Steam Should Sell Apps on Android

[ラチェットマイルズ]

I would really think Steam could benefit at least a little if you made an app store of sorts for Android. What I mean is, there are games that are on both PC and Android. What if you allow developers to sell games for Android through a Steam app? This could be beneficial because there's an increasing interest in mobile gaming, and phones are becoming increasingly capable of light gaming. Some developers may not be interested in making games on Android having to pay a separate fee to publish on the Play Store, so you could help cut the middle man.

Here's an example of how this could work.
GRID is on the Play Store and on Steam, so I know it can be played on both platforms. What if I bought GRID on Steam, then downloaded the Steam store for Android? theoretically, if the developer supports it, I can carry over my save data from PC to continue on my phone without streaming. When I get home, I can continue from where I left off on my phone while out. This could also allow for carrying over potential DLC and such as well.

[Tito Shivan]

Publicado originalmente por aiusepsi:

Then Steam shook things up with Steam Play (the original meaning of Steam Play, that is). One purchase giving you Windows and Mac and Linux versions used to be such a big deal they specifically invented a marketing term to describe it. Then it became so normal that we forgot it used to be any other way...

It still required the devs to approve it. Not every game with MacOS and Windows license made use of Steam Play.

It's quite a different picture than mobile. Apple devices weren't ever a big game market and a platform like Steam launching into what mostly was a 'virgin' territory may have pushed more devs to adopt SteamPlay for their licenses. It was a quick road to get licenses sold to MacOS users.

Mobile is another very different beast. There's already a enormous gaming enviroment in mobile and that market is already owned at large by the main platforms (Google Play/iTunes) Steam can only be a small fish in that pond.

And there's also the wild differences in monetisationstrategies between both platforms.

Publicado originalmente por aiusepsi:

There's no reason at all that Steam couldn't do the same thing with games on Android.

Sure. But I'm highly skeptical on developers jumping on said bandwagon in enough volumes as they did with SteamPlay to make it even worth it. Windows gaming and MacOS gaming were still PC Gaming.

Mobile gaming is a totally different beast.

[Supafly]

How would it benefit them? Devs would need to jack up their price to cover 30% to Apple/Google and then 30% for Valve.

Not to mention store on mobile suck. Search is appalling. You can't filter stuff out, you can't ignore stuff, ads, in app purchases and data harvesting......lets not for the amount of offline games that want/need online connection..........purely so they can harvest more data and push Ads.

From a Devs point of view it's not a good idea. They can already sell on mobiles giving a single platform it's cut. They won't just sign up and give Valve a cut too. The only way that'd happen would be if they jacked up the price to compensate. Which means we wouldn't buy the game on Steams mobile store when we can get it on Apple/Google store for 30% less.

Valve would be spending time and money developing something that would not help them.


If you want to game on mobile fine. Game on mobile. Mobile is not PC. There is no reason to merge the 2 platforms.

[Crashed]

Publicado originalmente por cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Publicado originalmente por Ratchet Miles:

If the games were sold on a Steam App Store for Android, the sales would only be from Valve.

Incorrect.

If Valve had their own mobile store separate from the app stores, they could sell mobile games.

:qr:

Nothing is prohibiting Valve from establishing their own mobile store and distributing the client in .apk format.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Publicado originalmente por Crashed:

Publicado originalmente por cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Incorrect.

If Valve had their own mobile store separate from the app stores, they could sell mobile games.

Nothing is prohibiting Valve from establishing their own mobile store and distributing the client in .apk format.

Why do you think Apple wouldn't let the Link app on the app store until Valve removed certain features pertaining to store purchases on it? Or how iOS users still can't have a direct link to their Wishlist in the context menu under Store?

[Crashed]

Publicado originalmente por cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Publicado originalmente por Crashed:

Nothing is prohibiting Valve from establishing their own mobile store and distributing the client in .apk format.

Why do you think Apple wouldn't let the Link app on the app store until Valve removed certain features pertaining to store purchases on it? Or how iOS users still can't have a direct link to their Wishlist in the context menu under Store?

:qr:

OP says Android. Android has less restrictions. The Play Store on Android is not mandatory. You can install .apk apps from the Internet.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Publicado originalmente por Crashed:

Publicado originalmente por cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Why do you think Apple wouldn't let the Link app on the app store until Valve removed certain features pertaining to store purchases on it? Or how iOS users still can't have a direct link to their Wishlist in the context menu under Store?

OP says Android. Android has less restrictions. The Play Store on Android is not mandatory. You can install .apk apps from the Internet.

Which mobile OS is not relevant in this case though.

[Crashed]

Publicado originalmente por cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Publicado originalmente por Crashed:

OP says Android. Android has less restrictions. The Play Store on Android is not mandatory. You can install .apk apps from the Internet.

Which mobile OS is not relevant in this case though.

:qr:

Apple is not relevant because they have restrictions that Android doesn't.

[ラチェットマイルズ]

Publicado originalmente por cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Publicado originalmente por Crashed:

OP says Android. Android has less restrictions. The Play Store on Android is not mandatory. You can install .apk apps from the Internet.

Which mobile OS is not relevant in this case though.

:qr:

Mobile OS actually -is- important in this matter. I am well aware that Apple doesn't typically allow apps to be downloaded outside of the App Store, so I dismiss iOS as a whole for the time-being. Android is capable of downloading apps outside of the Play Store as can be demonstrated when Fortnite first came to mobile, as well as the Galaxy Store and Amazon's Android app storefront, and there's also F-Droid as well.

Apple's strict policy is also why the Steam Link app wasn't on iOS for so long, and why there are so many emulators on the Play Store. Loosened policies on Android are what would make this ideal.

[ラチェットマイルズ]

Publicado originalmente por Crazy Tiger:

Publicado originalmente por Ratchet Miles:

If the games were sold on a Steam App Store for Android, the sales would only be from Valve.

That is assuming that publishers would want to drop the Google app store.

Apps can be sold and purchased on multiple storefronts. Developers won't have to drop the Google Play store, and they could ignore the hypothetical Steam store should they choose as well.

[ラチェットマイルズ]

Publicado originalmente por Dead Monkey:

How would it benefit them? Devs would need to jack up their price to cover 30% to Apple/Google and then 30% for Valve.

Not to mention store on mobile suck. Search is appalling. You can't filter stuff out, you can't ignore stuff, ads, in app purchases and data harvesting......lets not for the amount of offline games that want/need online connection..........purely so they can harvest more data and push Ads.

From a Devs point of view it's not a good idea. They can already sell on mobiles giving a single platform it's cut. They won't just sign up and give Valve a cut too. The only way that'd happen would be if they jacked up the price to compensate. Which means we wouldn't buy the game on Steams mobile store when we can get it on Apple/Google store for 30% less.

Valve would be spending time and money developing something that would not help them.


If you want to game on mobile fine. Game on mobile. Mobile is not PC. There is no reason to merge the 2 platforms.

Prices wouldn't have to be risen. Yes, there's a cut for sales on each store, but only -per- store. If the developer sells on the Play Store, they are deducted from Google Play. If they sold on a Steam store they would only be deducted from Steam. Not Steam AND Google.

[Crashed]

Publicado originalmente por Ratchet Miles:

Publicado originalmente por cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Which mobile OS is not relevant in this case though.

:qr:

Mobile OS actually -is- important in this matter. I am well aware that Apple doesn't typically allow apps to be downloaded outside of the App Store, so I dismiss iOS as a whole for the time-being. Android is capable of downloading apps outside of the Play Store as can be demonstrated when Fortnite first came to mobile, as well as the Galaxy Store and Amazon's Android app storefront, and there's also F-Droid as well.

And this is totally relevant regardless of what our resident backseat moderator claims.

[Crashed]

Publicado originalmente por Ratchet Miles:

Publicado originalmente por Dead Monkey:

How would it benefit them? Devs would need to jack up their price to cover 30% to Apple/Google and then 30% for Valve.

Not to mention store on mobile suck. Search is appalling. You can't filter stuff out, you can't ignore stuff, ads, in app purchases and data harvesting......lets not for the amount of offline games that want/need online connection..........purely so they can harvest more data and push Ads.

From a Devs point of view it's not a good idea. They can already sell on mobiles giving a single platform it's cut. They won't just sign up and give Valve a cut too. The only way that'd happen would be if they jacked up the price to compensate. Which means we wouldn't buy the game on Steams mobile store when we can get it on Apple/Google store for 30% less.

Valve would be spending time and money developing something that would not help them.


If you want to game on mobile fine. Game on mobile. Mobile is not PC. There is no reason to merge the 2 platforms.

Prices wouldn't have to be risen. Yes, there's a cut for sales on each store, but only -per- store. If the developer sells on the Play Store, they are deducted from Google Play. If they sold on a Steam store they would only be deducted from Steam. Not Steam AND Google.

Also the developer tools are available for free with no registration for Android. My copy of VS2019 actually offers the tools during installation.

[ラチェットマイルズ]

Publicado originalmente por Crashed:

Publicado originalmente por Ratchet Miles:

Prices wouldn't have to be risen. Yes, there's a cut for sales on each store, but only -per- store. If the developer sells on the Play Store, they are deducted from Google Play. If they sold on a Steam store they would only be deducted from Steam. Not Steam AND Google.

Also the developer tools are available for free with no registration for Android.

Yes! And because games -can- be made for Android straight from Unity and Unreal, there's some potential to encourage developers to -maybe- shuffle around some code and make some optimizations for games to be ported to Android. As I said before, examples of games like this are Genshin Impact, Fortnite, and GRID to name a few. You can even play Borderlands with an Nvidia Shield, but I'm certain it could run on flagship phones if allowed. Let's also not forget Valve ported HL2 and Portal to Android themselves.

[Cathulhu]

It's not that easy. You have to design a mobile friendly interface, a render path that does not use DirectX and so on.

It's not like you just check a few boxes and you're done.

Additionally, Valve did not port Half Life 2 or Portal to Android.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nvidia.valvesoftware.halflife2
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nvidia.valvesoftware.portal
That is not a port, it's just nVidia streaming the game onto your mobile device through nVidia Shield technology. It does not run the game on your phone.

[Crashed]

Publicado originalmente por Cathulhu:

It's not that easy. You have to design a mobile friendly interface, a render path that does not use DirectX and so on.

They did end up porting the Source engine to OpenGL; making the jump from OpenGL to OpenGL ES might not be too difficult for them depending on how legacy-free their OpenGL usage is.

In many cases, developers often use platforms that support multiple rendering engines such as UE4 or Unity, as two of the three major manufacturers of game consoles do not support DirectX and that third one likely has a custom version for their consoles.