Last year, they all came crawlin' back to Steam, and this year was another strong one for Valve.

From the opinion piece:

Last year, I pointed out how many big publishers came crawlin’ back to Steam after trying their own things: EA, Activision, Microsoft. This year, for the first time ever, two Blizzard games released on Steam: Overwatch and Diablo 4.

  • The Hobbyist@lemmy.zipEnglish
    236·
    10 months ago

    I’m fine with them existing, but if there are clauses preventing publishers from proposing their games both on steam and elsewhere while they can’t make it cheaper elsewhere, I would like these clauses to stop. I read somewhere there are such clauses and these kind of clauses seem very uncompetitive to me and I wonder why they are legal (if they are).

    • emly_sh_@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      132·
      10 months ago

      To me it would be more uncompetitive for a game to be priced 10x on steam and be basically free on other platforms.

      • The Hobbyist@lemmy.zipEnglish
        82·
        10 months ago

        It’s not about what the publisher sets as price, it’s about restricting his options.

    • SquirtleHermit@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      10 months ago

      Has that lawsuit gone anywhere? I’ve seen games published on origin and GoG for cheaper then they are on Steam. And Steam will honor developer provided game keys (hence why places like Humble and Green Man can sell games so cheaply). And after trying to research the claims, all I found was reports about the lawsuit existing. It seems like if that was real, there would be more than reports of a lawsuit and contradictory evidence by way of literally being able to buy games for cheaper on other platforms.

      Not saying it’s total bullshit, just seems kind of suspect all things considered.

    • GoodEye8@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I wish someone would actually link that clause because I’ve searched and I didn’t find it.

      • The Hobbyist@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        I don’t have any, but I see the following: Cyperpunk 2077, which is available on steam, is cheaper than on the developer’s own platform (gog.com), despite both being at 50% off. Is there any incentive for CDPR to sell it more expensive on their platform?

        • GoodEye8@lemm.eeEnglish
          2·
          10 months ago

          They’re exactly the same for me, 50% off from 59,99€? If the pricing is not in EUR or USD the comparison between pricing become much harder than because it’s a whole other world with regional pricing and currency conversions etc. that I don’t fully understand. It’s most likely the case that Steam does a better job at calculating the pricing into your currency than other storefronts.