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There is now a Bethesda.net launcher (a la Origin, Steam, uPlay, Battle.net, etc)
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
I had to create a new account to register for the Elder Scrolls Legends beta (which also uses this).
Hilariously it's not the same as your Elder Scrolls Online account.
Palculator
Unconfirmed Member
Baron von Loathsome
Member
No, you don't. Prepare for the Deep Silver client.
They are not leaving Steam, so this argument doesn't really work.
JHoNNy1OoO
Member
This is what I was always afraid of. So many separate useless clients.
CosmicQueso
Member
Sure it does. The portion of sales going through this launcher gives them higher margin. There's no other reason to start a new service like this unless it's for margin and/or additional revenue streams.
And for a company that sells as many copies as Bethesda, that 30% is fucking HUGE.
Hell, I'd go for it too. How is this a stupid move, business wise?
That's pretty brutal. If you're gonna do this at least make it all sync
cartographer
Member
I don't need launchers that run perfectly. Honestly there's a certain charm that comes with the jankiness of a non-perfect launcher that nobody else in the industry can replicate.
It won't be long before Steam has nothing but Indie titles and that sucks. I've been using Steam since it was in beta with of course only Valve titles available. Absolutely love Steam and it's a real shame that it seems that all major game publishers are trying to do their own platform now.
Did we go back to 2007?
What would it cost them, I wonder? Surely they wouldn't try and say removing "free" modding is losing potential sales.
I think ya'll might be going a little too chicken little. If they were really pulling something big they would have done it when F04 launched. The only game they're going to be able to pull this with is the next Fallout and the next Elder Scrolls, which are both far away.
I mean, Bethesda releases like 2 games a year, and ones that are frequently single player focused. Guess it will be 3 this year with Doom, Dishonored 2, and Elder Scrolls Legends.
I mean, Bethesda releases like 2 games a year, and ones that are frequently single player focused. Guess it will be 3 this year with Doom, Dishonored 2, and Elder Scrolls Legends.
No? Uplay's still shitty with downloading updates. It just barely got "download while I'm idle" patching in 2015. Nintendo figured it out before they did. Nintendo.
Even then I find it often requires launching a game to check for patches.
flaxknuckles
Member
Guess I'm not gonna buy Bethesda games unless they are heavily discounted just like Ubisoft and EA games. And even then only if it is a must have which EA and Ubisoft don't make much of for me and Fallout 4's streamlining (downgrading) kinda made me cynical about Bethesda's games.
charlequin
Banned
Now that I think about this, it's kind of funny to me how uPlay and such actually wind up strengthening Steam since they push a larger number of people to buy their games there.
D
Deleted member 144138
Unconfirmed Member
Visualante2
Member
This makes me less likely to pick up current and future Bethesda titles.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Some people incorrectly though it would be a website only, not a client.
derExperte
Member
Digital Homicide launcher when?
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
obvious this is a precursor to paid mods
BinaryPork2737
Unconfirmed Member
So this is what the lawsuit is funding.
It doesn't, because they could already open a store that sold steam keys and get 100% the revenue. The higher margin excuse never really made any sense if they dont leave steam entirely. Which they won't.
um.. where is the launcher anyway? I am looking all over bethesda.net and see no download links or anything..
searching the web I only see people talking about it on steam forums regarding fallout 4, and it makes it seem like any other launcher, like Kalypso Launcher for Tropico, to launch a specific game w/ a login for DRM purposes, I haven't played FO4 so I don't know...
no where am I seeing it is a client like Steam/Uplay/Origin
maybe I'm blind, can someone show me?
searching the web I only see people talking about it on steam forums regarding fallout 4, and it makes it seem like any other launcher, like Kalypso Launcher for Tropico, to launch a specific game w/ a login for DRM purposes, I haven't played FO4 so I don't know...
no where am I seeing it is a client like Steam/Uplay/Origin
maybe I'm blind, can someone show me?
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
I think Queso is thinking, as well, of the 30% of add-on content, which in Bethesda's case will include paid mods. Even if you can sell your main games on your site without giving Valve a cut, there'll be limits when you start trying to take their 30% across the board.
AcceptableGhost
Member
I don't really think so. You can generate and sell Steam keys as you wish. They could simply open up a web store and sell Steam keys for 100% revenue. Also I imagine copies of uPlay/RockstarSocial/whatever games are still probably 95%+ sold through Steam since they give users the option to do so. It is hard to believe that anyone actually buys games directly through these awful store fronts unless they have to.
These launchers/stores are power plays by big publishers so they don't have to be explicitly attached/dependent to a third party service like Steam. Also by doing this they lock users access to their games to themselves (for more of a sense of control perhaps?). This is definitely one of the worst trends in PC gaming. I don't think I have ever heard any normal person say they enjoy this shit.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
CRM program. Huge retention and remarketing program. You don't make the money selling games on it, you make the money RE-targeting users in the database to up sell them on future games and DLC. You learn a shit ton about your users too through cookieing and behavior analysis of their web usage, to build models for programmatic media targeting. It's efficient. It's why everyone has one, and most companies do.
You can thank My Coke Rewards really
Possumowner
Member
Head shakes and sighing...COMMENCE
ferrasvansen
Member
Not the best of news I must say, I've been a fan of Bethesda for a long time, and if they take games off steam into some shitty uplay type clone then my love affair with Fallout and Elder Scrolls will die. I want one hub for all my games, excluding Battle net for obvious reasons not loads of clients for a few games.
CosmicQueso
Member
By having a launcher, you have complete control over the user and the experience.
You also don't compete directly with your retail partners by setting up a store that literally does nothing other than sell keys.
And once that control is established, you can utilize the business intelligence that goes along with tracking usage, building databases of customers which includes identifying, profiling and targeting users of different levels and then marketing to these people directly.
So yeah, it is about margin and revenues. There is literally no other reason to invest in the infrastructure and people to set it up.
EDIT: what Harker says.
Sad Affleck
Member
Great...
8-Bit Sunset
Banned
This is the one thing that really pisses me off about PC gaming.
Updates, drivers, patches, no problem.
Multiple accounts, launchers, different passwords tied to games all over the place is a huge and unnecessary pain in the ass!
Steam is fine with me, origin I can tolerate but the rest are garbage!
I don't want to jump through hoops! I just want to buy a game and play it. It is really that hard for publishers to grasp.
Updates, drivers, patches, no problem.
Multiple accounts, launchers, different passwords tied to games all over the place is a huge and unnecessary pain in the ass!
Steam is fine with me, origin I can tolerate but the rest are garbage!
I don't want to jump through hoops! I just want to buy a game and play it. It is really that hard for publishers to grasp.
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