"Steam Was Killing PC Gaming", Former Valve Dev Says

[Splinterdog]

It's about time Steam faced the music and started playing in a more competitive marketplace. They've had it good for too long, but there comes a time when the gravy train runs out of gravy.

 

[Metroid]

Saying the pc gaming was dying because steam was getting a part of the profit is by far misleading. If you dont like what steam is charging you to sell your games then build your own store, that is what you did now but it took a long time to right? so you guys seem were happy and now are not anymore, like I said before this has become a war against steam and the funny thing is that is not steam the counter argument, is the gaming community, very bad you trolls waging war x steam has positioned for. The truth is these unsatisfied publishers wanted steam for them, because they cant reproduce up to this moment what steam built many years. That is called delusion. The system is built in trust, if steam has a high userbase then it means their formula has been working.

 

[Basard]

To hell with the developers.... I'll choose whatever benefits ME the most! As if any of the developers would go poor choosing either one.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Those are the type of features that should've been there since the beginning. Just say it out lout "Epic store was missing a search bar", and think how much sense it makes and how much f$%k do you have to give about your own storefront to miss this most basic feature that even a 13y.o. neighbor's kid can implement on a weekend.
Galyonkin has been crawling and data-mining Steam for nearly 4 years, and the end-result is a miserable landing page with a bunch of pictures, and a game client which basically shows you their web front-end after login.

Regarding regional pricing - they are using XSolla, same as steam in most regions, only for Epic it's the only payment system(for now, I guess). Conversion is automatic. Pricing on the storefront is adjusted via a couple of API calls. Transactions are handled exactly the same way for any currency.

They were too lazy to implement it off the start (or too busy negotiating timed exclusives). It's kind of back-ass-ackwards approach to the general "store" notion. Instead of "clients first" and "users must be happy", they go with "suppliers first, users can wait".
Achievements and Shopping cart by 2020? My beard will turn grey by then.

You really have forgotten how basic Steam was when it started, and how slowly they trickled their changes and updates in over a decade, huh?

To hell with the developers.... I'll choose whatever benefits ME the most! As if any of the developers would go poor choosing either one.

Things that don’t benefit developers hurt your long term chances for variety, innovation and even sheer numbers of games.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

To hell with the developers.... I'll choose whatever benefits ME the most! As if any of the developers would go poor choosing either one.

Vast majority of game developers are underpaid and overworked.

 

[danbert2000]

The Epic Game Store is great competition... for developers and publishers. It's not competition for users at all. In the end, it hurts users by restricting their choice of launcher and removing some features in the Epic exclusives that we took for granted from Steam. It separates new games into Epic exclusives, major publisher exclusives, and everything else.

When Epic is competing from a price perspective, they don't really have much of an inducement to match Steam's user-facing features. They want to match Steam's developer and publisher facing features and then they will get to user's complaints.

The only thing that will make Epic either improve their launcher or stop buying exclusives is for those exclusives to do poorly at launch, leading devs and publishers to not sign exclusivity agreements. So I think that forgoing Epic exclusives is the only way users can truly push back against an inferior store mopping up their future anticipated games. Then Epic will have to improve their store, stop buying exclusives, or both.

 

[Basard]

Vast majority of game developers are underpaid and overworked.

Story of my life........ The vast majority of every person alive are underpaid and overworked.

It just takes that one 'special' developer that only puts in 75% effort to make something great--I'll buy that thing.

Editing again, sorry..... I'm pretty sure all of the flunkies working at EA or any other 'AAA' publisher are totally over worked and underpaid. It's not Steam's or Epic's fault that those poor bastards are overworked--it's those people's faults, and it's their parent's faults for giving them shitty genes and shitty advice on how to live their life.

FFS, I'm gonna quit while I'm still sober.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

@Ravenlord you should proof read more, there's a typo in your article

 

[John Naylor]

If I need to log into play (MMO excepted of course) ... I don't wanna play. DRM Free only and don't mind paying a premium.

I have been playing a certain MMO (https://ryzom.com/) for 14 + years .. it was added to Steam. I mostly "play" to spend time hanging out with friends and chatting, helping newer users and building in game apps tho I have been away from game for about 6 months. It's free up to level 125; sub lets you go to 250 in 63 skills and lets you have additional animals and storage (apartments ., guild halls) . It has Windows, Mac and Linux versions and is instalable on 3 ways ..

a) Download from game site
b) Download from Steam
c) Portable Install (game exists self contained in its own folder) ... I find this the most stable option and you can copy game folder to a DVD or thumb drive and just copy / pasye the folder on any PC (w/ same OS) and it runs.

When the game was added to Steam, it brought in a decent number of users ... it wasn't WoW (player base average age is 35-40 and there are players from 8 to 80.) so many of those that came from Steam left ... but while they were there, the Steam version seems to be boinky for a good % of users and Id say at least 1/3 to 1/2 switched to native install.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Valve is going to have to lower their cut on Steam a little or sit on their thumbs and watch Epic snatch up one AAA exclusive after another. Steam deserves to ask for more because they offer more than Epic right now but not 2.5 times more than Epic charges.

Its not a move they can keep repeating. Epic have already stated that they are currently operating at a loss because they have handed out so many suitcases full of money to publishers/developers to get them exclusively on their platform

 

[moproblems99]

That is a terrible poll.

 

[rtwjunkie]

That is a terrible poll.

I agree. I have commented, but not in regards to the poll. The poll doesn’t take into account choosing whatever platform has a game the gamer wants to play.

Poll is clearly just designed to stir the pot and incite more anger by minorities on each side.

 

[xenocide]

You really have forgotten how basic Steam was when it started, and how slowly they trickled their changes and updates in over a decade, huh?

Launching a digital storefront in 2018/2019 is not the same as launching a digital storefront in 2004. Saying Epic's offering is okay because they're new is ridiculous. Imagine if Tesla didn't offer Airbags and the defense was "don't you remember when Ford started out and didn't offer airbags?" Or if Intel launched a GPU that didn't have HDMI and everyone justified it with "well most GPU's only had VGA when Nvidia/ATi started out." You don't get to enter a market 15 years after the market leader and justify a lack of basic features by saying "back in the day" your competitors didn't have those. It's understandable that they don't have things like the Steam Marketplace or Mod Support, but not having a Shopping Cart and Search Function on a Storefront is just embarrassing.

 

[moproblems99]

I am just waiting for Steam exclusives and for the impending crickets that will follow.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Story of my life........ The vast majority of every person alive are underpaid and overworked.

It just takes that one 'special' developer that only puts in 75% effort to make something great--I'll buy that thing.

Editing again, sorry..... I'm pretty sure all of the flunkies working at EA or any other 'AAA' publisher are totally over worked and underpaid. It's not Steam's or Epic's fault that those poor bastards are overworked--it's those people's faults, and it's their parent's faults for giving them shitty genes and shitty advice on how to live their life.

FFS, I'm gonna quit while I'm still sober.

Have some reading: The Horrible World Of Video Game Crunch

A 2014 survey by the International Game Developers Association found that 81% of polled game developers had crunched at some point over the previous two years. (50% felt crunch was expected in their workplaces and a “normal part of the job.”)

Anthem was 16 months straight of crunch.

Dozens of developers, many of them decade-long veterans, have left BioWare over the past two years. Some who have worked at BioWare’s longest-running office in Edmonton talk about depression and anxiety. Many say they or their co-workers had to take “stress leave”—a doctor-mandated period of weeks or even months worth of vacation for their mental health. One former BioWare developer told me they would frequently find a private room in the office, shut the door, and just cry. “People were so angry and sad all the time,” they said. Said another: “Depression and anxiety are an epidemic within Bioware.”

Wanna know the best part? Almost all developers are salaried. Put 16 hours in for six days a week, get paid for eight hours for five days. They should be getting well over twice the money they do according to labor laws.

It's an epidemic problem in the industry and has been for decades.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Launching a digital storefront in 2018/2019 is not the same as launching a digital storefront in 2004. Saying Epic's offering is okay because they're new is ridiculous. Imagine if Tesla didn't offer Airbags and the defense was "don't you remember when Ford started out and didn't offer airbags?" Or if Intel launched a GPU that didn't have HDMI and everyone justified it with "well most GPU's only had VGA when Nvidia/ATi started out." You don't get to enter a market 15 years after the market leader and justify a lack of basic features by saying "back in the day" your competitors didn't have those. It's understandable that they don't have things like the Steam Marketplace or Mod Support, but not having a Shopping Cart and Search Function on a Storefront is just embarrassing.

Your example is bad. Since you want to use cars, then let’s look at Hyundai. They were right next door to Japan for years, watching them make cars. How long did it take them to get it right? Someone else’s success does not guarantee success for a newcomer.

Besides, my comment is aimed at all the “but muh Steam is the best, they have always been awesome,” which we all know not to be true.

 

[xenocide]

Your example is bad. Since you want to use cars, then let’s look at Hyundai. They were right next door to Japan for years, watching them make cars. How long did it take them to get it right? Someone else’s success does not guarantee success for a newcomer.

Hyundai's offerings never lacked basic features, and they gained market share by offering more cost effective products which benefited consumers. Epic's game store undeniably lacks basic features, and they are offering no benefit to consumers to gain market share.

Have some reading: The Horrible World Of Video Game Crunch

Anthem was 16 months straight of crunch. Developers literally were taking weeks or months off on "stress leave."

The most interesting thing, is that everyone was so quick to blame EA for Anthem, but it turns out BioWare lacking leadership and a clear cut vision is mostly to blame--with EA forcing Frostbite being a problem. The game was worked on for something like 7 years, and only started actual development in the last 16 months. EA gave BioWare 5+ years of free creative control to develop the game, and they accomplished very little beyond a bunch of interesting ideas. That article also makes it clear that a lot of people within BioWare were used to/accepted that "BioWare Magic" via crunch. There is absolutely a problem in the industry, and BioWare really needs to reassess how they approach Game Development, because the stories presented in that expose are heartbreaking.

 

[rtwjunkie]

and they are offering no benefit to consumers to gain market share.

Sure they do. They offer people a chance to play new AAA games now if they want. That’s a big advantage. Life isn’t guaranteed. I could be dead tomorrow, so I am not going to wait 6 months or a year out of some sense of either outrage or misplaced loyalty. I and many others know life is too fleeting to just put off the enjoyment of an entertainement medium.

 

[xenocide]

Sure they do. They offer people a chance to play new AAA games now if they want. That’s a big advantage. Life isn’t guaranteed. I could be dead tomorrow, so I am not going to wait 6 months or a year out of some sense of either outrage or misplaced loyalty. I and many others know life is too fleeting to just put off the enjoyment of an entertainement medium.

How generous of them to offer people a chance to play games that otherwise would come out regardless.

 

[Basard]

Have some reading: https://kotaku.com/crunch-time-why-game-developers-work-such-insane-hours-1704744577

Every point in that article is laughable. I made it to the THIRTEENTH paragraph and I couldn't take it anymore.

EA, the Wal-Mart of video games, enough said. Yet people keep buying their games.

 

[rtwjunkie]

How generous of them to offer people a chance to play games that otherwise would come out regardless.

<shrugs> that’s just it. They are going to come out anyway. I dont care where I get them from. I use Uplay, Origin, Steam and GOG already. I dont have a preference for any, other than GOG for the actual drm-free ownership factor. I go to whoever has the game I want.

 

[Sora]

Keyword "Former"

disgruntled employee's always have a lot to say that they cannot substantiate.

and this cannot be substantiated because PC Gaming is healthier than ever.

Vast majority of game developers are underpaid and overworked.

and its their own fault for letting status quo rule the roost.

Join a union and strike till the conditions improve.

 

[TheUn4seen]

Well, how is it "killing PC gaming" if by taking 30% they enabled just about anyone to release a game to mass market? I know of at least several small games which wouldn't see the light of day if not for Steam. It probably stands to reason that Steam killed Valve's incentive to make games themselves, but to that I say: "So what? Half-Life 3 was just one game, and I'll take hundreds of well designed indie games which came to market instead."
I think that EPIC's 12% and 1 year of exclusivity is a "loss leader" type of situation and it will be adjusted at a later date (maybe stepped based on income generated by the game?), but Valve will have to react to that in some way. Either way it's good for consumers and developers alike.

Personally I will not be using EPIC's store in the foreseeable future. I'm not a fan of giving my data to another company to sell to advertisers or lose in another breach. I wouldn't even use Steam if not for VR (I got a Vive + 1080ti combo for my birthday from my girlfriend who is the greatest girlfriend on Earth and also she wanted to play Elite Dangerous). Since these days games are mostly unplayable at launch, I'll be happy to wait for a year to get the likes of Metro: Exodus cheaper, well-patched and modded to hell and back.

 

[erocker]

I'm not so sure that they can. I don't know if you are aware that Valve provides an unlimited amount of FREE Steam keys to devs/pubs to sell on different storefronts such as Amazon, GMG, HumbleBundle or even G2A. They have a 0% cut on those keys.

I can only imagine the bandwith cost of all those Steam keys sold on other storefronts. They actually lose money on those.

Pocket change. They're a private company. They keep the profits.

 

[Crackong]

While Steam "might be" killing PC gaming, it is nothing to do with EPIC.
EPIC did not introduce competition, they just want their own kind of monopoly.
It is the same thing EA and Ubisoft are doing. (Bethesda has failed).
Making Steam look bad doesn't mean EPIC is right.