Display Developer Nationality

[Bomoo]

Please consider displaying the nationality of development studios, for the purpose of customers choosing to buy or not buy based on the politics of said country. Since part of the revenues earned by the studio in question go to government taxes, the customer might thereby be supporting the politics of the country the studio is based in. By not purchasing games from studios based in certain countries, the customer is able to make an informed choice on not indirectly financing the politics of said countries.

Yes, we can find that information readily enough by doing our own research, but removing points of friction toward that end, possibly by displaying a small national flag icon next to the studio / publisher name on the store page, would likely lead to wider adoption by the customer base.

On the other end, maybe if a customer is in the grip of some sense of nationalism or something they'll be more likely to buy games from studios working out of their own country. Who knows.

Thanks.

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As per the ToS, please refrain from any political flaming or provoking combative discourse by naming specific countries or specific historical or current events. If you don't want to contribute anything constructive to the discussion about this suggestion in particular, please instead consider not posting in this thread.

[SVaughan]

If I'm not mistaken, Steams ToS also covers Discrimination.
This suggestion is asking to discriminate.

If you want to know where a Company is based, that information is public knowledge and can be found via Google.

[Bomoo]

Messaggio originale di SVaughan:

If I'm not mistaken, Steams ToS also covers Discrimination.
This suggestion is asking to discriminate.

If you want to know where a Company is based, that information is public knowledge and can be found via Google.

I mean, developers already discriminate by blocking sales to certain countries based on not personally agreeing with the politics of said countries. If Steam is allowing that, the same principle covers allowing customers to do the same thing to developers.

[SVaughan]

Messaggio originale di Bomoo:

Messaggio originale di SVaughan:

If I'm not mistaken, Steams ToS also covers Discrimination.
This suggestion is asking to discriminate.

If you want to know where a Company is based, that information is public knowledge and can be found via Google.

I mean, developers already discriminate by blocking sales to certain countries based on not personally agreeing with the politics of said countries. If Steam is allowing that, the same principle covers allowing customers to do the same thing to developers.

You're referring to China. It's not the Developers fault. It's whatever the Government happens to be's fault for blocking sales.

[Bomoo]

Messaggio originale di SVaughan:

Messaggio originale di Bomoo:

I mean, developers already discriminate by blocking sales to certain countries based on not personally agreeing with the politics of said countries. If Steam is allowing that, the same principle covers allowing customers to do the same thing to developers.

You're referring to China. It's not the Developers fault. It's whatever the Government happens to be's fault for blocking sales.

I am not referring to China, or countries that block sales on their end. I'm talking about developers who choose to block sales to target countries based on that country's politics, and the taxes collected from sales to that country indirectly going to finance said politics. Well, I'm suggesting giving customers helpful information in choosing the same option with regard to developers, since the principle is already in place.

And please refrain from naming specific countries for the sake of not turning this into a political flame war.

[SVaughan]

Messaggio originale di Bomoo:

Messaggio originale di SVaughan:

You're referring to China. It's not the Developers fault. It's whatever the Government happens to be's fault for blocking sales.

I am not referring to China, or countries that block sales on their end. I'm talking about developers who choose to block sales to target countries based on that country's politics, and the taxes collected from sales to that country indirectly going to finance said politics. Well, I'm suggesting giving customers helpful information in choosing the same option with regard to developers, since the principle is already in place.

And please refrain from naming specific countries for the sake of not turning this into a political flame war.

Backseat Moderating goes against the ToS. You can't enforce that rule. But on the subject of funding. I really doubt the sales Tax for games has any major impact. Sales tax in general and loans from other nations influence other nations. Take NATO for example (Not naming nations, just an Alliance), funding all kinds of global nations, including some at risk ones (Again no names). All of that funding has more of a major impact, than the less than a dollar gained from a Sales Tax.

You're asking for Steam to literally break it's own ToS. By discriminating a Company based on where it calls home.

[Bomoo]

Again, publishers and developers are already discriminating based on nationality with Steam's tacit permission. The principle for nationality-based boycotts is already in place. Whatever their reasoning, whether it's political preference or economic non-viability or whatever, Steam allows sellers to cut sales to target countries at the flick of a switch, which in your framing could be construed as discrimination and violating its own ToS.

From steamworks documentation:

Q: My game is missing some of the local currencies that Steam supports, does that matter?
A: Any currency that is missing a price will make your game unavailable to users relying on that currency. For example, if you do not have a price entered for Japanese Yen, then users located in Japan will be unable to purchase your game.

[SVaughan]

Messaggio originale di Bomoo:

Again, publishers and developers are already discriminating based on nationality with Steam's tacit permission. The principle for nationality-based boycotts is already in place. Whatever their reasoning, whether it's political preference or economic non-viability or whatever, Steam allows sellers to cut sales to target countries at the flick of a switch, which in your framing could be construed as discrimination and violating its own ToS.

From steamworks documentation:

Q: My game is missing some of the local currencies that Steam supports, does that matter?
A: Any currency that is missing a price will make your game unavailable to users relying on that currency. For example, if you do not have a price entered for Japanese Yen, then users located in Japan will be unable to purchase your game.

IT's down to Steam and the Devs ultimately. But putting a flag on a Company is in itself Discrimination, when the research can be done by users themselves.

[Thermal Lance]

Messaggio originale di Bomoo:

Again, publishers and developers are already discriminating based on nationality with Steam's tacit permission. The principle for nationality-based boycotts is already in place. Whatever their reasoning, whether it's political preference or economic non-viability or whatever, Steam allows sellers to cut sales to target countries at the flick of a switch, which in your framing could be construed as discrimination and violating its own ToS.

From steamworks documentation:

Q: My game is missing some of the local currencies that Steam supports, does that matter?
A: Any currency that is missing a price will make your game unavailable to users relying on that currency. For example, if you do not have a price entered for Japanese Yen, then users located in Japan will be unable to purchase your game.

Steam is not "permitting" anything. It's none of their bloody business. Devs are their own boss, Valve is just the middle man.

[Bomoo]

Messaggio originale di SVaughan:

Messaggio originale di Bomoo:

Again, publishers and developers are already discriminating based on nationality with Steam's tacit permission. The principle for nationality-based boycotts is already in place. Whatever their reasoning, whether it's political preference or economic non-viability or whatever, Steam allows sellers to cut sales to target countries at the flick of a switch, which in your framing could be construed as discrimination and violating its own ToS.

From steamworks documentation:

IT's down to Steam and the Devs ultimately. But putting a flag on a Company is in itself Discrimination, when the research can be done by users themselves.

I don't agree that it constitutes discrimination but that's fine, they can make that determination on their own. Yes, that information is more or less public, but takes some effort on the part of the user. The point of the suggestion is to remove that point of friction.

[Bomoo]

Messaggio originale di Thermal Lance:

Steam is not "permitting" anything. It's none of their bloody business. Devs are their own boss, Valve is just the middle man.

Okay, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you aren't maliciously splitting hairs. Yes, when I say Steam that also includes the company that runs the Steam service, which is Valve. I hope that's clear now.

You're not your own boss when you use someone else's platform to sell your product. If I own a market stall, and you use my market stall to sell apples, and then you say you're not going to sell apples to individuals with red hair, I am tacitly permitting you to discriminate against individuals with red hair when I allow you to sell your apples on my market stall.

If you want to sell apples on your website that you host on your own servers, fine, do whatever. But by allowing you to sell your apples, and to discriminate against individuals with red hair, by using my market stall, I am tacitly permitting your discrimination and share the responsibility.

[Thermal Lance]

Messaggio originale di Bomoo:

Messaggio originale di Thermal Lance:

Steam is not "permitting" anything. It's none of their bloody business. Devs are their own boss, Valve is just the middle man.

Okay, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you aren't maliciously splitting hairs. Yes, when I say Steam that also includes the company that runs the Steam service, which is Valve. I hope that's clear now.

Im not splitting hair. Valve is not the police. And devs got a lot of leeway on how they can operate and do business. You seem to want Valve to start bossing devs around. Don't hold your breath on that.

[Bomoo]

Messaggio originale di Thermal Lance:

You seem to want Valve to start bossing devs around. Don't hold your breath on that.

That is incorrect. I suggest you read the original post again if you need clarification.

Also expanded on my reply to you that you already quoted.

[Thermal Lance]

I did. Valve is OBVIOUSLY not interested of getting in the way of devs. In -any- way.

If you want that kind of info, that is your job as a consumer to research what you buy.

[Bomoo]

Messaggio originale di Thermal Lance:

I did. Valve is OBVIOUSLY not interested of getting in the way of devs. In -any- way.

If you want that kind of info, that is your job as a consumer to research what you buy.

You're assuming quite a lot there. I agree that historically they have appeared to side with removing points of friction for sellers more than for buyers, but these quirks of institutional culture can shift and change over time. And while my framing of my suggestion is primarily intended to remove a point of friction for buyers for the sake of political boycott, it could also be spun as a positive, as nearly anything can.

I suggested the spin of something like giving studios from less prominent countries a chance to be seen more prominently or some feel-good bs like that. Literally what marketing's entire job is, coming up with rigmarole like that. Maybe you REALLY like Belgium for whatever reason, and are super keen on supporting anything Belgian. Well there you go, now you can easily see Belgian game studios on steam and support them without having to look them up on your own.

Absolutely; doing your own research, as always, is an important skill for any buyer.

[Prof.Jackie]

Messaggio originale di Bomoo:

I don't agree that it constitutes discrimination

Good thing you opinion doesn't matter, because what you suggest is pretty much the textbook example of discrimination.