Jump to content

Steam is not special, its just another website


firecat

Recommended Posts

So i'm seeing many newbie developers (yes that one guy who brag about getting past Steam greenlight), thinking steam is special, join steam, steam is everything, etc. The truth is, Steam is not special in any way shape or form.


Why? it's just another website to upload games. you do not get special treatment for uploading a game on steam, you just proven that you got a game build and had it uploaded to a website.
"Well i get downloads, more than any site", false you (the developer) worked hard to build an audience. Steam did not buy, offer, direct, users to your game. Everything you did for your game was done by you, the only thing you asking your fans in return is forcing them to download the steam app.


"i got news coverage from steam", again false. they choice to pick the games they want to cover, there are hundreds of games released each month. just having small coverage means you got something for people to play, steam doesn't force or buy reporters, every news media just wants a good game.


"i become popular in steam", false. it's your hard work that made it. your fans only know about the game, you has a developer only are recognized by a fans who want to know who you are as a human. unless you did something horrible (like fnaf, that youtuber, that guy who scam people on steam, etc) or something cool (like undertale, bloodborne/soul series, etc) that was all you.


"Steam is cool", ya if you like to spend days on end filing paperwork, releasing personal data to valve, bad support, forcing users to use steam app, doing extra work for achievements that gamejolt/xbox does for free, losing downloads because it's considered old game, and losing income by the day.


"i did get greenlight and upload it to steam", again it's just another website. greenlight cost $100 so you just lost $100 for a game that might not come out for the next 2 months or a year. that means if you dont get your game uploaded, you lose interest in news media, you lose income, you lose some of your fans attention, you lose credibility for not being smart and had it uploaded to another site like gamejolt or itch.io, your friends will never forget the mistake you did, and lastly you feel bad for no reason, peer pressure has taken over your life.


so remember, steam is not special, i dont want another thread posted saying "i got greenlight after 3 months", we all know why it took that long to upload. steam its just another website with people who want to play games, developers are directing users to steam. its your choice to fall into these childless day dream of becoming a star. life doesn't work that way and either does steam.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you don't get on Steam how many copies do you think you'd sell? The service ioffers is nothing special from a buyers standpoint but from a dev's standpoint that is where 99% of the consumers are at. Hell even mods get more exposure on steam workshop then they do elsewhere (I'm a modder not a dev just fyi)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unless they have exceptionally good marketing skill or already are a well-known developer/publisher, or else, no one will even know about their game if they put it up on some random sites, or worse, their own newly made site. So yes, in a way, putting their game on Steam is a much better strategy. If they did a good pre-release PR, their game should make it on the "popular new releases" list for a day or two, and with the huge amount of user and a decent VN community that Steam has, their game will attract much more attention. Yes, they won't become a star with Steam, but at the very least, they won't fall down to the bottom of the ocean and go bankrupt either.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steam is just a platform, and since most people are lazy, it is quite popular since it installs the games and sort them for you. Its useful to have it, but its not like the worlds gonna end without it,i'm actually starting to dislike steam because they are just in it for the money, but that's like 90% of the gaming industry today,but the way they try to profit off everything is kinda pissing me off,they even went as far as selling mods ,or they tried to sell them, but thankfully it didn't work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On one hand, yes, Steam is just another platform.  Itch.io is also just another website for uploading your games, but everyone knows that Itch.io is mostly crappy games made by wannabe devs in their bedrooms.  Thus Itch.io's reputation is generally of being a platform for low quality games.  On the other hand, Steam has built a reputation for being the platform where most professional game development companies go to market their games digitally. And it's no accident that this is the case. Steam could easily be a carbon copy of Itch.io, filled to the brim with terrible RPG maker and Sonic OC flash games. If that were the case, it would have a similar reputation to Itch.io. But it's not the case, because Valve doesn't want it be. It wants to be what it currently is, the go-to platform for AAA development companies to market their games.  Thus they do their best to keep low quality games from contaminating their game pool.  The only way you get through greenlight is if the community believes you are going to be an asset to their libraries and to Steam's repertoire. 

I'm entirely sure where I'm going with this paragraph after this point, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that, while Steam may be one in many game distribution platforms, that doesn't mean it can't be much better than another distribution platform.

It's kinda like how Bing and Google are both search engines, but most people are in wholehearted agreement that Google is far and away superior to Bing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@everyone

this is not a customer viewpoint, think about game development. steam does have people but you can force them to download/buy your game, its no better than having a page on itch.io or gamejolt. also since steam requires greenlight you are losing time, your game could be playable for many people (its a sin to not release a good game because of some crazy vote rule). steam takes you way too serious for asking you to have a real bank account when you could use paypal on other sites.

just like i say, you cant force people to keep 24/7 news coverage on your game (well pay them but thats losing income and there are rules). if your game is just another game in steam then you just another game developer with many other game developers.

lastly, steam will do nothing for you. everything i can do is what steam already offers: 

upload a game? already can do that on itch.io, gamejolt, indiegamestore, google play

steamspy? already can do that on itch.io, gamejolt, google play but in a way more private way.

sell? already can do that with itch.io, google play, indiegamestore

discounts at your own free will? already can do that in itch.io, google play, indiegamestore

audience? developers are the ones that worked hard to build an audience, any website can do this. just because a platform is popular, doesnt mean games will be popular. (example: every vn in steam is never placed on the front page.)

upload mobile games? only itch.io, indiegamestore, google play/itune store, amazon, and (secret website that i have no idea or forgot but it does exist here).

 

also steam allows bad games and here are 10 examples:

Sakra Santa (admit its bad and we all know it) : http://store.steampowered.com/app/421700/

HuniePop (repeat your sin): http://store.steampowered.com/app/339800/

the 1 dollar 1 hour for bad steam games: 

 

its fun they say, its on steam they say, my greatest evidence on steam bad games: http://store.steampowered.com/app/353560/

a curator on many bad games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/7048177-Worst-games-of-all-time/?appid=329950

this, i dont know: http://store.steampowered.com/app/27020/

its a AAA game it should work, nope: Batman Arkham Knight -> http://store.steampowered.com/app/208650/

remember this scam game on steam: Journey of the Light -> http://store.steampowered.com/app/371440/

it looked like a good game but...: http://store.steampowered.com/app/392050/

this link to many bad indie games: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=218344472

last and not least: http://store.steampowered.com/app/226700/

they all had a chance but fail, remember being popular means risking your credibility has a human being.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Because the platform is popular doesn't mean your game will be popular.

But if the platform is NOT popular, then your game will most likely not get any attention.

Just like having your ads running on a website with high traffic and a random whatever site only a few people know about.

Btw, I've never heard of itch.io and gamejoit before.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Eclipsed said:

True, but all I know is that ALOT more people are gonna get to enjoy Danganronpa 1 & 2 once they come out on Steam instead of being lolVitaExclusive, so Steam's cool.

i am so excite.

 

I think you will get a LOT more exposure using Steam compared to using, uhh what? All I can think of is humblebundle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fuck Steam! I once had to download it for a game I was interested in, and it it has been more of an inconvenience than anything else. However, I'm not much of a gamer, so that is one reason I hold this perspective. 

 But in the larger discussion, Steam is not the future for VNs! There is one simple reason why, gamers want to game, not read! This is especially so in the west. If VNs were ever to gain any serious traction in the west, it most likely be among readers, not gamers. Of course that would require marketing VNs in a very different way, but that is the only way I see them ever breaking beyond a niche audience. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, Zalor said:

Fuck Steam! I once had to download it for a game I was interested in, and it it has been more of an inconvenience than anything else. However, I'm not much of a gamer, so that is one reason I hold this perspective. 

 But in the larger discussion, Steam is not the future for VNs! There is one simple reason why, gamers want to game, not read! This is especially so in the west. If VNs were ever to gain any serious traction in the west, it most likely be among readers, not gamers. Of course that would require marketing VNs in a very different way, but that is the only way I see them ever breaking beyond a niche audience. 

Meanwhile, stuff like The Walking Dead, Life is Strange are still doing well regardless of their nature "reading takes up most of the playtime".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Satsuki said:

Meanwhile, stuff like The Walking Dead, Life is Strange are still doing well regardless of their nature "reading takes up most of the playtime".

If I recall correctly, The Walking Dead was a popular comic and then a hit TV show before it became a game (I didn't even know there was a game of it). Meaning it already had tons of publicity first. So it is not really a good example. As for Life is Strange, I don't know much about it. But apparently it was published by Square Enix, a well established company that people know and that has the money to advertise its products. So neither seem like good examples as counter points to my original argument.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...