Poll: How Important is Steam to You?

[bcgames]

The issue of a Steam presence keeps coming up in the publication of our games. As far as I know, where it is published isn't our decision. I know for certain it isn't my decision. I also know I DON'T know the economic, marketing and/or technical reasons behind these decisions. I also know I'm at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to making these decisions.

But that doesn't mean us mushrooms can't collect some data...soooo...vote yer pocket book. Do you Steam?

[Zovs]

Great job on the poll, give it time to get responses and maybe even post a link in the general chat to get more responses if you tell you need more numbers.

[Remmes]

I like the idea of the poll.....but the majority of peeps over here at Matrix buy from Matrix first and redeem Steam keys later. Visit the Attack at dawn North Africa forums, another wego game at Steam; people there are asking if there are any worthwhile wego games besides that one....
Wego Stalingrad should attract other people there, albeit with less profit.

[bcgames]

That's prolly so. Prolly a good marketing task.

[bcgames]

Can someone explain to me the advantages/disadvantages for Stalingrad being on Steam? I have Steam and buy the games I want quickly and easily. At the moment, I'm enjoying playing Nantucket. I do the same at Matrix--I buy what I want quickly and easily.

Sooooo...get me up to snuff. Why does/doesn't a developer want to be on Steam? What do I gain; what do I lose?

[bcgames]

Another question...why does the Publisher want to be on Steam--or not?

Mushrooms would like to know.

[bcgames]

...Visit the Attack at dawn North Africa forums, another wego game at Steam; people there are asking if there are any worthwhile wego games besides that one...

[gagnradr]

Advantages:
- single platform: many players dont want to use and keep track of 7 different platforms, install the platforms' respective installers, remember different passwords or remember which platform they bought their 100+ games on. that means many people will also only look for games at their favorite platform. no steam - almost unfindable.

- advertisement: by algorithms, popular and well-tagged games are recommended to other player who might be interested. for example somebody might be recommended your game because he played GG's War in the East or Hearts of Iron 4. The latter has a great audience beyond typical wargamers that would see your game as a recommendation without you paying a penny.

- special events like indie-festival (not sure whether you would be indie enough, though) or maybe something on turnbased strategy.

- easy dlc integration in the shop and mod integration via steam workshop

- community functions let you push out news easier than in a publisher's forum (i find). Reviews offer a more realistic impression to a potential customer on what the game actually delivers and might therefore be your best advertisement.


Disadvantages:

- Not sure about how much you'd give away control over your pricing.

- Community feedback can be very brutal and unproductive at times.

- i think there are some GDC videos out there explaining the pros/cons of steam in detail.

[Zovs]

I do use Steam for a few of my MG, but its mainly to keep track of how many hours I actually play in these games (WITE2 3,900+ hours, TOAW4 3,000 hours, and WITW 435 hours).

However 80-85% of my MG eventually get a Steam key from Matrix, so its not a big deal to redeem your key.

So to me Steam is only interesting and useful to keep track of my hours played, the rest I care less about.

I wish Steam would work for my WDS games which I know I play quite a lot (I have 75 of them and am interested to see what my time sink is).

[springel]

I have bought most of my Matrix/Slitherine games in their store (I have 13 pages of owned games on My Page), but...

- The Steam store navigates so much better and quicker, I find the Matrix Store cumbersome, and it often doesn't know what I own already.

- On Steam the games are often a bit cheaper.

- Buying an additional DLC is cheaper if you buy it as a bundle (where Steam subtracts everything you already own, so a DLC will be 30% cheaper if you own the rest).

- Steam has better payment options. Like in NL we have a secure direct payment option iDeal (from my bank-account to their bank-account) which doesn't require a credit card, but just a debit card with a reader-token or smartphone. Steam (and GoG) offers iDeal payment for Dutch customers, while Matrix' credit card handling is less than perfect.

So when I buy older games (plus DLC) at a sale, Steam will usually be considerably cheaper, and then I go for the Steam offer.

[bcgames]

If I am tracking, Steam is not the pool for small developers to swim in unless you wish to discount the value of your works to the lowest level. Am I mistaken?

[gagnradr]

If I am tracking, Steam is not the pool for small developers to swim in unless you wish to discount the value of your works to the lowest level. Am I mistaken?

My guess: quite the contrary. Steam gives you a possible resonance that Matrix or Slitherine can't offer due to their appeal to a niche audience. Maybe your publisher has some advice, some numbers? At least Gary Grigsby's War in the East is available on Steam and they could explain the possible value of portation vs. the risks (discounts) and the necessary work.

[Zovs]

If I am tracking, Steam is not the pool for small developers to swim in unless you wish to discount the value of your works to the lowest level. Am I mistaken?

My guess: quite the contrary. Steam gives you a possible resonance that Matrix or Slitherine can't offer due to their appeal to a niche audience. Maybe your publisher has some advice, some numbers? At least Gary Grigsby's War in the East is available on Steam and they could explain the possible value of portation vs. the risks (discounts) and the necessary work.

Gary Grigsby's War in East/West and WITE2 are on Steam only because they were first available here on Matrix first. All Matrix games get a steam serial number code if Matrix and the developers work that out with Steam.

But I'd always purchase from Matrix first for two reasons:

1) if steam goes bye bye you can always play the Matrix version
2) Matrix will always create a Steam code if and when they get around to it

So for me there is no need for Steam. I think the biggest uses cases are as follows:

For the company, more exposure.

For the customer, looking for a discount.

I grew up on paper war gamers, originally you could get a game in the 70s for 5-40 bucks, but the prices increase over the years, now its not uncommon for a board war game to cost $120 or more. On average I think its $75. With a lot of companies you can get a pre-order discount of 10-25%.

When computer war games first came out they were running $39.95 and that was the standard. However it seems that Steam is gouging out companies so that they can give customers a discount because a lot of new customers want to get a game for 10-20 bucks.

War in the East 2 is the standard monster and well worth the $80 price tag. All WDG are $39.95 and they have a summer and winter sale where those are $29.95.

So Steam is not a requirement for a war game, especially if it hurts the publishers and developers by selling a $39.95 game for 19.95 and ripping off the devs.

Its not easy or cheap to make a war game, and I don't mind paying $39.95 to $80 for a good game, but wont pay $19.95 for junk.

[bcgames]

The Island of Misfit Toys.

[Vasquez]

Tomislav, the Unitiy of Command Dev said some time ago that he sold ridiculous and unbelievable large amounts of his Game via Steam. And Unity of Command is also kinda a niche Wargame.

[bcgames]

Interesting. I think we’re a niche in a niche. It would be interesting for someone who has played both games with skill to compare them. My hypothesis is that one of the two is easier to play…and it is not WEGO.

[Okayrun3254]

I have grown to appreciate Steam. Would I not buy a game I want because it is not on Steam? No way. The more I use Steam, the more I am happy when games are on it. I have a lot more games than I had some years ago, and Steam is a nice way to manage the games, and spend my time on the game and not updating or other stuff.

[Remmes]

Interesting. I think we’re a niche in a niche. It would be interesting for someone who has played both games with skill to compare them. My hypothesis is that one of the two is easier to play…and it is not WEGO.

I own Unity of Command 1 and 2 as well as Wego Stalingrad. Whether I play these games with skill is open for debate .

Anyways: Unity of command (turn-based) looks friendly and cartoony and but is a serious wargame nonetheless. The 'Easy the learn, hard to master' is applicable. Some turns can be a real puzzle to get your progress right to ensure turn-based objectives.

Wego Stalingrad has a steeper learning curve but is easy to play once you get to grips with the mechanics.

Of the 2 games UoC is easiest to play.

As I stated before: Matrix should be able to give you guys a sales forecast because they not only released major titles like WITE (1/2) and WITW, but also more niche games like the Decisive Campaigns series or Flashpoint Campaigns (Wego as well!)

Last but not least: if I'm not mistaken the first UoC was exclusively sold via their website for the first couple of months before it was released on Steam (buy there, get Steam key later...sounds familiar?) Later on it has become Steam only...so there problably is an advantage for them there. Maybe Tomislav Uzelac is willing to share some of his experiences with you?

It would be a shame of this series is discontinued due to a lack of profitability (Cameron of DB Barbarossa comes to mind).

[terminator]

Steam is important but not essential.
Steam allows me to play at my place of work during breaks and at my home in the evening after work on different computers without worrying about backups (thanks Steam cloud) and updates.

[bcgames]

It would be a shame if this series is discontinued due to a lack of profitability...

After twelve years in development, I don't know what to say. We are going to do the Monty's Front Trilogy (Overlord/Market-Garden/Infatuate) because we are already heavily invested in these projects. After that it may be a case of Batgirl.