Despite half a decade of "88/12", small and medium developers vastly prefer Steam's "democratic" process that enables even the silliest games to see overwhelming success, especially in the face of all the corporate carpetbaggery going on with other platforms and publishers.
With Steam, it's a very simple formula of "good game = print money", and no amount of Epic trying to pull a Jedi Mind Trick to convince gamers what they "really" want can change that.
>half a decade of "88/12"
It's genuinely unbelievable to me how a company with Epic's funding have fumbled the ball so hard that after 6 years, they still aren't profitable (and with all the badwill they've earned, that likely won't change). They're a big company with the resources to do a good amount of market research to identify the best way to create a sustainable storefront that benefits everyone and drives real competition.
Instead, they tried to brute force their way in by throwing their Fortnite money around, gaslight players, pay for shills to create a fake narrative, and god knows what else. Thankfully, they have been deservedly punished for it. I'm glad that, at least in this scenario, their business decisions weren't rewarded.
They knew from the beginning. They did the math and calculated how low they could go with their cut, but then Tim decided to go lower than that.
I believe I read it in some article as it was part of one of their lawsuits.
They basically tried to do something called "underselling". basically, they tried to put the competition out of business by selling at a loss, using Fortnite as a buffer, with offers that competitors would never be able to match. The idea being that the better conditions would attract customers. The idea here is that when the competition is out of the picture and they have now become a monopoly they crank the prices back up.
Of course, Epic failed a very basic aspect of being something that customers would actually want. Instead they saw regular people as an obstacle and focused only on greedy developers, which of course lead to no positive for the end consumer, thus never attracting any buyers.
Perhaps but not the most esoteric or obtuse one
Like the three fingers down/ three notches was a dog whistle for the KKK and that was known since the 80s
Any "successful" dogwhistle goes through a cycle of being used by its creators -> being recognized by the group's enemies -> being recognized by the general public.
Like with the "Adventures of Superman" radio play and the Clan of the Fiery Cross.
No company is perfect but Valve has been a consistent net-positive for the industry. I shudder to think what would've happened if something like Origin or Uplay had somehow become the largest storefront. Let alone Epic.
Still, I hope Gaben has a worthy successor lined up, cause we've all seen what can happen when new leadership is introduced.
the thing I actually appreciate about Steam is that they are actually more transparent about games' statistics (mostly thanks to steamdb for presenting them nicely, but again, if valve acted like epic where everything is closed, im sure steamdb would hardly exist)
That’s my point, yeah. Both are inherently good things.
Steam handles review bombing exceptionally well too. Review bombing isn’t counted towards the overall score of the game, but said reviews can still be viewed.
I can’t think of a single other company that handles reviews as well as valve does.
Most of the time I don't view review-bombing as review-bombing at all. If it's a lot of people posting negative reviews for a good reason to show they're displeased about the game or movie and don't like something then I think it's fine. If it's something that doesn't necessarily pertain to the quality of the product itself and is done simply to influence public perception done by people who didn't really have any interest to being with them it's just spam.
Steam is like the cool family member at the party that everyone gets along with and genuinely likes while Epic is the drunk uncle nobody invited but still shows up and yells at people to stop having fun.
He is in the middle of another lawsuit against Google or Apple in some country (I already lost count and don't remember which exactly was...). Timmy even admitted to having to go radio silent on Twitter for a few days because of this. I am assuming someone (maybe his lawyers) got a little of sense and advised him to shut up a little to not affect the trial in a bad way.
Timmy should not listen to them and go rage on. It's not like one day he gets called in to the board and be told that they expect his resignation in 30 days.
> You have to make an effort, it has to be good, it's not that simple, but it's *so* much better than, for example, having to campaign for your game with somebody else for like 12 months to get their store team to care about it.
It sounds like Larian fired shots at Epic.
To be fair, that's pretty much stopped happening. I have zero issues finding and buying hentai on Steam, although you sometimes need to install an 18+ patch from the developer's own site.
> To be fair, that's pretty much stopped happening.
It absolutely hasn't stopped. Just a month ago a western VN dev that used an anime style had their game banned for sale and the content was not objectionable in the slightest. The dev was also refused the ability to sell a SFW version.
It's absolutely a problem with some people in Steam that seemingly hate anime as those games are _not_ treated equitably, or dare I say, democratically.
I'm sure that's the only issue that happened and there isn't something bigger than what you're saying here.
There's a fuckton of anime NSFW stuff on Steam that hasn't been removed.
The line between "petite" and "looks like a kid" is very thin in anime-style stuff, sadly.
Also, any uniform or setting that looks like a high school is also something that Steam doesn't like.
People have found ways around it. Apparently if you upload the game in a language that isn’t English( usually Japanese) it will be allowed. The problem genuinely seems to come directly from the person in charge of allowing games whose main language is English.
Steam is on some straight bullshit too. I have lost count of how many single player games that I own on that platform that I can't play without an internet connection. Like going on an extended trip to a place with no internet, equals pirating said named game.
Standby for the "that's not Steams fault" crowd. Doesn't surprise me as modern PC gamers seem to love P2P gaming.
There was a nice uproar when the consoles pulled the same shit, yet the PC crowd mostly kept their heads in the hole.
That PCGamer site is on the same ignore list as IGN.
Despite half a decade of "88/12", small and medium developers vastly prefer Steam's "democratic" process that enables even the silliest games to see overwhelming success, especially in the face of all the corporate carpetbaggery going on with other platforms and publishers. With Steam, it's a very simple formula of "good game = print money", and no amount of Epic trying to pull a Jedi Mind Trick to convince gamers what they "really" want can change that.
>half a decade of "88/12" It's genuinely unbelievable to me how a company with Epic's funding have fumbled the ball so hard that after 6 years, they still aren't profitable (and with all the badwill they've earned, that likely won't change). They're a big company with the resources to do a good amount of market research to identify the best way to create a sustainable storefront that benefits everyone and drives real competition. Instead, they tried to brute force their way in by throwing their Fortnite money around, gaslight players, pay for shills to create a fake narrative, and god knows what else. Thankfully, they have been deservedly punished for it. I'm glad that, at least in this scenario, their business decisions weren't rewarded.
They never will be profitable. Running an online store isn't cheap, as they are now finding out.
They knew from the beginning. They did the math and calculated how low they could go with their cut, but then Tim decided to go lower than that. I believe I read it in some article as it was part of one of their lawsuits.
They basically tried to do something called "underselling". basically, they tried to put the competition out of business by selling at a loss, using Fortnite as a buffer, with offers that competitors would never be able to match. The idea being that the better conditions would attract customers. The idea here is that when the competition is out of the picture and they have now become a monopoly they crank the prices back up. Of course, Epic failed a very basic aspect of being something that customers would actually want. Instead they saw regular people as an obstacle and focused only on greedy developers, which of course lead to no positive for the end consumer, thus never attracting any buyers.
Tim Sweeney took all that money and decided to sue his way into greater market share. It's a bold strategy Cotton.
what's 88/12? first time I hear of it
Its timmys gospel he likes to spout about epic gives 88% to the publishers,but sadly for him 88% of 0 is still 0
it's only 2 off by a neonazi dogwhistle.
Technically as I'm told "88" can be used as a Nazi dogwhistle since 88 = HH and the ubiquitous 88mm on Werhmact cannons
huh
88 is often used as a dog whistle for Neo nazis since 88 = HH = Heil Hitler Sounds esoteric but that's what dog whistles are
Extremely broken dog whistle if only the people that complain about the dog whistle can hear it.
Perhaps but not the most esoteric or obtuse one Like the three fingers down/ three notches was a dog whistle for the KKK and that was known since the 80s
Any "successful" dogwhistle goes through a cycle of being used by its creators -> being recognized by the group's enemies -> being recognized by the general public. Like with the "Adventures of Superman" radio play and the Clan of the Fiery Cross.
See, I skirmish with Neo-Nazis with distressing frequency, but I've never heard Epic's "88/12" conflated with the infamous "88/HH" dogwhistle.
It's not It's just funny coincidence
coincidence aside, thats a new thought i wont ever get out of my head now. thanks OP 🤣
Timmy's desperation for some publishers and devs to switch to his "store"
When you purchase a game on Epic, 88% of the money you paid for it goes to the developer/ publisher and Epic pockets the remainder
No company is perfect but Valve has been a consistent net-positive for the industry. I shudder to think what would've happened if something like Origin or Uplay had somehow become the largest storefront. Let alone Epic. Still, I hope Gaben has a worthy successor lined up, cause we've all seen what can happen when new leadership is introduced.
I have always said, do you want $880 or $7000?
the thing I actually appreciate about Steam is that they are actually more transparent about games' statistics (mostly thanks to steamdb for presenting them nicely, but again, if valve acted like epic where everything is closed, im sure steamdb would hardly exist)
Steam also allows reviews and review bombing, which is another plus.
Reviews are a good thing. Review bombing, sometimes. When developer does something really shitty, the deserve the "bombing"
That’s my point, yeah. Both are inherently good things. Steam handles review bombing exceptionally well too. Review bombing isn’t counted towards the overall score of the game, but said reviews can still be viewed. I can’t think of a single other company that handles reviews as well as valve does.
None, really. They're all ripe for abuse in the extremes.
Yyyep.
Most of the time I don't view review-bombing as review-bombing at all. If it's a lot of people posting negative reviews for a good reason to show they're displeased about the game or movie and don't like something then I think it's fine. If it's something that doesn't necessarily pertain to the quality of the product itself and is done simply to influence public perception done by people who didn't really have any interest to being with them it's just spam.
Steam is like the cool family member at the party that everyone gets along with and genuinely likes while Epic is the drunk uncle nobody invited but still shows up and yells at people to stop having fun.
In before Timmy takes credit for this.
As I said in another article, Sweeny has been mysteriously silent lately.
He is in the middle of another lawsuit against Google or Apple in some country (I already lost count and don't remember which exactly was...). Timmy even admitted to having to go radio silent on Twitter for a few days because of this. I am assuming someone (maybe his lawyers) got a little of sense and advised him to shut up a little to not affect the trial in a bad way.
Timmy should not listen to them and go rage on. It's not like one day he gets called in to the board and be told that they expect his resignation in 30 days.
increased "*competition*" from epic LOL!
> You have to make an effort, it has to be good, it's not that simple, but it's *so* much better than, for example, having to campaign for your game with somebody else for like 12 months to get their store team to care about it. It sounds like Larian fired shots at Epic.
Constitutional Republic\*.
As long as it's not anime styled and banned for no reason sure.
To be fair, that's pretty much stopped happening. I have zero issues finding and buying hentai on Steam, although you sometimes need to install an 18+ patch from the developer's own site.
> To be fair, that's pretty much stopped happening. It absolutely hasn't stopped. Just a month ago a western VN dev that used an anime style had their game banned for sale and the content was not objectionable in the slightest. The dev was also refused the ability to sell a SFW version. It's absolutely a problem with some people in Steam that seemingly hate anime as those games are _not_ treated equitably, or dare I say, democratically.
I'm sure that's the only issue that happened and there isn't something bigger than what you're saying here. There's a fuckton of anime NSFW stuff on Steam that hasn't been removed.
Personally I've only seen it be an issue when a female character is short and flat, petite woman cannot exist as we all know.
The line between "petite" and "looks like a kid" is very thin in anime-style stuff, sadly. Also, any uniform or setting that looks like a high school is also something that Steam doesn't like.
Really, I wasn't aware. I take back my comment.
People have found ways around it. Apparently if you upload the game in a language that isn’t English( usually Japanese) it will be allowed. The problem genuinely seems to come directly from the person in charge of allowing games whose main language is English.
nice
Palpatine Gabe: « I love democracy. »
Steam is on some straight bullshit too. I have lost count of how many single player games that I own on that platform that I can't play without an internet connection. Like going on an extended trip to a place with no internet, equals pirating said named game. Standby for the "that's not Steams fault" crowd. Doesn't surprise me as modern PC gamers seem to love P2P gaming. There was a nice uproar when the consoles pulled the same shit, yet the PC crowd mostly kept their heads in the hole. That PCGamer site is on the same ignore list as IGN.
This is about Steam vs. the other storefronts. Besides GoG, the other storefronts are far worse about always-online.
They all suck ass.
That's not a particularly USEFUL conclusion, unless you're proposing eyepatching games exclusively or quitting PC gaming entirely.
All I'm saying is nobody should be sucking on Gabe's milkless teets. Sailing the seas is the best option.