• mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Steam’s de-facto monopoly is so strong, Epic can’t break it. Epic made four billion dollars per year on one game. Epic licenses the engine for like half of all noteworthy games. Epic has the only platform not seizing one-third of all revenue from developers, and that platform throws free shit at customers in constant desperation. And they still can’t move the needle.

    Monopoly doesn’t mean there’s zero competition. It means the competition does not matter.

    PC gamers have alternatives to Steam the way that Android users have alternatives to Google Play. Yes, there are dozens. And that’s how many users each one has.

    • doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      If it’s even possible it would take years or decades of work building up good will. It’s kinda Valve’s game to lose right now. They just need to not make any enormous mistakes and they win by default. Fortunately for Valve, they seem to be one of the few companies in game dev that isn’t managed exclusively by misanthropes and buffoons.

      • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Would it though? Being a competitor to Valve, not sucking, and not pulling shady anti-consumer shit would result in immediate good will for a decently large (though disproportionately loud) section of the market. Hell, EGS failed at the 2nd and 3rd thjngs in that list and they still got a loyal fanbase

    • conciselyverbose@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Epic can’t make a dent because their product is dogshit.

      Customers don’t care that Valve takes a well earned cut (that only applies buying directly from Steam); they care that their games are on a platform that’s actually fucking useful. If Epic didn’t insult gamers shipping that piece of trash and had put work into actually providing a product that could possibly be considered acceptable, they might have been able to make a dent.

      You’re not going to take market share with shitty gimmicks if your actual product is a crime against humanity no one wants.

      • ninchuka@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        yeah epic might have a chance if they actually tried to make their launcher and client good and have similar features as steam

          • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            The cut, genius. The cut you said is “well earned.” That is what’s horseshit, here.

            And on consoles.

            And on phones.

            • conciselyverbose@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              And every one of them comes back because paying Steam 30% is by far the most profitable way to do business. They absolutely deserve every single penny of it.

              30% commission on an all margin product is not even sort of unusual or unfair.

                  • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
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                    1 year ago

                    Then developers can release games off steam, and some do.

                    But steam has many features people want and use that would add development costs if every dev had to make similar tools in house.

                    Think SteamVR, Steam Controller, workshop, community forums, steam achievements, steam overlay, friends, etc …

              • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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                1 year ago

                “It makes money so it can’t be wrong.”

                “It’s commonplace so it must be fine.”

                Y’all have no idea what criticism even looks like.

                • conciselyverbose@kbin.social
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                  1 year ago

                  The fact that using their services and paying them their cut is more profitable than not doing so absolutely, in and of itself, proves beyond discussion that their cut is fair.

                  Yes, sales should cost money. Moving units is a fucking massive value add. Valve deserves every penny they take and more. They’re the best thing that ever happened to PC gaming and nothing else is remotely close.

                  • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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                    1 year ago

                    Beyond discussion! What a mind-job.

                    Continued use only proves this is a way to make money. Probably the best available way. But to suggest that, so long as people are doing it, there cannot possibly be problems, is obvious crap.

                    Especially when you add “and more.” Oh: so this isn’t the exact right amount, as decreed by mighty god himself? We can talk about the middleman’s cut, so long as the rent goes up?

            • stillwater@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              What’s your metric for “well earned” here? What are some ways it could be earned? What do you think is the right amount?

        • pascal@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Other than the fact it’s full of Chinese spyware?

          Let’s see…

          The interface sucks.

          The app is barely stable and crashes randomly.

          Absolutely zero thoughts on Linux gaming.

          Unusable communities.

          I’m sure others can give more reasons.

        • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          For starters, they put so little developments money into EGS that they went two years without a shopping cart, a feature that effectively every other online store has and could be custom coded properly in a day