The Valve and Steam Platform Discussion Thread

[Bruticis]

Indie devs are in full panic mode

Uh oh.

Steam now offers refunds: http://www.destructoid.com/steam-now-offers-full-refunds-for-any-reason-293176.phtml

Provided you have only owned the game for 2 weeks and have less than 2 hours of playtime. Which sounds fair, right?

Well, currently I make my living off of story-focused games that are under 2 hours. They can be completed in one sitting, easily. So now anyone can purchase one of my games, play it, and return it for a full refund. Effectively meaning that my two games are now free to play, and I'm probably out of a job.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

HAWHAHWHAHWHAHW

Is this the beginning of the indie-trash bubble about to prick?

 

[tuluse]

Indie devs are in full panic mode

delicious

 

[I'm Big Into Anal]

very tasty

 

[Bruticis]

Too delicious not to share, same dev. This guys having a full panic attack.

Seriously, I'm terrified of having to go back to working retail. The last couple months, for the first time, I actually felt like I was happy with what I was doing with my life. Spending full time on game development and being able to pay all our bills finally.

Sauce: http://af.gog.com/forum/general/steam_now_offers_refunds_and_im_out_of_a_job?as=1649904300

 

[Dexter]

Hmm:

Buy game. Idle trading cards. Refund. Sell cards.

 

[Tehdagah]

This can make developers less interested in releasing games on Steam.

Especially:

Abuse
Refunds are designed to remove the risk from purchasing titles on Steam—not as a way to get free games. If it appears to us that you are abusing refunds, we may stop offering them to you. We do not consider it abuse to request a refund on a title that was purchased just before a sale and then immediately rebuying that title for the sale price.

Awesome!

 

[Hoaxmetal]

"Not releasing games on Steam"

 

[Spectacle]

This can make developers less interested in releasing games on Steam.

Only developers who make shit games. Devs who make good games will benefit, since customers will be more likely to buy when there's less risk of getting stuck with a turd, and if the game is good they'll play it instead of getting a refund.

Another effect is that this move will encourage punters to buy from the Steam store rather than third party keysellers.

 

[zeitgeist]

Have you considered that the main target of this refund policy is a certain "product" that isn't actually being offered in the store at this time, but might be reintroduced in the future? One that's been heavily criticized on (among other things) the basis of not being able to preview it before committing to the purchase?

 

[Chamezero]

Steam killing indie tards who make 30 minute walking simulators about how daddy played tickle my pickle with them in kindergarten

 

[Unkillable Cat]

This all sounds like Valve complying with EU regulations. Very nice overall, but with a few troublespots. Steam cards, for example. It's now perfectly possible (though not 100% of the time) to buy a game, idle the cards, ask for a refund and then sell the cards. This I think needs to be addressed, with the obvious solution being to stretch out the drop times so that they don't start until after the 2 hour mark.

Also, shovelware indie developers getting kicked in the balls is glorious. Time to shape up or ship out!

 

[Caim]

Indie devs trying to kill the gaming scene?

Nope, Gaben kills the indie scene. And it is glorious.

 

[GrainWetski]

This all sounds like Valve complying with EU regulations. Very nice overall, but with a few troublespots. Steam cards, for example. It's now perfectly possible (though not 100% of the time) to buy a game, idle the cards, ask for a refund and then sell the cards. This I think needs to be addressed, with the obvious solution being to stretch out the drop times so that they don't start until after the 2 hour mark.

Yeah, you can probably make 2 bucks before they revoke your refunding. Totally worth it!

 

[bozia2012]

ITT people planning to abuse the system to earn 0.23EUR.

 

[Black]

tl;dr faggot curators abusing their "powers" to get free shit from devs.

BTW, how did the Kool Kodex Kurator get a copy of DA:O to recommend?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Wow...people are actually dumb enough to think that online "protection" schemes aren't actually recognized for what they are today - and reported?

 

[Spectacle]

tl;dr faggot curators abusing their "powers" to get free shit from devs.

BTW, how did the Kool Kodex Kurator get a copy of DA:O to recommend?

18000 members but only 2 of them get the extorted games. What a fucking retarded scheme. They must all be 13 year olds or something for this to seem like a worthwhile way to spend their time.

 

[pippin]

BTW, how did the Kool Kodex Kurator get a copy of DA:O to recommend?

They smuggled it inside a crate full of vodka. Like every honest citizen does.

I've seen those OTG fags everywhere. I don't care, I only follow "comedic" curators and the Codex.

 

[A horse of course]

BTW, how did the Kool Kodex Kurator get a copy of DA:O to recommend?

Infinitron admitted sucking someone at Ubisoft off in exchange for a free holiday and a copy of MMX

 

[Black]

They must all be 13 year olds or something

They're German.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...t-wave-of-steam-machines-launch-10th-november

Valve's first wave of Steam Machines launch 10th November
Or pre-order and get one almost a month early.


Valve has finally announced a release date for the first wave of its Steam Machines, which will launch at retail on 10th November.

The Steam controller has gone through numerous redesigns. The final pad now has an analogue stick.

But you can also pre-order one of the Linux-based gaming PCs and get it almost a month earlier, on 16th October.

Alienware's Steam Machine is first up with four flavours that range in price from $449 up to $749 (around £295 up to £490).

Valve's €54 (about £39) Steam Controller (the one that looks like a robotic owl) is available for pre-order as well.

So too is the Steam Link box (a tiny gizmo that streams games from your rig to your telly screen), which will also cost €54.

You'll need a Steam Link for any games that don't have a Linux version. But even without a Link, your Steam Machine will handle the bulk of Valve's bulging marketplace.

Steam will open UK pre-orders shortly here, via Valve's website. You will also be able to buy the Steam Link and controller at GAME from 16th October when pre-order customers begin receiving their PCs.

 

[LESS T_T]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/353370

It's top seller right now.

 

[Metro]

Needed to play Witcher 3 in its native console mode.

 

[Infinitron]

SteamSpy dude does some price point analysis: https://medium.com/@galyonkin/pricing-on-steam-67d1e040b543

Pricing on Steam



Setting the right price for your game is a big problem every single indie developer will have to face when launching a game on Steam.




Here are some SteamSpy stats to help you make the right choice.

$9.99 is not the answer
Let’s start with what everyone else is doing. It is obvious that $9.99 and $4.99 are the most popular price tags on Steam. That’s because Steam has two pages dedicated to games under $9.99 and $4.99.

Does it mean that your game is going to sell better if you price it cheaper? I don’t think so. I think we have several distinct categories on Steam when it comes to pricing and setting your price too low or too high will give people wrong expectations about your title.

As you can see fitting into the right category will affect your revenue. Of course, most of your sales won’t come at the full price, but your original price is a starting point and can only go lower. So choose wisely.

Content matters
Of course user expectations for titles are the most important thing. You don’t want to sell a tiny game at AAA price, because you won’t sell many copies and you’ll make your gamers feel ripped off.

It’s interesting that we see a clear drop off in average playtime for the full priced games sold at $30.00 to $49.99 —basically AAA price I was talking about. That’s probably because most of the games at this price point are expensive cinematic experiences that don’t leave anything for users to do after they’ve completed the storyline mode.

But games priced higher at $50.00 to $69.99? That’s Call of Duty, GTA and other expensive titles with either an open world or multiplayer mode attached.

Regional pricing
Steam advises setting local pricing for some markets with lower GDP per capita — mostly BRIC and developing countries. Please, follow its advice, because it matters a lot.

For example, Russians and Chinese are infamous for pirating games and if you check geo stats for some games you’ll see that these countries aren’t buying much.

Except when your game is priced according to expectations in this region (and localized properly, but that’s a topic for another post). An average share of China in paid games is around 1%, but for GTA V it’s 10% — and we’re talking about 250 thousand additional copies sold because of the right price. The same is true for Russia — Russians can buy up to 18% of your game copies if you price, localize and market it right.

Effectively you can double your sales and increase your revenue by up to 50% if you cater to the most important markets outside US and Europe.

***
Of course pricing isn’t the only thing you have to worry about when releasing a game on Steam. We’ll talk about those other things later.