• sugar_in_your_tea
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    3 days ago

    They used to be 30%.

    And Steam gives devs the option of selling Steam keys on their website without the cut, with the only rule that they can’t sell it for less on their website than on Steam. So Valve only takes a cut oft their platform leads to a sale, users can still use the platform to play the games without Valve taking a cut.

    Neither Apple nor Google allow this afaik, and I don’t know enough about other platforms to know if this is common or unique to Valve.

    • gnygnygny@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      3 days ago

      Yes but they cut off their margins. As Microsoft did.

      Steam key is not an advantage. It is a means of retention to keep a seller captive. A company should be free to sell its game in any way at any price without any restriction coming from one vendor.

      • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        3 days ago

        A company should be free to sell its game in any way at any price without any restriction coming from one vendor.

        People keep bringing this up like it’s some kind of a fact but any time I ask for a source I get no reply. So I’m going to ask again, can you please link the source because I’ve searched for it and I haven’t found it.

      • sugar_in_your_tea
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        3 days ago

        Microsoft cut their margins because they didn’t want to get sued.

        A company should be free to sell its game in any way at any price without any restriction coming from one vendor.

        And that’s exactly what Steam’s agreement is. If you sell on Steam, you can sell your game with or without Steam keys on your own website, you can sell on any competitor’s platform, and you can cancel your game from Steam at any time. There’s no lock in here. You can even add your own DRM or no DRM at all (or use theirs), you can make your game free and only sell additional content through your own website (where you keep all profit), etc. There’s no lock in whatsoever.

        • gnygnygny@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          3 days ago

          No lock with a key bringing you back to steam, with a unique price. Even the music industry doesn’t impose that.

          • sugar_in_your_tea
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            edit-2
            3 days ago

            Neither does Steam. The dev can sell their game directly, provide a Steam key, or a key for any other store. No lock in, this is merely an option if the dev decides to distribute it that way.

            For example, I bought Factorio a little after launch (early 2013), and later got a key for Steam when they released there in 2016. I also bought FTL around launch (2012), but I didn’t have a Steam account because they didn’t yet support my OS (Linux), so I didn’t activate my Steam key until I made my account in late 2013. Some bundles also give you an option on how to get the game, and I’ve activated GOG keys instead when I already had the game on Steam.

            Valve doesn’t care how devs sell their game, they only take a cut made through Steam itself. There’s no lock in whatsoever.

            • gnygnygny@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              2 days ago

              Let’s read the license agreement : “Developers retain the right to sell the games through other channels.” The EU court confirms that the agreement and use of geographic restriction were harmful to competition by object.

          • doomcanoe
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            3 days ago

            The key doesn’t have to go back to steam. Check Humble, plenty of games give you the choice of Epic or GOG, or even directly from the publisher if they have the servers.