If you told me that my games could be slightly cheaper if only I use a platform like EGS I’d still happily pay the extra bit.
The much more likely scenario is that larger publishers like EA would charge the same amount and pocket the profits while I’d deal with a shit store in return.
Further to that; EGS is essentially just a store. A really shitty store. Meanwhile Steam is a feature rich platform with a bunch of features that regular C-suite types would never green light because they don’t have a direct ROI. E.g. Steam link is an absolutely amazing system for playing games on the lounge room big screen without buying a console. You know how much Steam Link costs? Is it a subscription? Maybe a limited time trial after game purchases? Nope. Completely free. Along with a shitload of other systems that cost money to maintain which are funded by that 30%.
This BS again. "In exchange for selling Steam Keys of your game on the internet (using steam as the vendor for your game), you, the developer agree to sell those steam keys at the cheapest price you offer. Steam doesn’t set the price, takes the same cut from each key sold as every other platform including Nintendo, Epic, PS, Xbox, and GOG.
So I am struggling to understand what is anti-competitve about this.
The practice I’ve found the most concerning is the alleged “most-favored nation” clause/provision in the Steam Distribution Agreement. I haven’t been able to actually find the actual Steam Distribution Agreement anywhere, which itself is concerning. I just see it mentioned alongside an NDA that must be signed.
The MFN basically requires that Valve never be undercut in any way, whether or not the game is distributed elsewhere using a Steam Key or not.
No discount. No bonus content. No perks. Steam key or direct download from your own website without any involvement of Valve whatsoever - it doesn’t matter.
Where did you get this information?
I have never seen and nobody has ever provided that Steam requires price parity for electronic game keys or physical copies that are not steam keys.
As far as I understand it, Steam only requires that you sell your game for the same price on other marketplaces if you’re selling Steam keys. If you’re selling a non-Steam license then you don’t have to match prices at all and can sell for cheaper on Epic, Itch, GoG, etc.
https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys#3
I also want to point out that I believe if you sell steam keys anywhere else except the steam platform you get to keep 100% of those sales. Steam only takes a 30% cut from steam key sales sold on their own store front.
It’s anticompetitive when you have 90% market share and you do this. Monopolies are generally legal but can’t do certain things regular companies can.
They have the highest market share because every other platform has been shit (until gog), and customers voted with their wallet. They aren’t squeezing competition out, everyone else needs to suck less.
So sell epic keys or some other store fronts keys and move on with your life? There are other digital store keys they could sell at literally any price they want. And that’s why this is bogus.
They don’t have to sell their game digitally with steam keys. They can create keys on other platforms to sell their game.
I don’t think that word means what you think it means. Market share has nothing to do with this.
Allegedly they can’t because confidential agreement prevents them. And they won’t move away from Steam because it’s a monopoly. Which is why this is illegal.
First filed back in 2024 by Vicki Shotbolt, the lawsuit claims that Valve charges “excessive commission charges” that lead to “an unfair price which is then passed on to consumers”.
These fees are 30% cut of profits per game key sold, not and extra fee on top of that. So selling the steam key costs the same amount and nets about the same profit as selling a PlayStation or Nintendo key.
Literally every other online store (Epic, GOG, Xbox, PlayStation, …) does the exact same thing when it comes to both game keys and DLCs. Seems frivolous on that point at least.
This has been alleged before. And it was a nothing burger then. There’s a whole pictograph floating around comparing the cut that other game sale platforms take and I think only like 2 of them take a smaller than 30% cut.
This compares physical games to electronic keys, and that’s also a nothing burger. The cost will be higher with those on the manufacturing side because of the cost of materials to make the physical copies, the logistics of delivery to retailers, and the cost of manufacturing them.
Steam isn’t a monopoly. You keep using that word but it has a very finite legal definition. That definition provides that through practices of the company that are anti-consumer or anti-competitve, or both, the company retains a significant majority of the market share.
So again I’m not even suggesting that these devs leave steam. But the crux of the matter is that they want to use steam keys on other store fronts etc and don’t want to pay steam 30% for the use of those steam keys. They can use a different store front with a different store front’s game keys and still provide steam keys through steam. They are not required to use steam keys on their own website or other digital store fronts.
You also aren’t required to launch games from or use steam for anything except downloading the game. You can launch them, update them, modify them, etc without even having steam running.
As I said before, DLC being tied to the store front that supplied the key makes sense and is a normal standard business practice.
If what you allege is true then literally no exclusive games on the Epic store could every be made available on steam (after the exclusivity contracted time ends), because I think what you’re trying to suggest is that Steam (through confidential agreement) is forcing these devs to only provide steam keys. Which is a pretty bogus claim.
First filed back in 2024 by Vicki Shotbolt, the lawsuit claims that Valve charges “excessive commission charges” that lead to “an unfair price which is then passed on to consumers”.
Don’t they just take the same commission as everyone except for Epic?
Not to mention PC is where I save the most money, and it’s solely thanks to Steam and the free Epic games.
Idk, this seems kind of weird when Steam has been seemingly one of the more user-friendly marketplaces, compared to other ones. Remember Uplay and Origin? Lol
To be frank, I don’t know any case when Valve forced these rules, and even when someone reported such cases to Steam support directly. The response was just - “Thank you. We will check it out.”, and that’s it.
Self-published developers I am aware of have been considering these “rules” as fair suggestion from Valve who point out that it’s important to Valve stay afloat in competition, where many developers will just follow these getting the point, which is straightforward.
A few developers I know do find following this “rule” a respect towards the platform in general even.
Does discovery in the UK work like it does in the US. I don’t have an opinion on this, but I’m interested in what we might learn about Valve from the discovery process.
2hours of penalty, btw
No new yacht for Gabe this year :(
Isn’t at least one of them actually a marine research vessel, run by a group he founded/funds?
I get that he’s not our friend like a lot of people think just because his company is less shit, but he seems to have at least a crumb of his soul left.
