Epic v. Steam

[Ikoma]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/3321 ... r_devs.php

So... do any of you think Epic has a shot to de-throne Steam? Is there a significant group of customers/publishers looking for a replacement?

I mean, I'm not the biggest PC gamer but I do play some. And Steam has been fine for me. But I acknowledge that I might not be up to date on the state of Steam in a wider sense.

[GinDragon]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/332124/Epic_Games_launching_Steam_competitor_with_88_revenue_share_for_devs.php

So... do any of you think Epic has a shot to de-throne Steam? Is there a significant group of customers/publishers looking for a replacement?

I mean, I'm not the biggest PC gamer but I do play some. And Steam has been fine for me. But I acknowledge that I might not be up to date on the state of Steam in a wider sense.

It is very unlikely to dethrone Steam, as Steam is a hulking behemoth. There are many other digital stores out there, and I don't think any of them have had a noticeable effect on Steam's market share.

I'm sure developers will encourage people to use EPIC's store instead of steam if their game is on both platforms, but it would be economic suicide to ignore steam completely, as it would severely limit their audience.

[Azhrei Vep]

I certainly hope it can become a credible threat to Steam, because their competition can only benefit me.

But ... I wouldn't bet a nickel on it actually happening.

[tombombodil]

Not selling on steam is akin to not selling at wallmart. Maybe you don't want to associate your brand with the but with if you're a AA or AAA studio with any kind of official marketing push you will lose money if you don't sell on steam.

Steam will likely never be "dethroned" because it's just not possible to take market share from such a massive and well established corporation, you either have to provide something they don't, or jump in if they slip up.

What's more likely is that Steam's total lack of quality control and sometimes baffling and toxic approach to accommodating independent products will cause people (both gamers and developers) to slowly drift to a mix of other platforms while still using steam relatively often. I have many friends who work for medium to small I dependant game studios and it is a risky and often not worth it gamble to release a game on steam these days if you're a smaller game that doesn't have the marketing push to force itself into people's awareness.

I already use Good Old Games for about a third of my digital game purchases and if steam's store front continues to just be clogged with so much garbage I will continue to go elsewhere for my mid tier and independant games.

Lord Foul complained about my phones automatic sig so I changed it. - Sent from jizzmop 4040 using bollocks

[BottledViolence]

I'm a free market guy but a fan of the underdog. I go to whoever has the best service for my needs, but all things being equal, I'll support the little guy/new guy/etc. So that means I buy most stuff from Steam on sale. If it's available somewhere else for the same price or less, I'll go there unless there is a DRM issue since I trust steam to be around longer than anyone else.

I recently started the IL2 BoX series, and going forward, will be buying direct from the publisher when the sales hit.

[clintmemo]

Steam will likely never be "dethroned" because it's just not possible to take market share from such a massive and well established corporation, you either have to provide something they don't, or jump in if they slip up.

Palm called. They want their market share back.
also, so did Sears,
and Nokia
and K-Mart
and Toys R Us
and Pabst Blue Ribbon,
and CBS, NBC and ABC.

and Atari.

[Ikoma]

Steam will likely never be "dethroned" because it's just not possible to take market share from such a massive and well established corporation, you either have to provide something they don't, or jump in if they slip up.

Right, which I guess is what I am asking. IS there something Steam is not providing? Or HAVE they slipped up in some way that would open the door for Epic (or someone else)?

[tombombodil]

Steam will likely never be "dethroned" because it's just not possible to take market share from such a massive and well established corporation, you either have to provide something they don't, or jump in if they slip up.

Palm called. They want their market share back.
also, so did Sears,
and Nokia
and K-Mart
and Toys R Us
and Pabst Blue Ribbon,
and CBS, NBC and ABC.

and Atari.

Every single one of those companies was unseated by a combination of better services that offered better and different service, and/or internal mismanagement.

It wasn't because of another company coming out and doing mostly the same thing with some minor differences.

No service that's just "another digital storefront" is going to touch steam. It needs to be both better and offer different benefits and services, and even then Steam is going to have to make some serious slip ups for people to leave it in droves.

I'm not saying Steam is somehow untouchable, I'm just saying that lots of companies are trying to compete with it by just putting out their own, more restrictive versions of it with less content and less convenience and there's no world where that works.

Either Steam needs to fuck up royally or you need to offer something it doesn't, like GoG OFFERING lots of older games and being totally DRM free, or Humble Store having tons of cheap bundles and bulk discounts and giving to charity.

Lord Foul complained about my phones automatic sig so I changed it. - Sent from jizzmop 4040 using bollocks

[tombombodil]

Steam will likely never be "dethroned" because it's just not possible to take market share from such a massive and well established corporation, you either have to provide something they don't, or jump in if they slip up.

Right, which I guess is what I am asking. IS there something Steam is not providing? Or HAVE they slipped up in some way that would open the door for Epic (or someone else)?

Definitely, and it's already happening. I personally know developers that have published games on switch or GoG and not steam because of many of the aformentiones issues.

Just having the most basic standards of quality control for the storefront is something steam seems entirely uninterested it.

Now I don't really have any reason to think Epic has the wherewtihal to do really bring something vital to the table, but it will be interesting to see if they can.

Lord Foul complained about my phones automatic sig so I changed it. - Sent from jizzmop 4040 using bollocks

[Sith_Mafia]

well the main difference here is epic trying to entice developers by taking a drastically lower cut of the sales compared to steam.

a smart way to get the public to use their service would be to offer games on both platforms but maybe slightly cheaper on epic. that would slowly entice people to use it more.

this is still probably not enough to make up for the difference in quantity they would sell on steam, but could force steam to lower their cut which would be good for developers and gamers all around.