Valve Is Getting Sued For Abusing Steam To Keep PC Game Prices High

[DiceDsx]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/popular-gaming-platform-accused-of-abusing-market-power-through-contracts

Others also got sued: Ubisoft, CDPR, kChamp Games, Rust and Devolver Digital.

Thoughts?

[Edifier]

İlk olarak Start_Running tarafından gönderildi:

On the contrary the prices actually seem to drop when the games pop on STeam vbecause it actually has a lot more competition for visibility.

Lets consider Biorderlands 3.
Did it cost less at release or during that first year than it does now on Steam?
Nope.

Heck even in indie games. When they bring their games to steam , games rthey've been selling directly, or through other stores, the price on Steam more or less mirrors the price they had initially.

I believe Valve had more control over prices in the start and that lead too cheaper games. There is this Gabe meme throwing out discounts at everything for a reason.

But generally when a new Triple A game came out it was often at $60 on release on Steam.

I know EA often reduce the price of their Battlefield games after 2 months or so to catch the stragglers on their origin platform.
Activision had for the longest time no plan to lower any of their game prices or even put it on a sale. MW2 had a sale about 2(if not more) years after release. I remember it never being on sale on big events.

These days Activision do put their games on sale more often but in the start they did not.

[Start_Running]

İlk olarak Edifier tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Start_Running tarafından gönderildi:

On the contrary the prices actually seem to drop when the games pop on STeam vbecause it actually has a lot more competition for visibility.

Lets consider Biorderlands 3.
Did it cost less at release or during that first year than it does now on Steam?
Nope.

Heck even in indie games. When they bring their games to steam , games rthey've been selling directly, or through other stores, the price on Steam more or less mirrors the price they had initially.

I believe Valve had more control over prices in the start and that lead too cheaper games. There is this Gabe meme throwing out discounts at everything for a reason.

Yes and the minds that created that meme are the same ones who can't grasp the fact that Valve doesn't set prices. Dev/Pubs do. This includes the discounts.

Memes, are often based on oversimplifications or fallacies.

But generally when a new Triple A game came out it was often at $60 on release on Steam.

I know EA often reduce the price of their Battlefield games after 2 months or so to catch the stragglers on their origin platform.

The base price reduction happens to most games over time. How quickly it happens is directly related to how well received the game is. The better the game does at launch, the longer it takes for the price to start sliding down. WHich makes sense. If you have people tripping over themselves to give you $60, you don't go and driop the price to $50.

Activision had for the longest time no plan to lower any of their game prices or even put it on a sale. MW2 had a sale about 2(if not more) years after release. I remember it never being on sale on big events.

These days Activision do put their games on sale more often but in the start they did not.

They're a little more desperate now that a lot of their former reliable cash cows are drying up. But even then, you go to rtheir store and their discounts are absolute jokes.

[Tito Shivan]

İlk olarak Edifier tarafından gönderildi:

I believe Valve had more control over prices in the start and that lead too cheaper games. There is this Gabe meme throwing out discounts at everything for a reason.

Because Steam was the one and only stop for selling and making your game known back then. That meant a fierce battle for that sweet flash/daily sale spotlight that became a sales boost. Of course that meant a race to the bottom (75-80% discounts)

But competition came and discoverability swifted strongly to Youtube and Twitch, so now Steam wasn't that much the place 'where people came to find games' and there was less competition for a sales spotlight (Devs now have more stores to feature their games, no need to do it in Steam)

Also Humble with their game bundle concept predated that deep end of discounts in the gaming industry (Now instead of a 90% off sale games are fetured in a bundle)

[Start_Running]

I'd say that in the early days of Steam, publishers and devs were competing on the game of visibility. Then as they learned they came to be aware of the true push and pull strategies.

In gaming its kinda like how at first you play 'the game' and then as you gain an understanding of the systems and the various interactions you become more effective and eventually start playing the 'Meta-Game'.

Pub/Devs realized that the race to the bottom was cutting them two ways. First reducing their revenue, and second by devaluing the perceived worth of their games. It is common wisodom that the Sale Deep discount price is the game's 'Real Price' and you should never buy at anything but.

This is why when Epic pulled their trick that one sale, the pub/devs started pulling their games from the sale because they did not want their prioducts to be devalued like that.

Humble found a special niche in that opub/devs could claim the MSRP value of the games that were sold off in those discounts as charitable donations which meant tax credits. in many places, plus actually helping a charity, but even that has kinda petered out ...because I think once again dev/pubs realize it is having a negative impact in the perceived value of their products.

WHat I find funny about the 'Devs Deserve More Money' crowd is how quickly they balk when you then say 'So you'd be okay with devs Charging $70 instead of $60 for a newly release?'

Every argument that can be made to say Steam should lower its cut is likewise an argument FOR dev/pubs raising game prices.. THey don't support the raising price thing because they know that the extra money won't translate into better games. Sio why would they think a bigger cut would do the same?

Its why its always fun to look at something from a different perspective.

[Muppet among Puppets]

If done right, by making a sale you get the monees you wouldnt have ♥♥♥♥♥♥.
Instead of losing some.

Its a matter of timing.

Cod mw 2019 was the first cod game that was worth the sale price, after the money grab ones. You can play it for more than a year, because it has crossplay and an online mode shared with the new one.
That made it <20 so to say.

Older cod of their prime milking era cost much, died out soon on pc, had dlc that cost 15 each, and they died even faster than the base game.
Luckily they developed bad games for a time, and had to insert "selling points" this time.

They were surprised that they made more money, as when they tried to get every penny from everyone every year.

[Start_Running]

İlk olarak Muppet among Puppets tarafından gönderildi:

If done right, by making a sale you get the monees you wouldnt have ♥♥♥♥♥♥.
Instead of losing some.

Oh no doubt. But done right is the tricky part. Much like measuring explosive mixtures.

Cod mw 2019 was the first cod game that was worth the sale price, after the money grab ones. You can play it for more than a year, because it has crossplay and an online mode shared with the new one.
That made it <20 so to say.

One can wonder if Blizzacti perceives it the same way you do though. I mean the crossplay feature was not intended but likely more done to make the newer cod more appealing.

Remember, 'Good' is relative.
To a buyer a phone that lasts years and years, with an easily replaceable batteryu and upgradeable memory is Good. To phone manufacturers and retailers, its not as good since they can't get those people to buy new phones as easily.

They were surprised that they made more money, as when they tried to get every penny from everyone every year.

Things haoppen in ways people can't predict. and sometimes its hard to figure out why after the fact,

DOom seems to demonstrate the magic formula though. Lower the base price but avoid super deep discouunts. Myuch more granular and doesn't impact the perceived value as much as super deep discouunts.

[Muppet among Puppets]

İlk olarak Start_Running tarafından gönderildi:

One can wonder if Blizzacti perceives it the same way you do though. I mean the crossplay feature was not intended but likely more done to make the newer cod more appealing.

Crossplay with consoles, where the games dont die. The first of them that did it. Big selling point.

The first cod (and i tried most of them in free weekends), where you can actually press any button and the game mode is more than a "wait alone in lobby". We speak about a contrast to free weekends happening in the first 6 months of release.

The point is, the idea of money at place one is not what made them most money, and certainly was not good for the player.

İlk olarak Start_Running tarafından gönderildi:

Remember, 'Good' is relative.
To a buyer a phone that lasts years and years, with an easily replaceable batteryu and upgradeable memory is Good. To phone manufacturers and retailers, its not as good since they can't get those people to buy new phones as easily.

I dont need to buy their next phone. They can try making me do it with a stuck and bad battery, but i will remember that.
But if it was good and i had no complains, why change to someone else?

Depends on the expectation calendar you applEy.

[<™[-=> Cookiez <=-]™>]

[QUERY] Thoughts on Humble Bundle Lawsuit On Steam's 30% : Steam

What do you guys think of the lawsuit brought up by Humble Bundle against Steam?


"Indie developer (and Humble Indie Bundle originator) Wolfire Games has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Steam creator Valve, saying that the company is wielding Steam's monopoly power over the PC gaming market to extract "an extraordinarily high cut from nearly every sale that passes through its store—30%."

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/04/humble-bundle-creator-brings-antitrust-lawsuit-against-valve-over-steam/

[Cathulhu]

You're a bit late to the party ....

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/7/3114770913767653746/

[<™[-=> Cookiez <=-]™>]

İlk olarak Cathulhu tarafından gönderildi:

You're a bit late to the party ....

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/7/3114770913767653746/

Similar but different.

This is Humble Bundle.

[<™[-=> Cookiez <=-]™>]

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/04/humble-bundle-creator-brings-antitrust-lawsuit-against-valve-over-steam/

What about the Humble Bundle lawsuit?

What are everyone's thoughts?

[Crashed]

İlk olarak <™-=> Cookiez <=-™> tarafından gönderildi:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/04/humble-bundle-creator-brings-antitrust-lawsuit-against-valve-over-steam/

What about the Humble Bundle lawsuit?

What are everyone's thoughts?

Title says Humble Bundle creator. Humble Bundle themselves aren't as far as I can tell a plaintiff.

[Crashed]

With all this said, the "price parity" rule likely has its advantages and disadvantages. In the advantage side it could be useful in case of key theft making it easier to revoke keys that "fell off a truck" and got sold on dodgy sites.

[𝕙.𝕓𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕒𝕤]

Wolfire LLC was the creator of Humble but sold it in 2017 to Ziff Davis via IGN. So the title is misleading people into thinking the class action lawsuit has anything to do with Humble Bundle in 2021.

[Yasahi]

İlk olarak <™-=> Cookiez <=-™> tarafından gönderildi:

What do you guys think of the lawsuit brought up by Humble Bundle against Steam?

What do we think about a lawsuit that doesn't exist? Perhaps read the article before posting nonsense.

İlk olarak <™-=> Cookiez <=-™> tarafından gönderildi:

"Indie developer (and Humble Indie Bundle originator) Wolfire Games has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Steam creator Valve

Wolfire Games is not Humble. Wolfire Games sold it away years ago.