steam release this month

[MultiPurposeCanine]

can´t find the thread but heard that steam release is this month?

[Denniss]

AFAIR they once said it's planned "towards the end of the year" but can't find this quote right now

[Bamilus]

Denniss is right

[kahta]

Lots of good reasons to avoid Steam for small publishers.... a 30% commission and the requirement that publishers do not sell the game for less anywhere else.

https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-antitrust ... ten-rules/

[Denniss]

ORIGINAL: kahta
and the requirement that publishers do not sell the game for less anywhere else.

this part would grossly violate EU trade laws and similar laws in other countries

[kahta]

ORIGINAL: Denniss

ORIGINAL: kahta
and the requirement that publishers do not sell the game for less anywhere else.

this part would grossly violate EU trade laws and similar laws in other countries

I can only speak to the US, but this seems to be a common practice.

Here is a similar story with Amazon:

https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/amaz ... ng-promise

[Sigwolfe]

ORIGINAL: kahta

Lots of good reasons to avoid Steam for small publishers.... a 30% commission and the requirement that publishers do not sell the game for less anywhere else.

https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-antitrust ... ten-rules/

Warning, book ahead...

So many things wrong with this statement. First of all, Matrix is not a small publisher, so no relevance there. Second of all, yes, they take a higher commission, but that comes with vastly higher exposure. Matrix held the belief that they were better distributing their own games for years, yet somewhat recently came around to Steam distribution and don't seem to be suffering in that regard even though they are making less percentage per sale.

The situation now is not the same as decades past when the price of a sale had to be offset with cost of production, packaging, marketing, storage, and distribution of physical products. Then, sales made less sense, because it could not only eat into profit, but could make a company take a loss on a sale. OMG, Steam takes 30% commission! With that commission, the previous packaging, storage, and distribution is gone. Steam takes care of that part. There's so many factors involved it's ridiculous, but to pretend Steam is just stealing money is even more ridiculous.

Charles Moylan, and Big Time Software/Battlefront maintained just such a position for multiple decades. Must control all sales in-house at all costs. That may have been tenable in a physical product distribution system, though arguable whether it really made sense. Even Battlefront has come around in the digital era, now partnering with Matrix and therefore Steam. They don't seem anxious to back down from that stance, either.

Matrix is playing the game correctly right now. A certain percentage of the market is willing to invest in these games at full price, and willing to support Matrix to keep that alive. A lot of the market is not willing to pay that price for this genre, yet is still interested in the subject. That is where a platform like Steam comes in. Gamers that would not have even looked at Matrixgames.com nor paid full price for a game there, may decide to make an impulse buy on Steam for a game on sale. A purchase they wouldn't have otherwise made for an already developed product that Steam distributes. Matrix makes less on the sale, and spends less on distribution for a product that has already been produced.

What they are doing now makes perfect sense. Release a new game direct-only to attract die-hard fans. They control prices and handle distribution. After a certain point, those willing to pay ~$80 for games like WitE2 start to slow down, so a Steam release, even at subsequent sale prices and considering their 30% cut still makes sense, because it is still money coming in, and money that would never have been attained otherwise.

FWIW, I bought the original original WitE on Steam on sale at 75% off. I then understood why it was priced so high, and have since purchased WitW and WitE2 direct from Matrix, both with the physical hardback manual. A big part in my making that decision was that they also offered Steam keys with that purchase, because I like to keep my game library in one place as much as possible. Matrix is just doing a lot recently to keep fans happy while still expanding the market, and I'm happy to see it.

[Zovs]

I am pretty sure that sale of 75% off was also available on matrix.com and it was several (maybe 5 years) before the price dropped that low. I don’t think you’ll see WitE2 at 75% any time soon.

[Bamilus]

Sig is right. Sure, 30% sounds like a lot but you're being opened to a huge market. If you want to play with the big boys then you have to play by their rules. There's so many gamers that only discover games via Steam and would never buy them unless they were on Steam (or something like Epic Store/Origin/GOG Galaxy).

We can argue whether that's right or not, but creating a universal gaming platform like Steam isn't something that Valve created for free and they need to reimbursed. To my knowledge, Valve doesn't require you to only sell on Steam or only use Steam on your PC. Hence, it's not monopolistic like the Apple store might potentially be, considering they don't let you download APK's or other third party store fronts on your iPhone (unless you root it and void your warranty).

Plus, to Sig's last point, it's a huge convenience to have the game on Steam. I know the Matrix site here has a members area with the downloads, but it's way clunkier than Steam where you can easily manage your library and installs.

[Karri]

ORIGINAL: Bamilus
We can argue whether that's right or not, but creating a universal gaming platform like Steam isn't something that Valve created for free and they need to reimbursed. To my knowledge, Valve doesn't require you to only sell on Steam or only use Steam on your PC. Hence, it's not monopolistic like the Apple store might potentially be, considering they don't let you download APK's or other third party store fronts on your iPhone (unless you root it and void your warranty).

I have something like 150 games on GOG and Steam. Imagine if I had to memorise 150 different websites for each and every game or publisher or developer or distributor.

[mariandavid]

Agreed - I was going to buy from Matrix but the two people I play against are dead-set against any purchase NOT on Steam (they have both has sad experiences on DLC's and upgrades when not using Steam). So I will buy at once from Steam - at full price - if only to ensure that I and those I play against are using the identical platform and version.

[Templer_12]

Buy on Steam

Did you know that Steam keeps a not insignificant part of the purchase price for itself with every purchase?

If you sincerely want to honor the work, the genius, the commitment, the dedication of the developers, then buy directly from the developer or from the publisher.
This way the developer should get more money.

Now take a look at what an extraordinary game (you almost don't want to say game anymore) War in the East 2 has become.
Take a look at the dedication and enthusiasm with which, for many, many years, War inthe East 1 was still looked after and maintained by the developers.

Steam is very convenient, but for extraordinary, yes, unique games, I want the developers to get as much of my money as possible for their work. [:)]

Thank you 2by3 Games - What a wonderful world we live in

[MarkShot]

Actually, once it becomes available on Steam. Won't you just be able to buy it from Matrix if you wish and get a Steam key?

Myself, I am quite enjoying just having my game and serial code without worrying about someone else's servers.

[beamslam]

To support the developers it is better to purchase directly from Slitherine or Matrix,
Steam is buyers markets, great sales some time but less revenue back to the developers.
As already being sad, stream is a great platform to reach out to a big audience, but it comes with a cost, the need to pay stream for the platform. Also their rating system is not necessarily benefitable for a new release or small gamming audience. Many people might be put off if a new game gets only mediocre reviews. My guess. Many reviews are written by people who seem to have a faulty device setup or don't even like the genre, or they don't know how to play the game and lack the patience to find out.
It may be better to wait with a stream release until it is fully stable, patched and bulletproof. Many games on stream have been released way too early.

[Jack_the_Eagleheart]

I really need steam releaze. I m waiting for it since the game's release. In this price, in my country, its imposible to buy it. Its cost is nearly as much as half of my monthly salary which ofcourse i cant pay for. Why developers does not change the price according to the country as steam does it ? I would love to buy this game from siletherines website.

[LewisFletcher]

To stay updated on the latest news about Steam releases or any other topic, it's best to check reliable and up-to-date sources such as official Steam announcements, gaming news websites, or the Steam store page for the game you are interested in. These sources will provide the most accurate and current information about Steam releases or any other events related to the platform.

[ShaggyHiK]

Personally, I bought the game at full price from Matrix on release. Despite the fact that it was very expensive for me, for a similar cost I could repair the bike and replace expensive transmission units.

However, I really fell in love with this game and do not regret the money spent, but the fact that the game gets a large audience in the incentive is great.

Somehow it seems to me a little silly that such a decision causes a discussion of the level: "Steam takes a percentage, if you want to support, buy somewhere else"
I think the developers themselves should deal with such issues based on their financial side of the issue.

[Zovs]

Personally, I bought the game at full price from Matrix on release. Despite the fact that it was very expensive for me, for a similar cost I could repair the bike and replace expensive transmission units.

However, I really fell in love with this game and do not regret the money spent, but the fact that the game gets a large audience in the incentive is great.

Somehow it seems to me a little silly that such a decision causes a discussion of the level: "Steam takes a percentage, if you want to support, buy somewhere else"
I think the developers themselves should deal with such issues based on their financial side of the issue.

You responding to a spam bot, this user has been spamming the forums lately. Its bot and needs to be destroyed.

[ToxicThug11]

Personally, I bought the game at full price from Matrix on release. Despite the fact that it was very expensive for me, for a similar cost I could repair the bike and replace expensive transmission units.

However, I really fell in love with this game and do not regret the money spent, but the fact that the game gets a large audience in the incentive is great.

Somehow it seems to me a little silly that such a decision causes a discussion of the level: "Steam takes a percentage, if you want to support, buy somewhere else"
I think the developers themselves should deal with such issues based on their financial side of the issue.

You responding to a spam bot, this user has been spamming the forums lately. Its bot and needs to be destroyed.

I dont like bots, I think bots should be banned
Whoevers a bot is a coward
I want to end them now