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Posted

Really? Should be easy to provide proof then..

They don't discuss specific agreements, so unfortunately none of us can prove anything - whether is expensive or cheap. I base my statements on market observations, which I'll happily admit is very subjective.

 

And this is pretty much as close as we get to real information https://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/FAQ.php

 

They don't dicsuss revenue splits, but are a little more forthcoming with marketing - they do not make deductions based on increased bandwith or general marketing, but there is a monthly payment for services.

Fortune favors the bald.

Posted

 

Really? Should be easy to provide proof then..

They don't discuss specific agreements, so unfortunately none of us can prove anything - whether is expensive or cheap. I base my statements on market observations, which I'll happily admit is very subjective.

 

And this is pretty much as close as we get to real information https://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/FAQ.php

 

They don't dicsuss revenue splits, but are a little more forthcoming with marketing - they do not make deductions based on increased bandwith or general marketing, but there is a monthly payment for services.

 

Interesting to note too from the FAQ:

 

8. Do you require exclusivity for titles you sell on Steam?

 

We think you should get your game in front of as many people as you can, therefore we do not require exclusivity on titles.

Which means any exclusivity is likely to be self imposed and not enforced.

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein
 

Posted

Some might say that a game called Tyranny naturally belongs on Steam because of their business practises, I however couldn't possibly comment.

  • Like 6

Quite an experience to live in misery isn't it? That's what it is to be married with children.

I've seen things you people can't even imagine. Pearly Kings glittering on the Elephant and Castle, Morris Men dancing 'til the last light of midsummer. I watched Druid fires burning in the ruins of Stonehenge, and Yorkshiremen gurning for prizes. All these things will be lost in time, like alopecia on a skinhead. Time for tiffin.

 

Tea for the teapot!

Posted (edited)

It's extremely costly to release a larger game, on any medium or platform. You're paying GOG or Steam a hefty amount, since they have to host, support and handle the bandwidth of your product for as long as you're keeping it on their servers - something you are gonna generously compensate them for.. And not just by letting them take a small percentage of the profits off sales.

 

Do you have any source for that? They are compensated with percentages from sales (which as was pointed above can be around 30%). Not with any hosting fees and such. It sounds like you are making it up.

Edited by shmerl
Posted (edited)

I'm not seeing it either...

 

Copy that section here?

 

 

If you meant item 6 then I took that to mean they pay out monthly rather than the other way around unless I'm misinterpreting

 

Maybe we can ask Bryy, he's got a game on Steam

Edited by ShadySands

Free games updated 3/4/21

Posted

Maybe we can ask Bryy, he's got a game on Steam

 

I'm pretty sure that he's got a special deal as small scale/indie developer. :)

No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.

Posted

I had access to some of Steam's official documentation/ agreements and at that point there were no additional charges (except GL fee) at all. I doubt Bryy could say anything either way since the detailed agreement is confidential.
 

 

Really? Should be easy to provide proof then..


They don't discuss specific agreements, so unfortunately none of us can prove anything - whether is expensive or cheap. I base my statements on market observations, which I'll happily admit is very subjective.

And this is pretty much as close as we get to real information https://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/FAQ.php

They don't dicsuss revenue splits, but are a little more forthcoming with marketing - they do not make deductions based on increased bandwith or general marketing, but there is a monthly payment for services.

 

 
The monthly thing is for payments from Steam to the developer for sales there. There are two points dealing specifically with the issue and in both they're, well, specific:
 

7. What other fees come out of my revenue share?
There are some specific adjustments made depending on such things as fraud and returns and these are outlined more fully in our distribution agreement that we will send to you if your game is going on Steam. We do not make deductions for marketing or bandwidth.

9. What are my marketing options on Steam?
We do not sell any of our marketing on Steam. We will work with you to determine the best marketing plan for your title.

 
 

Which means any exclusivity is likely to be self imposed and not enforced.

 
It's definitely self imposed, there's nothing contractual forcing steam exclusivity (possibly excluding some special cases; I was told that BIS pulled non steam versions of Arma because Valve bailed them out financially but have no way to verify that). Just a lot of 'soft' pressure from steamworks' lock in features. You've got people citing steamworks as being necessary for multiplayer and even mods (!) as reasons for going exclusive, and while they won't stop you having a non steam version isn't it just so much easier to sell steam keys when the whole market uses steam anyway?
 
It's also a great way to make your competitors reliant on you, if most of their income comes from selling steam keys then GMG/ D2D/ Gamersgate etc aren't really your competition any more because if you cut them off they go out of business. Essentially it's the classic Microsoft EEE bundling strategy from the nineties, just from a company with multitudinous fanboys and better PR.

  • Like 3
Posted (edited)

I hope they release it on GoG. I absolutely refuse to use Steam, and they already used GoG successfully for PoE, haven't they ?

 

Well, anyway if it's on GoG, I'll buy it for sure, if it's not, I WON'T buy it for sure. Up to them to consider if there is enough people like me to release it on GoG or not.

 

On the other hand, it's a game about exploring their dark side and serving an evil overlord, so sadly it tends to fit with a Steam-only release :p

Edited by Akka
  • Like 2
Posted

On the other hand, it's a game about exploring their dark side and serving an evil overlord, so sadly it tends to fit with a Steam-only release :p

 

How can you say something like this about our Lord and Saviour, The Great Gabe? :wowey:

No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.

Posted

I'm interested in Tyranny, and I'm likely to buy it Day One (barring any worrisome news about the game), but only if it's DRM-free, preferably on GOG.

 

Steam-only = not buying.  Here's hoping PoE has been selling well enough on GOG to convince Paradox to release Tyranny there.  If not... well, I've got a huge library of great games on GOG to play instead.  8)

  • Like 2
Posted

Yeah, as others have said, Steam is a big no-no for me. I'd love to support Obsidz, but much like with Dragonspear, I'll only buy it on GOG. I've used Steam in the past and have other games I really like in there (Alien Isolation for instance), but I'm just not adding any more titles to the list.

 

 

  • Like 2

- When he is best, he is a little worse than a man, and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast.

Posted

I will never understand people who won't buy games because it's only on Steam. Didn't understand them back in 2005 and still don't understand them. But that just me...

  • Like 1

Hate the living, love the dead.

Posted (edited)

Well, I could go on a rant about anti-consumer practices, convenience, control of my purchases and so on. Otherwise, I could refer you to Zoraptor's (and other's) well-reasoned and articulate posts on the matter. But odds are that this is all old news to you and nothing is going to help you understand (not necessarily agree, mind), and per your own admission, it wouldn't help anyway, so any such effort would be about as pointless as your own post...

Edited by 213374U
  • Like 5

- When he is best, he is a little worse than a man, and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast.

Posted

I will never understand people who won't buy games because it's only on Steam. Didn't understand them back in 2005 and still don't understand them. But that just me...

Well, that’s fair, considering that I can’t understand people who accept the terms of service coming with Valve’s client :p

Didn’t understand them when Steam first launched (was it with Half-Life?), and I guess I’ll never understand them…

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

 

I will never understand people who won't buy games because it's only on Steam. Didn't understand them back in 2005 and still don't understand them. But that just me...

Well, that’s fair, considering that I can’t understand people who accept the terms of service coming with Valve’s client :p

Didn’t understand them when Steam first launched (was it with Half-Life?), and I guess I’ll never understand them…

 

 

Fair enough. There's just that many games I would have to skip because it's on UPlay, Origin or Steam only..

I believe it was Half-Life 2 that introduced us to Steam. Internet connection was still rare when Half-Life came out.

Edited by Flouride

Hate the living, love the dead.

Posted (edited)

I love Steam. From being absolute crap and full of bugs back when it was released, it's now the best thing that ever happened to PC gaming in modern times. It's what revitalized PC gaming for me, in a similar way that Spotify has done with music, and Netflix+Hbo-nordic with tv-series (convenience being the key word here).

 

They have fair prices, a huge catalogue of games, lots and lots of sales, easy to use interface, and the best multiplayer online game there is, Dota 2, is there for free. It's actually given me around 50-60 dollars for free on item drops, that I've spent on other games. Probably wouldn't be playing on PC if not for Steam.

Edited by Thingolfin
Posted (edited)

There's just that many games I would have to skip because it's on UPlay, Origin or Steam only..

Yeah, it’s a sure thing that my preference for relatively old games (or old-school games) helped a lot when I decided to boycott any form of mandatory client to download/install/run my games (my problem is not specific to Steam). No Steam-only game so far has been hard for me to pass on.

 

I believe it was Half-Life 2 that introduced us to Steam. Internet connection was still rare when Half-Life came out.

You’re most probably right here ;)

 

-----

 

I love Steam. (…)

And nobody will try to deny it to you :p

This thread is not about "Is Steam a good or bad thing?", there is already too much of these out there. What we really are asking for here is to have the *choice* of not using Steam if we don’t want to.

 

Asking me to use Steam for a specific game is like asking me to install Windows to play it. I won’t, no matter how good a game it is.

So publishing Tyranny outside of Steam/UPlay/Origin/etc. is the only way to allow people like me to play it. And I would *love* to have this opportunity ;)

Edited by vv221
  • Like 2
Posted

Hope it comes out on GoG but I'll be buying it off steam. Love steam and it has saved my collection for so damn long. Great sales and nice gimmicks.

Posted

I hope they release it on GoG. I absolutely refuse to use Steam, and they already used GoG successfully for PoE, haven't they ?

 

Well, anyway if it's on GoG, I'll buy it for sure, if it's not, I WON'T buy it for sure. Up to them to consider if there is enough people like me to release it on GoG or not.

 

 

Same here, which would make me sad, because I do so love PoE. Tyranny would otherwise be an automatic buy for me, but the Steam client is never getting anywhere near my system.  I realize the distribution decisions are ultimately out of the hands of Obsidian, but I'll wager they have some weight to throw around, so I'd like to see them lean on the publisher to support a GOG release.


​I've been buying personal computer games since the 1970's when they were distributed on cassette tape because floppy disk drives were too expensive for most people to own.  [Clears throat, adjusts pocket protector... ]  The day Steam is the only remaining distribution channel for the games I want to buy is the day I stop playing computer games for good.  I sincerely hope I don't live to see that come to pass.

 

  • Like 1
Posted

The day Steam is the only remaining distribution channel for the games I want to buy is the day I stop playing computer games for good.

I don’t think so :p

 

The day Steam is the only way to buy videogames for PC, you will most likely stop buying games but you will still be able to play all the DRM-free games you bought prior to the apocalypse…

Hey, that’s one of the main advantages of DRM-free games: you can install/play them for as long as you want, without worrying for the financial health of the store you bought them from.

  • Like 1
Posted

 

The day Steam is the only remaining distribution channel for the games I want to buy is the day I stop playing computer games for good.

I don’t think so :p

 

The day Steam is the only way to buy videogames for PC, you will most likely stop buying games but you will still be able to play all the DRM-free games you bought prior to the apocalypse…

Hey, that’s one of the main advantages of DRM-free games: you can install/play them for as long as you want, without worrying for the financial health of the store you bought them from.

 

 

Ah, good point....  your "... stop buying new games" version is more accurate than what I wrote.  All the ones I've bought on GOG will still work into the future, although it would be unfortunate to have to stop buying new ones.

Sadly, it doesn't even seem so far-fetched.  I've already passed over a number of games I would have liked to buy, because Steam was the only way to do so.

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