Games @lemmy.world Gem @lemmynsfw.com 4d ago

Steam is a ticking time bomb.

www.spacebar.news Steam is a ticking time bomb

The decline of the Steam games platform is inevitable, and there are already warning signs.

The decline of the Steam games platform is inevitable, and there are already warning signs.

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Steam's 30% cut on each purchase has been criticized over the years, especially with Steam's market share being too large for many developers to ignore.

With all what they offer, 30% IMO is fair. It gets lower when you reach a certain amount too

Steam's position in the market is a functional monopoly, but there have been challengers. The greatest example is the Epic Games Store, which started as just the launcher for Fortnite, then became a full-blown store in 2019 for third-party games. The Epic Games Store was light on features at first, and still doesn't have many of the community-centric features in Steam, but it has a Steamworks-like multiplayer framework and other core functionality. Epic also doesn't take as much money from game developers as Steam's 30% cut.

Epic a challenger? LMAO "The greatest example is the Epic Games Store" yeah sure, they have nothing, quite literally.
- With all what they offer, 30% IMO is fair.
  
  It's not like the games are cheaper on other stores with lower cuts. Why would customers care if the lower cut just results in publishers pocketing higher profits.
  
  Good point
  
  True. Not praising steam as the god digital store on PC because it has its own problems but it saved me from 🏴‍☠️ and now I do it for devs that deserve it (Looking at you Sony and PSN requirement) or as demo damn I wish more games had a demo
- Maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture, doesn't steam host the game data? Push updates? Promote? Host Workshops if applicable? Use their bandwidth? Sync saves when applicable? Provide a community forum for the game? Allow players to connect easier?
  
  Sounds like that 30% goes a long way.
  
  Is that cut too much to cover all those things?
  
  I don't get if it's a negative comment or not (apologies) but for what you listed, I think 30% is fair
  
  I think 30% is fair too, thats what I was asking. I don't know the industry, but steam takes on a lot of responsibility hosting a game and handling what I listed.
  
  Ooh okay! I thought was something bad, sorry.
  
  Yeah, it has:
  
  Proton
  
  Steam input that's plug and play most of the times
  
  Forums
  
  Workshop
  
  Community
  
  Cloud sync & backup
  
  The whole social-ish part (useful or not up to people)
  
  more
  
  30% is a fair cut but not all get that
- Little known fact Steam refunds the money you paid to get the game on the platform if you pass a certain % in sales
  
  True! Like the 30% is lower after a certain % is passed
- Epic is the latest example that's trying. EA gave up that fight years ago, and probably had better shot than Epic ever will.
  
  The problem is: Epic is shit and does nothing. What does it has more than steam? Free games? Eh can get them for free anyway without a launcher sooo without the games, what does it has?
  
  The problem is a second launcher or library is a pain in the ass for a user. I already avoid GoG unless it's massively cheaper, and there's the no drm benefits there. I'm not even interested in free games on epic.
  
  GoG is not bad (for me) but I used steam for years so I buy games there. Did you know their launcher is, according to some people, made with unreal engine? ¯_(ツ)_/¯
- Dang I have more games in my epic library than I do my steam library.
  
  OK? I wonder how many of them you played and how many are there ¯_(ツ)_/¯ eh don't care
  
  I've played every game I own. Who gets a game and doesn't play it?
  
  Yeah sure bud. 99.8% of epic users
  
  I was like that until Epic released free games that I decided to claim just in case my tastes changed or I was with a friend who enjoyed that game, but that I myself was very uninterested in playing. And then I got busier, and bought games I have high confidence I'd like but did not have the time to play just then past maybe a demo or a short while to check if I did actually like it—I'd get to it sometime later when I had more free time. My tastes tend to expand to include more things, but not to reject more things as well, so I thought the risk of tastes changing was an okay risk to take in order to capitalize on the sale of a game I am interested in now, even if I would play it much later. So far I have proven pretty good at guessing future me's tastes.
  
  Yeah I don't get the ones I know I won't like.
  
  Hi there
  
  Oh dang what games are you sleeping on?
  
  Think the oldest game I own that I haven't yet played is Tomb Raider. Got it with my original PlayStation.

42 comments