A key that will send you where ? On steam. It is just a way to keep the Devs captive.
30% is absolutely insane specially for a licence, not something that you own.
A key that will send you wherever the Publisher and Distribution platforms allow for. Look at Humble for an easy example, a bunch of their games provide keys that will work on Steam, Epic, GOG, and even direct download if the publisher/developer has the servers for it. It doesn’t keep any one captive.
They can sell a direct download as well, the key is merely an option.
If they want to do their own marketing, they can still piggy back off Steam’s infrastructure with the only cost being the keys sold directly through Steam.
30% is not insane if it’s completely opt in and there are other competitors. Google and Apple charging that much was insane because they completely control the hardware and OS, and as such there was no competition either by policy (e.g. Apple) or scare tactics (Google). Steam only controls the hardware and OS on their Steam Deck, and there’s no barriers to installing competitor platforms whatsoever, and they make it easy to play those in the main Steam interface as well (I play EGS and GOG games through Heroic all the time).
The reason people sell through Steam is because Steam provides a better service vs DIY or any of their competitors. Users buy from Steam because it offers a better experience than either directly buying or buying through a competitor. Everyone wins here.
I wish the fee was lower and Valve can certainly afford to take a smaller cut, but they totally make up for that cost in the value they provide. People are willing to stick with Steam even though it doesn’t have the most popular games (Minecraft and Fortnite), their competition gives away free games and has exclusives, and they aren’t installed by default. Steam doesn’t win because they’re a monopoly, they win because people prefer their service to the competition.
A key that will send you where ? On steam. It is just a way to keep the Devs captive. 30% is absolutely insane specially for a licence, not something that you own.
A key that will send you wherever the Publisher and Distribution platforms allow for. Look at Humble for an easy example, a bunch of their games provide keys that will work on Steam, Epic, GOG, and even direct download if the publisher/developer has the servers for it. It doesn’t keep any one captive.
They can sell a direct download as well, the key is merely an option.
If they want to do their own marketing, they can still piggy back off Steam’s infrastructure with the only cost being the keys sold directly through Steam.
30% is not insane if it’s completely opt in and there are other competitors. Google and Apple charging that much was insane because they completely control the hardware and OS, and as such there was no competition either by policy (e.g. Apple) or scare tactics (Google). Steam only controls the hardware and OS on their Steam Deck, and there’s no barriers to installing competitor platforms whatsoever, and they make it easy to play those in the main Steam interface as well (I play EGS and GOG games through Heroic all the time).
The reason people sell through Steam is because Steam provides a better service vs DIY or any of their competitors. Users buy from Steam because it offers a better experience than either directly buying or buying through a competitor. Everyone wins here.
I wish the fee was lower and Valve can certainly afford to take a smaller cut, but they totally make up for that cost in the value they provide. People are willing to stick with Steam even though it doesn’t have the most popular games (Minecraft and Fortnite), their competition gives away free games and has exclusives, and they aren’t installed by default. Steam doesn’t win because they’re a monopoly, they win because people prefer their service to the competition.