The fact that Epic Game Store exists at all is proof that Steam isn't a monopoly. A monopoly means they're the only option. Steam is not the only option. It is simply the best option.
That's easy to explain. EGS managed to make everyone hate them just as it started. How do they expect to be profitable if they piss off the entire market?
There are other stores such as GoG that have actual users.
That's the thing that gets me. Undercutting is the quintessential anticompetitive practice, and it's Epic's entire business model. They give away games for free because they are trying to siphon some of Steam's customers. They make exclusive release deals with publishers because they want to force people to use their platform. They are trying to compete with Steam using their resources from the success of Fortnite and Unreal rather than compete with the storefront by actually having a better storefront.
Are they succeeding? I have no idea of the actual figures and the Internet tends to form echo chambers, so I don't know if the sentiments I read that they're still not much of a threat are actually representative.
So let me get this straight. Any client that wanted to have steam features, like the forum, hosting, workshop, chat, and all the jazz, should be able to do so without paying steam any fee? Why didn't they develop it themselves? Or should steam sell that as a service to those who wanted it? Say for example, epic wanted to have family sharing. Steam should sell their family sharing feature to epic as a service?
Yes, though each of those should be their own company so if steam wants forums they should be able to put someone’s website in their launcher, if they want people to buy games then they should be able to embed someone’s store in their launcher…etc
Uhhh, no. I think it is better to implement something akin to federation than breaking up a company just because. If anyone wanted to sue valve, then they can enforce interoperability at the very least. But not dividing their business model. We don't force apple to split their software and hardware did we? We force apple to have a choice of interoperability. From then, it is all fair since anyone can link their data from valve and any other store that opt to implement the interoperability protocol.
EGS is the Fortnite launcher. Fortnite's player base is insanely huge. Those people have EGS installed, they just choose not to buy anything else on that platform, except maybe V Bucks.
PS: The installed base of the Microsoft Store and Xbox apps are even bigger because Microsoft is allowed to bundle those with Windows.
Why can't anyone develop said features? Should the competitor worsen themselves just because no one is able to develop the same features? As far as I remember, valve doesn't patent something ridiculous like regional pricing or family sharing, so anyone is welcome to develop it themselves. They even make proton open source but apparently Epic doesn't like the idea of them on the linux market.
Steam does have a monopoly though. They don't do anything anti-competitive with it, so there is not much Epic can do about it (other than make their platform better for the people using it).
Steam does not have a monopoly by any actual definition of monopoly, though. A) Mobile gaming makes up the most of all video gaming revenue. B) On PC the most revenue is made by games that aren't even on Steam in the first place (Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox). Steam's 2023 revenue has been estimated to be around 8.6bn USD out of 45bn USD of PC gaming revenue. That's barely a 5th of the market power. By no account this can be actually considered to be a monopoly.
I love this graphic because it’s a reminder to self-proclaimed “gamers” that mobile gaming has been doing laps around “real” gaming for over half a decade now, with no indication of the trend changing. Yes, mobile games are typically lower quality and more predatory, but it’s undeniable that the average person who plays video games now is just a regular person with a phone.
What is "handheld" here? It doesn't seem like the Switch counts, and I doubt Steam Deck does, so is this this the old handheld-exclusive consoles like 3DS?
Also, it's sad arcade is so small now, I loved arcades as a kid.
Just for the sake of being fair, Steam does do one thing which is anticompetitive; they require publishers don't sell their games for less than they do on Steam.
If you think about this for a moment you'll realise it's in the publisher's best interest to agree to this.
Not quite true - they require that you not sell Steam keys for less than you do on Steam. They still don't even stop you from doing giveaways or participating in bundles. It's just that your typical prices on independent Steam key sales, for which they don't even take a cut, can't be lower than Steam prices. Also the seller sets all of these prices.
Given they're footing the bill for indefinitely hosting the games supplied via those keys, that's an entirely reasonable restriction.
This is coming from someone who is against capitalism and all IP law. The big problem with Steam imho is that Gabe Newell won't live forever and when he's gone the company could go public or go to some fail son who will tank it. I'm not even saying Gabe Newell is a great guy or an ethical billionaire, but he's been remarkably consistent in keeping Steam's business model running well.
I found out that Satisfactory is on sale right now, and will go up in price by $10 after the sale. So if you want it before 1.0 comes out now would be a great time.
As others have said, prices should be mostly stable, especially for big names, but you still might see a few small devs who were like "Oh shit, its the summer sale, we should add a discount" halfway through.
I really need to try to get back into it. I have heard so many great things and I know it's a slow burn type game but I think I overwhelmed myself with trying to get perfect rolls on interactions.
Yes I definitely did some save scuming, cuz I didn't want to miss anything, but ultimately I think it's best to just let it play out as it will. I need to do another run for sure.
A strictly anti-capitalist fever dream adventure RPG getting completely consumed and milked by greedy capitalists who added nothing of value to its creation is peak this timeline.
I get the principled reason to do this. But most people aren't set up to pirate. And even if they were, it's inconvenient to have games not attached to their steam library. I don't think anyone should deprive themselves of this masterpiece.
If the prospect of pirating is holding you back, just buy it. The game is too good to miss out
I just picked up Dread Delusion, Shadows of Doubt, and Stellar Tactics. I played demos of Dread Delusion and Shadows of Doubt a while back, and both of them blew me away; the former just launched out of early access and the latter is supposed to do so before the end of the year. Stellar Tactics is one that's intriguing, but I haven't played it yet. I've been playing Fallout 2 lately, and it made me want to find a CRPG that was more successful at what Starfield was trying to do; I typed in some tags into the Steam search, Stellar Tactics was what I found, and I think it'll scratch that itch. Stellar Tactics is also in early access, and it's been in early access since 2016 with no end in sight, but it's very systems driven, so I'll likely be okay with playing it early anyway.
Depends on your definition of "new" and "must-have".
Grapple Dog 75% off — momentum-based grappling hook platformer with a very funky soundtrack and Nitrome-style 2D art (spoiler: the dev was a Nitrome artist)
Cobalt Core 25% off — deckbuilding in space! There's an actual plot with an interesting cast of characters. The board game-style positioning mechanic was what sold me on the game.
Cassette Beasts 40% off — creature collector with an identity that isn't just "indie Pokémon". Cool worldbuilding, heartfelt story, grown-up mechanics, and imaginative monster designs that avoid the "animal + element" formula.
I wouldn't call Dave the Diver new (released exactly a year ago) nor indie (Mintrocket is a subdivison of Nexon). Yet it's something that can be recommended wholeheartedly.
Couple of games in no particular order that are pretty new and can be considered as indie:
I don't know how must have it is, but I've been enjoying Isles of Sea and Sky, a sokoban type puzzle game currently 10% off until July 11th (currently $17.99). I'm pretty sure it's maybe a month or two old at least.
This is why Steam is as popular as it is, they just release features that people like. Sure GOG doesn't have DRM and Epic Games gives a bigger share to developers but Steam gives players what they actually want.
GOG has DRM for many titles: see Galaxy. As I understand it, it isn't as pervasive as Steam, but is necessary if you want multiplayer on many titles or care about extras like achievements.
Cloud sync also requires the drm, but the advantage that gog and itch have over steam is that for most games you just get the executables and you're good to go.
Tbf to cloud sync, nothing is stopping you from using your own backup/restore service with your drm-free titles compared to the other features that Galaxy offers.
Achievements or multiplayer matching not being implemented in the game itself isn't on GOG. They still allow you to download and launch any game you've bought, without even requiring galaxy.
Also lesser known is the fact that there are DRM-free games on steam. Download them once, you can play without having steam running or even installed. Using a client to download isn't inherently DRM either.
Steaminput is a massive deal, it supports gyro, remapping, profiles, and extensive customization. XInput can't compare and the epic games store relies on developers for everything. That's the reason why I will always pick a Steam Controller over an Xbox controller.
I wish, the first one still stands as the best controller imo but it still has so much that can be improved (USB C, dual thumbsticks and trackpads, two back paddles, improved haptics, better gyro, better ergonomics, etc).
I want them to launch a Deck v2, Controller v2, and a new take on the Steam Machine simultaneously with a goal of knocking Xbox out of the market and replacing them as the third console. A new Steam Machine right now would play all of Xbox's exclusives on day one and some of Sony's.
I bet my right testicle that the very reason Sony and others have started bringing console ports to steam, is that steam has promised not to compete in the same space. Or something like that. Otherwise removing all those from steam is just something that’ll probably happen if they do enter the market again.
Then again, Steam Deck is a little bit in that direction. So perhaps not.
I think Sony wants out of the physical console market. They just don't know how to do it. The consoles are sold at a loss, but the games sales are massive returns on investments.
If they can double their sales by releasing on steam at the cost of 30% per sale, they still come out ahead, and can save all the R&D cost on developing a physical console, plus the loss from each individual console sale.
not just features for the average consumer, but also a plethora of tools for developers. But then you'll see some airhead keep saying about the 30% cut that steam takes.
I'm new to Steam and pc gaming, grabbed an OLED deck a little bit ago. I'm looking for recommendations for FPS and RPGs that I can play offline. I've never played any of the Elder Scrolls stuff should I grab one of them? What do you suggest?
For Elder Scrolls, I'd recommend giving either Oblivion or Skyrim a whirl, and then after you feel done with one, try the other. In my opinion they are both great for different reasons, and they are different enough to feel like very different games in some ways.
If it helps you make a decision in terms of RPG story feel, Skyrim is more about you as the hero, and Oblivion you're more like a person that happens to be there.
There's great modding resources too if you're into that. Especially on Nexus. Even light modding like some QoL upgrades or bug fixes. I'm not talking crazy mods.
Oh, the endgame for Skyrim (the original DLCs) really do give you some rewarding post-game fun in like a god mode.
Not sure how it plays on Deck (UI is pretty small scale iirc) but Morrowind is great if you like RPGs with great atmosphere that don't hold your hand, and if you're ok with oldish graphics (some famous mods make it much more palatable however). I don't particularly like Oblivion or Skyrim, they're much more generic whereas Morrowind is pretty unique in terms of universe. But then again you'd have to look up how well it runs on the Deck and whether or not you can install the unofficial bugfix mod among other obligatory things
In case RPG includes JRPG for you: Both Nier:Automata and Nier:Replicant play fantastic in the deck, and those games are far more enjoyable with a controller instead of keyboard and mouse
I'm currently in the process of trying to 100% Cat Quest, since I already have all achievements on Cat Quest 2, before Part 3 comes out this august. Very much enjoyed the first two games, so I recommend as well :)
Duck Detective is great, perfect short game.
Hopefully they have the framework there to do more cases like Golden Idol did, because I would love to play more
Hell yeah, can't wait! One of the few modern franchises I care about. Would be amazing if we had Linux support but unfortunately I know that isn't going to happen.
Well now I'm even more excited... What about mods (assuming it supports them). For example AC had content manager. Hopefully a "Content Manager" is no longer required for mods.
Not enough information on that at the moment, all we know is that this game will use an in-house engine again, not unreal, and in the past the director of the game has acknowledged that it needs to be able to compete with/outperform ultra-modded AC1 to get players' interest. So at the very least he is aware of the value add that mods bring
I just played through Pony Island and really enjoyed it. It doesn't have much replayability, but it's a unique experience that I think most will enjoy. If you like Doki Doki Literature Club, Undertale or Inscryption (last is the same dev), you'll like this.
I'm going to be picking up The Hex because I've liked the dev's other two games.
store.steampowered.com
Active