, you pay more for games on Steam. This is not a problem for the EU since the Euro and the US Dollar are worth pretty much the same (They only add the VAT).
I also said many times that Steam is not great for new games, because it doesn't do discounts. Steam is excellent for games that are 1 years old or older, where you can get up to 90% discount.
If in AUS new games are cheaper in the shops, buy them from the shops, simple.
On Steam Rage 2 is £39.99, in the shops here in UK is £49.99. So how convenient is to buy new games on Steam, depends on how strong your local currency is against the US Dollar.
Steam (Valve) got there start through a "truckload of money" made by a "lucky" game (Half-Life)
Valve have entered mobile; hardware - Steam Machine + SteamOS - to challenge consoles (and extend reach in PCs) and are working on VR (Hive) with HTC.
Yes, because Half Life 2 was in the same league as Fortnite (/facepalm). Even Doom franchise sold more than Half Life 2, an ID Software got bought by Bethesda.
Valve invested the good money they made (not truckloads) in creating something new, and it took them 15 years to get where they are. Epic wants to get there pretty fast, behaving as if they own the market, even though they sell few dozen games. Remember when they told Steam: "We stop the exclusivity of the games if you slash the commission on the games"? Typical mega corporation stinky attitude, the same bullish behavior that bring us shitty and half baked games, because they all think with their balls instead of their head.
All I am saying is, before they can talk, Epic should develop a better store and get a decent amount of games in their library, instead of trying to bulldozer other businesses, with not much to show except for a big mouth.
A new platform is welcome, but first do your job and then you can talk.
PS: And I don't remember Steam threatening Sony or Microsoft with their crappy console, they just tried to make their own thing working hard and behaving with decency unlike Epic, which is the point I am trying to make.
Well there is a LOT more to the story than a simple pull out. I see this as actually a completely fair and honest way to operate the store front,an idea that Steam would not adhere to because Steam is a scummy operation.
First of all look at the game ....Bloodlines 2,a game that i already have noticed is getting a lot of early marketing and imo will be a really bad game.I just mentioned the other day that i believe the developer is hoping to scam people by trying to sell it off for way more than it is worth.
So the intent here is to say that Epic is doing something wrong?Epic says they will honor any price offered and that devs can opt out of sales.That is FAIR to everyone and Epic is the ONLY loser out the ordeal,so how does that make Epic look bad,because they might lose money?
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
So the intent here is to say that Epic is doing something wrong?Epic says they will honor any price offered and that devs can opt out of sales.That is FAIR to everyone and Epic is the ONLY loser out the ordeal,so how does that make Epic look bad,because they might lose money?
Epic is burning Fortnite money to get shares of the market with cheap tactics, offering free games, lower commissions, and exclusives to over compensate for the lack of games and the shitty store layout they provide.
All of this won't last, it's just marketing, this is how big corporations work. They throw marketing gimmicks to cover their crappy products (Anthem and FO76 docet) hoping the customer won't notice the mediocrity of their products.
What Epic is doing, is apparently good for the customers now. Once they get hold of the market, they will do what other big corporations do, which is bend the customers 90 degrees and sticking it up their bum (pardon my French).
Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm going to enjoy the free games (which are usually all highly rated) and buy the few games I'm interested in from them while on sale.
Then, when they start screwing gamers over I'll assume the usual position we're all used to at this point...
So the intent here is to say that Epic is doing something wrong?Epic says they will honor any price offered and that devs can opt out of sales.That is FAIR to everyone and Epic is the ONLY loser out the ordeal,so how does that make Epic look bad,because they might lose money?
Epic is burning Fortnite money to get shares of the market with cheap tactics, offering free games, lower commissions, and exclusives to over compensate for the lack of games and the shitty store layout they provide.
All of this won't last, it's just marketing, this is how big corporations work. They throw marketing gimmicks to cover their crappy products (Anthem and FO76 docet) hoping the customer won't notice the mediocrity of their products.
What Epic is doing, is apparently good for the customers now. Once they get hold of the market, they will do what other big corporations do, which is bend the customers 90 degrees and sticking it up their bum (pardon my French).
Thats a lot of assumption to be honest. I see no reason to crucify people/companies/animals for what they might or might not do in the future.
And when you compare the games on offer in the Epic store with those on Steam its pretty clear who has to do a bigger cover up of crappy games....
/Cheers, Lahnmir
'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
So the intent here is to say that Epic is doing something wrong?Epic says they will honor any price offered and that devs can opt out of sales.That is FAIR to everyone and Epic is the ONLY loser out the ordeal,so how does that make Epic look bad,because they might lose money?
Epic is burning Fortnite money to get shares of the market with cheap tactics, offering free games, lower commissions, and exclusives to over compensate for the lack of games and the shitty store layout they provide.
All of this won't last, it's just marketing, this is how big corporations work. They throw marketing gimmicks to cover their crappy products (Anthem and FO76 docet) hoping the customer won't notice the mediocrity of their products.
What Epic is doing, is apparently good for the customers now. Once they get hold of the market, they will do what other big corporations do, which is bend the customers 90 degrees and sticking it up their bum (pardon my French).
Thats a lot of assumption to be honest. I see no reason to crucify people/companies/animals for what they might or might not do in the future.
And when you compare the games on offer in the Epic store with those on Steam its pretty clear who has to do a bigger cover up of crappy games....
/Cheers, Lahnmir
What you mean? Steam only provides the finest gaming experiences to their users. Like this one:
Check out these rave reviews of this re-release of a previously failed title (that Steam ALSO had no problem selling, EVEN after the devs abandoned it!):
"It was a garbage game at release It was a garbage game after releasing "Resurrected" Development has been taken over my a developer known for cheating and all around scummy practices.
You really outdid yourselves on this one guys, I think I can officially say that this is the WORST game I have in my steam library."
I still love this game no matter how empty, ugly and buggy it seems (personally liked the world design). I paid like $30-40 on day one, so $5 is a steal. but again, might as well wait for new version if you want to play with full servers."
That's right: the developer has already started on yet another "remake" of the game, and Steam is still selling the old version, which is actually the old new version, which eventually replaced the old old version that had been abandoned! Because Steam is the "gamer's" storefront! (And this post doesn't even mention Titov, who absolutely adores Valve by now, I'm sure!)
You buy 50$ pokicoin for pokemon go, 15$ go to google...
That is ridiculous how much we pay for "just a plateform".
Steam is a digital distributor, a digital shop. It works the same way as any other retail store like Gamestop or Neweggs or Walmart. 30% is more or less the same commission any other store gets from selling a game, it's not something out of the ordinary. That's why publishers keep selling their games through Steam. If it was an outrageous fee to pay, do you really think publishers like Bethesda would sell their games there, even though they have their own store?
If the commission was 15% instead of 30%, do you really think that the saving will be passed to the customer? If you think so, you are really naive.
The standard cost of a new game is £49.99 in UK, that's what the marked decided it's a fair a consumer should pay for it (whether we agree with it or not). If retailers (like Steam) decides to slash their commission fee, the only ones to gain out of it would be the publishers not the consumer, as the game will still be sold at £49.99 regardless.
Steam provides a service, and I am happy to spend my money there, if publishers get less money I could not care less.
Fallout 4 on Bethesda Store = $29,99 (always) Fallout 4 on Steam = $9.99 (at least 3 times a year)
Games sold on the developer proprietary shops are always sold full price (and they don't even have to pay the retailer commission). Still complaining about Steam 30% fee?
It is not about prices being lower. It is about money going to the people who actually develop the products people enjoy instead of going to storefront owners who use them either to enrich their management or develop products that are unrelated to the whole game production cycle.
Cmon we all know that extra money is not going to the developers themselves. Its just going to the CEO bonus at big publishers/companies and if there are any investors. Those small indie teams wouldn't sell anywhere near the amount they would otherwise unless their product was good and even then they can make their own store front; like rimworld and countless other hit indie games.
Comments
You're not gonna find some kind of start-up that will ever compete with Steam. Period. It's a pipe dream you tell yourself to try and hold onto the idea that you're being company-agnostic when you're really saying I'd just prefer the landscape stay the same.
At least not right now.
You mean better than dozens of games discounted between 30% to 85%, every single week?
I don't know. How much you want to pay for a game, $1 Dollar?
Now, instead of just a launcher that gives me discounts each week, I have that launcher AND a launcher that gives me a free game each week.
Valve have entered mobile; hardware - Steam Machine + SteamOS - to challenge consoles (and extend reach in PCs) and are working on VR (Hive) with HTC.
And lets not forget that in Australia they were found guilty (in 2016) of being engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and made false or misleading representations about consumer guarantees; a ruling which they appealed and lost in 2017. Which is why they started to offer refunds in Australia - having not offered refunds for over a decade and, if they had won their appeal maybe they would have stopped offering them in Australia.
Not to mention the (on-going) anti-consumer case in France and the (on-going) anti-competitive practices investigation in the EU.
And - there is more.
So do I "trust" Steam (Valve) the multi-billion dollar company? I'll say that again I think: multi-billion dollar company.
Well I don't "not trust" them - which is somewhat different. But nor do I "not trust" EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Bethesda or Epic to run a universal digital store. And there are others as well e.g. Microsoft, Sony, Amazon etc.
What I do trust is that COMPETITION is one of the best ways of keeping said companies honest. Plus oversight and if necessary legal nudges and persuasion to make sure they don't fall into cartel like, group think activity. And the Epic Store is competition.
You say you are not anti-competition and don't want a big distributor running things but .... Epic represents competition and Steam (Valve) is a big distribution company and then some. So ...?
also
https://www.jbhifi.com.au/pc-game/rage-2/640486/
JBHIFI is another physical "everything store" that has it for $79 for a physical copy.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
https://store.steampowered.com/app/548570/RAGE_2/ But of corse thats in United States....And what does A$ mean???
Who sold more "Epic Store Exclusive games", Steam or the Epic Store? Who won that specific competition?
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
Just to clarify, this is not a post about whether or not exclusivity is a good way of competing, it is however a way to differentiate your store from another store.
/Cheers,
Lahnmir
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
/Cheers,
Lahnmir
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pibDZNlCKfg
Sidalpha tends to be spot on with his reporting, the only question is whether or not those affected go ahead and prosecute over GDPR violations or not, interesting times!
I can get it here from retail shops for $79
Steam rips me off, not just with this game... but a lot as someone from Australia
Steam doesn't do real localization (It doesn't get the games from Australian distributors who generally pay games to the publishers according to the local economy standards).
You are basically paying for an American export.
This is not a problem for the EU since the Euro and the US Dollar are worth pretty much the same (They only add the VAT).
I also said many times that Steam is not great for new games, because it doesn't do discounts.
Steam is excellent for games that are 1 years old or older, where you can get up to 90% discount.
If in AUS new games are cheaper in the shops, buy them from the shops, simple.
On Steam Rage 2 is £39.99, in the shops here in UK is £49.99.
So how convenient is to buy new games on Steam, depends on how strong your local currency is against the US Dollar.
Even Doom franchise sold more than Half Life 2, an ID Software got bought by Bethesda.
Valve invested the good money they made (not truckloads) in creating something new, and it took them 15 years to get where they are.
Epic wants to get there pretty fast, behaving as if they own the market, even though they sell few dozen games.
Remember when they told Steam: "We stop the exclusivity of the games if you slash the commission on the games"?
Typical mega corporation stinky attitude, the same bullish behavior that bring us shitty and half baked games, because they all think with their balls instead of their head.
All I am saying is, before they can talk, Epic should develop a better store and get a decent amount of games in their library, instead of trying to bulldozer other businesses, with not much to show except for a big mouth.
A new platform is welcome, but first do your job and then you can talk.
PS: And I don't remember Steam threatening Sony or Microsoft with their crappy console, they just tried to make their own thing working hard and behaving with decency unlike Epic, which is the point I am trying to make.
I see this as actually a completely fair and honest way to operate the store front,an idea that Steam would not adhere to because Steam is a scummy operation.
First of all look at the game ....Bloodlines 2,a game that i already have noticed is getting a lot of early marketing and imo will be a really bad game.I just mentioned the other day that i believe the developer is hoping to scam people by trying to sell it off for way more than it is worth.
So the intent here is to say that Epic is doing something wrong?Epic says they will honor any price offered and that devs can opt out of sales.That is FAIR to everyone and Epic is the ONLY loser out the ordeal,so how does that make Epic look bad,because they might lose money?
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
All of this won't last, it's just marketing, this is how big corporations work.
They throw marketing gimmicks to cover their crappy products (Anthem and FO76 docet) hoping the customer won't notice the mediocrity of their products.
What Epic is doing, is apparently good for the customers now.
Once they get hold of the market, they will do what other big corporations do, which is bend the customers 90 degrees and sticking it up their bum (pardon my French).
Then, when they start screwing gamers over I'll assume the usual position we're all used to at this point...
Gut Out!
What, me worry?
And when you compare the games on offer in the Epic store with those on Steam its pretty clear who has to do a bigger cover up of crappy games....
/Cheers,
Lahnmir
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
https://store.steampowered.com/app/247730/Nether_Resurrected/
Check out these rave reviews of this re-release of a previously failed title (that Steam ALSO had no problem selling, EVEN after the devs abandoned it!):
"It was a garbage game at release
It was a garbage game after releasing "Resurrected"
Development has been taken over my a developer known for cheating and all around scummy practices.
You really outdid yourselves on this one guys, I think I can officially say that this is the WORST game I have in my steam library."
"don't waste your money. get the new version when it releases. (the exact same game but more updates)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1010270/Nether_The_Untold_Chapter/
I still love this game no matter how empty, ugly and buggy it seems (personally liked the world design). I paid like $30-40 on day one, so $5 is a steal. but again, might as well wait for new version if you want to play with full servers."
That's right: the developer has already started on yet another "remake" of the game, and Steam is still selling the old version, which is actually the old new version, which eventually replaced the old old version that had been abandoned! Because Steam is the "gamer's" storefront! (And this post doesn't even mention Titov, who absolutely adores Valve by now, I'm sure!)
MurderHerd