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[Alexios]

Yeah but that is my point. This strategy works when they have a monopoly, but now that they suddenly have competition and could use exclusive Valve games they dont have the pipeline established to make them. If they didnt sit on their asses for the past decade they could have Half-Life 5 set to come out next year and this wouldnt even be a conversation.

They don't "suddenly" have competition though, I'm sure Epic is rippling the waters but Steam is constantly changing as well because they've always had competition, sometimes perhaps not as fast or to the direction it should but they're far from remaining static and regardless of bold promises and attractive first-time offers new clients like Epic's have a LOT to prove. Steam was never the be-all end-all deal either, Minecraft got where it is without any major company backing and with never being on Steam, there has always been that self-publishing option even for indies, Steam doesn't try to force anybody, it got popular by the features it offers and by gamer acceptance, it's actually crazy they allow anyone to sell Steam keys in stores other than Steam yet ask for no cut in that case (like smaller but popular games that eventually got retail boxes didn't give 30% to Steam and 30% to whatever publisher got the box on shelves and the retailer's % and the pitiful amount that would leave to the actual company that made the game, lol), basically only charging for the storefront rather than the features they offer to the game, from publishing/delivery to achievements, anti cheat, drm, matchmaking or whatever is relevant per title.

Hell, most people's complaints these days are so superficial too like omg the client looks so outdated, or omg the chat sucks, why isn't it as good as discord, or whatever else, as if these new clients offer anything as robust and feature complete yet, currently even Epic's store page is like I dunno, seeing Nintendo's launch-week e-shop front page or something, way basic.

 

[Alexios]

I also find it hard to believe all publishers found the 30% fee so ludicrous (and what's the fee a publisher like Activision asks when they adopt a different company's game to send to store shelves or something, eh?) but didn't try to talk it out with Valve, like as if Activision said ok, we're willing to put Black Ops 4 and future COD on there but you need to make a separate deal for us for 15% rather than 30% Valve would say it's out of the question and not be willing to even consider changes? Everyone's acting like Valve has been blackmailing everyone to be on Steam. There are many more reasons than a fee for publishers to want to make their own ecosystem. If that's the only problem then Valve can always flip a switch and reduce fees across the board to the same level as Epic but that's not the solution to the actual issues so they don't (at least not yet). Sorry couldn't edit last post again. Just saying there's a lot more to all this than just a high fee.

 

[Iaterain]

Bethesda's Rage 2 will skip Steam.

I don't know what has happened to Bethesda but it is swiftly digging a grave for itself. Such an ungrateful company.
It doesn't respect its consumers nor it does respect Steam - a platform that made it popular and rich.
And they are going to lose everything because they are out of touch with reality. Greed has driven this company nuts. Nobody needs their crappy launcher and "exclusive" crap like Fallout 76. They are not going to benefit from this move. It will only make life of its loyal fans a digital nightmare.

 

[DeepEnigma]

This is how I see it too.
Releasing your own launcher can work but you need a big release to go alongside it. A Bethesda launcher with Skyrim 2 would probably be enough to make most people overlook it not being on steam. But Bethesdas latest offering as of right now is the worse reviewed game they have ever made and Rage isn't a big or popular franchise either.

At least Epic has Fortnite

That is how Valve ushered this in. The HL2 Trojan Horse!

Nobody really has a HL2 at the moment or forseeable future IMO. Valve can just release Episode 3 (hahahaha) and crush the noise full stop.

 

[Barakov]

Still kinda iffy about this one but If I pick it up, it'll be on consoles. The Bethesda launcher is hot, malfunctioning garbage.

 

[Kadayi]

uh i hope we are using the same launcher lol. Steam's not been a pile of shit. Have you tried to use the Epic Launcher? They can't even resume downloads from before the client was launched. So if you quit or crash you need to restart it lmao.

WTF? Seriously JFC.

 

[Baron Samedi]

I don't understand why people say they won't be buying a game just because it won't be in Steam...

 

[Chairman Tickles]

What's a Bethesda Launcher? Might have to consult Codex on the issue.

On the other hand these are their games, they're not poaching 3rd parties with thicc bribes. Unlike some....cough Epic cough

 

[-MD-]

I usually wait until games are dirt cheap when they're stuck on launchers I never use.

 

[Horsemama1956]

Nice thread title. It's only natural that these platforms would begin offering 'exclusives' for the sake of competition.

Can't have 'the Netflix of gaming' unless you have those 'Netflix Originals' to entice subscriptions.

This is why exclusives will always, always be a thing in spite of what starry-eyed PC gamers may say.

PC gets exclusives as well though so not sure what you’re on about.

This only makes sense if you assume every PC gamer hates console gaming which in reality, isn’t even close to being true.

 

[Diddy X]

I couldn't care less.

 

[Alexios]

PC gets exclusives as well though so not sure what you’re on about.

This only makes sense if you assume every PC gamer hates console gaming which in reality, isn’t even close to being true.

It's also not like we need to buy a differently branded pc box to play these to liken it to console exclusivity, lol, we still only have to buy the game guys. This is more like choosing between where to buy your given console's game from Amazon or whatever store but then GameStop gets a product exclusive to it and that sucks, similar deal here without having to drive to a GameStop since it's all digital anyway.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

PC gets exclusives as well though so not sure what you’re on about.

This only makes sense if you assume every PC gamer hates console gaming which in reality, isn’t even close to being true.

Exclusives stuck behind one particular platform, is what I mean. Having to split your attention between various storefronts is antithetical to the spirit of modern PC gaming.

 

[888]

Why should we trust Bethesda after their incompetence lately? I can take a pass on Doom and Rage 2 without steam.

 

[Elcid]

Especially one backed by Bethesda.

Betheseda has literally no licenses that interest me so they can go fuck themselves. I'm tired of launchers. Origin. uPlay. Steam. Now Epic and Betheseda? Eat my ass.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

The BL is crap . .. uses up a bunch of resources too :/

 

[Kenpachii]

First game was a total disaster on PC.

They can keep there second version.

 

[Sygma]

Exclusives stuck behind one particular platform, is what I mean. Having to split your attention between various storefronts is antithetical to the spirit of modern PC gaming.

Complete bullshit, the whole point of pc is to have the choice to get things from a wide variety of sources. mod your files, upgrade your gear etc, it never was about one place to get it all

I really don't understand that whole faux debacle. Mmo gamers have been playing via exclusive launchers since forever, these weren't on steam or anywhere else for a long time.

Diablo, Warcraft and co historically always have been on battle.net. while Counter Strike, Half Life etc have always only been on Steam.

What about league of legends ? is the fact that its not on steam irrelevant because its f2p ?


Its just that agenda of "if its not on steam we won't buy", and certainly not what most people are pretending

 

[LOLCats]

I’m tired of launchers and game services. Steam blows now and Bethesda launcher is even worse.

I just want my cdrom back.

/end old man rant

 

[Raitoningu]

At this rate Steam will end up with only the japanese pedo VNs as new releases

 

[CuNi]

If this goes on, I might program a launcher for launchers so you can launch your launchers from one single launcher... /sigh when did the world become like this?

 

[Alexios]

If this goes on, I might program a launcher for launchers so you can launch your launchers from one single launcher... /sigh when did the world become like this?

There are such launchers already but why not just launch it all via shortcuts? Everyone uses that to launch programs other than games, is it that bad to launch games with it too? Like my example toolbar:

Rough example I cooked up in a minute (hence no shortcut images etc), this is the sort of thing I used to do when I cared to have everything in one place.

Nowadays I launch from the launchers, usually right clicking the tray icon. Games without mandatory launchers I have groups/sub groups set up on my start bar, same as any frequently used programs.

Well, unless people want to make it so you can right click - > invite / join friend and what not but generally I don't use those functions and they can also be used in-game after launching it anyway.

 

[kungfuian]

So let me get this straight, Bethesda have decided to go with a fraction of the sales at 100% instead of a shit ton of exposure and sales at 70%. They would have to sell more than 70% of what they would on steam to make that work. Good luck with that...LOL

At this point we'll have a launcher for every game developer and publisher. At least until someone (hopefully someone with a full beard) figures out a way to make some type of unified platform or store front where we can get many games all from the same place. /s

Greedy fuckin publishers cutting their own noses off to spite their face.

 

[thelastword]

Soon, every major publisher/dev will have launchers....Hmmm even indie devs!!!!...You will have a million launchers in your tray at system startup? Welcome to the new-age...

 

[Gamezone]

I'm ok with this, competition is always good

How is that competition? They choose to go monopoly on their game by closing it behind a shit store.

 

[LordRaptor]

Curious to see what Valves response is to Epic's price challenge, especially for indies

If indies are tying themselves down to any one storefront in particular instead of making their product available everywhere they can, they've already fucked up.

Soon, every major publisher/dev will have launchers....Hmmm even indie devs!!!!

There was an indie specific launcher long before all the AAA publishers who fucked off to console came slinking back after Valve fixed the market.
Not that anyone uses Desura any more...

 

[SkinnerSw33t]

A million launchers... What will I ever do?

 

[CuNi]

There are such launchers already but why not just launch it all via shortcuts? Everyone uses that to launch programs other than games, is it that bad to launch games with it too? Like my example toolbar:
Well, unless people want to make it so you can right click - > invite / join friend and what not but generally I don't use those functions and they can also be used in-game after launching it anyway.

While this looks and sounds good, I unfortunately have over 600 games on steam so doing a million shortcuts won't work for me. Still a interesting idea to at least track the favorites.

 

[onQ123]

So what's going on with Xbox Games on Windows? I haven't been keeping up with that .

Look like like things are going backwards on PC after Steam was making PC gaming unified.

 

[LordRaptor]

So what's going on with Xbox Games on Windows? I haven't been keeping up with that .

Look like like things are going backwards on PC after Steam was making PC gaming unified.

Phil Spencer says he'd like that, but Phil Spencer says a lot of things.

Most of the big pubs assumed the PC was 'dead' a decade ago, and put all their eggs in the console basket.
Meanwhile valve knuckled down and addressed most of the problems with gaming on Pc they could do things to fix which helped make it not just a viable platform but a bigger platform than any individual console.
So its not surprising that the big pubs who abandoned ship have come back because they smell money, and its not that surprising that as an open platform they think they can cut out the middleman and keep all that money for themselves without spending the time and money valve did on adding a featureset that steam has.

Its kind of surprising they think it will work out that way longterm though.

 

[thief183]

A million launchers... What will I ever do?

Yea ppl look like a bounch of crying kids.

 

[Redneckerz]

It's not a strong enough property to stand on its own like that. Bethesda will be lucky if anyone buys this at all. The first one sold like shit even with Carmack behind it.

Yes, thats why

• There is a sequel. Clearly it didn't sell.
• According to the highly untrustworthy VG Chartz, it sold 2.31 million.

Disregarding VGChartz, if the game was not a success it likely wouldn't have spun a sequel. The fact you instantly proclaim that the first game sold like shit without any evidence of this, and without explaining why a sequel is then made, its a typical statement then.

OT:
I am no fan of third party launcher as it creates yet another dependency. Steam and GOG survive purely because they have the backlog of games to rely on, with new ones being added. Stuff like EA, Ubi, Bethesda only have their own catalogue, which might be too little to justify this dependency.

 

[Kadayi]

A million launchers... What will I ever do?

Yea ppl look like a bounch of crying kids.

I'm going to hazard a guess that neither of you is particularly big on the community side of Steam. Perhaps if you were, you might have a better appreciation as to why it is that those of us who are, kind of like having everything in one place.

 

[Alexios]

While this looks and sounds good, I unfortunately have over 600 games on steam so doing a million shortcuts won't work for me. Still a interesting idea to at least track the favorites.

If you had done it early on you'd have no problem adding new games as you get them

Or you can keep Steam as is and put non-Steam games there. Steam has a nice enough compact interface unlike other launchers, I keep it open almost all the time.
https://abload.de/img/1pji76.png
Gotta hate Firefox for not sticking to the edges like most other programs ffs...

 

[thief183]

I'm going to hazard a guess that neither of you is particularly big on the community side of Steam. Perhaps if you were, you might have a better appreciation as to why it is that those of us who are, kind of like having everything in one place.

You are right, but even more, I actually hate it, I mean I hate the fact that I need to have all that heavy laucher open when playing my games, I'd love to have a no community version of Steam

 

[Kadayi]

You are right, but even more, I actually hate it, I mean I hate the fact that I need to have all that heavy laucher open when playing my games, I'd love to have a no community version of Steam

Just set your default status to invisible/offline

 

[JohnnyFootball]

I don't want anymore launchers. Stop it.

I dont want anymore monopolies! Stop it.

 

[SkinnerSw33t]

I'm going to hazard a guess that neither of you is particularly big on the community side of Steam. Perhaps if you were, you might have a better appreciation as to why it is that those of us who are, kind of like having everything in one place.

I get it, but Discord has kind of made Steam irrelevant on that front too.

 

[Silver Wattle]

I can only hope this motivates Steam to get off their lazy asses and improve their product, they should be advertising it like it's a console, let the average console owners know that an option outside S/M/N exists for basically every game.

Yea ppl look like a bounch of crying kids.

wait until every single developer has one, then get back to me on it not being a pain in the ass.

 

[Makariel]

I'll be skipping rage 2 then.

 

[Ridaxan]

It's unfortunate. I'll just avoid it then.

 

[thief183]

I can only hope this motivates Steam to get off their lazy asses and improve their product, they should be advertising it like it's a console, let the average console owners know that an option outside S/M/N exists for basically every game.


wait until every single developer has one, then get back to me on it not being a pain in the ass.

Make a folder on your desktop e put yout games there. Easy as fk, and you don't have to loose resources for aver satured store.

 

[thief183]

Just set your default status to invisible/offline

The program would still be running.

 

[WaterAstro]

I also find it hard to believe all publishers found the 30% fee so ludicrous (and what's the fee a publisher like Activision asks when they adopt a different company's game to send to store shelves or something, eh?) but didn't try to talk it out with Valve, like as if Activision said ok, we're willing to put Black Ops 4 and future COD on there but you need to make a separate deal for us for 15% rather than 30% Valve would say it's out of the question and not be willing to even consider changes? Everyone's acting like Valve has been blackmailing everyone to be on Steam. There are many more reasons than a fee for publishers to want to make their own ecosystem. If that's the only problem then Valve can always flip a switch and reduce fees across the board to the same level as Epic but that's not the solution to the actual issues so they don't (at least not yet). Sorry couldn't edit last post again. Just saying there's a lot more to all this than just a high fee.

EA tried to talk it out with Valve. Valve wanted all their cuts from every microtransaction. EA split and successfully made their own platform. It paid off for EA to split.

 

[Kadayi]

The program would still be running.

*clutches pearls*

 

[Alexios]

EA tried to talk it out with Valve. Valve wanted all their cuts from every microtransaction. EA split and successfully made their own platform. It paid off for EA to split.

What's EA's fee for Ubisoft or whatever games on Origin?

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Yea ppl look like a bounch of crying kids.

Agreed. Now, I don't want a million launchers either, but I'll gladly take that minor (and yes it is a minor) inconvenience over allowing the Steam monopoly to continue.

If people just did a little bit of research they would recognize that:
a) every game on every launcher platform can have it's own shortcut. I have yet to see a game that prevents this. Spare me the 600 games argument. There is no way in hell anyone is playing all those at once. This is exactly how games were launched before Steam and everyone did fine.
b) For those who have a hard on and are dead set on using only Steam, Steam has it's own option to add to add-non steam games. It aint perfect but it works well enough.
c) Origin is not that bad, although Uplay still sucks, but is 100x better than it was before.
d) this has a good chance of being the catalyst that gets Valve off their lazy asses and back to developing games. Of course I am sure that most of their talented developers have moved to other studios, but many would come back in a hurry if Valve made a commitment to doing so.

 

[Alexios]

Agreed. Now, I don't want a million launchers either, but I'll gladly take that minor (and yes it is a minor) inconvenience over allowing the Steam monopoly to continue.

I like seeing competition (and Epic Store if far from the beginning of it, it's just the latest in a long line, I hope they keep improving it because it's completely barebones and that's not excused by Steam being so when it started, this isn't 2004) but Steam never was a monopoly. If random ugly looking indie game #48934843578 could sell via word of mouth, recognition of its qualities, and so on (all of which are still needed even if you get on Steam, or the Epic Store, or wherever else) with never being on Steam, then everyone could have done the same. Yeah I'm speaking of Minecraft but that's just the most prominent example, other games did fine outside Steam or any other store too. The majority went to Steam because they liked its features and visibility and thought the cut was worth that, not because they set up a monopoly. Things can change rapidly in the field, maybe Steam will reduce the cut, maybe not, they still have to keep improving and making changes and they have been, but nobody was ever forced, they just chose Steam over doing some work themselves to set up a purchase system or finding free alternatives like itch.io, DESURA, or whatever and committing to their promotion beyond ok, we're on Steam now! Of course, you always need luck too, great games can go by unnoticed regardless of where they're sold, while others somehow cause a wave effect with word of mouth and they sell well. Their sequels often go either way and so on. It is what it is, the market, not just Steam, is quite saturated and you never know the x factor that will propel you above others and make a fortune for you.

 

[dorkimoe]

I dont want anymore monopolies! Stop it.

Making it exclusive to a launcher would be the monopoly. It should be on all of them and let the gamers decide

 

[JohnnyFootball]

wait until every single developer has one, then get back to me on it not being a pain in the ass.

But every developer is not going to make one. Almost every developer is going to be at the mercy of their publisher. And how many game publishers are there?