CDiablo said:
I honestly dont think there is as much money for publishers in the Steam model as people believe it to be. Publishers want the profit margins that traditional retail provides as well as DRM as well as a cut of (in the very least Gamestop style) used games. MS found the a way to provide that. Now publishers are seeing the backlash from this and are distancing themselves from the idea and letting MS take the fall. We still dont know the pricing model as there are rumors all the way from Steam pricing to $70 retail. I think embracing a more flexible digital pricing strategy is the only thing that can save the bone in its current state. |
If there isn't enough money for publishers in Steam's model, then please explain how powerhouse franchises like The Elder Scrolls & Call of Duty choose to use it. Mega publishers like Activision or Bethesda have the power to do whatever they want with their major franchises, and they choose to use Steam even on retail versions of their games.
Gamers have a budget. If prices are lower, they will generally buy more games. Either way, gamers can't magically spend more money than they can afford. With physical discs & used games some of that revenue goes to third parties like Gamestop etc. By lowering prices and eliminating all physical media both the publisher/developer and the consumer win. The consumer pays less per game, and the content creator ditches the middle men.
For this to happen however, the platform holder needs to have a sound understanding of market dynamics. You can't sell a "license to play" your game for the same price as you used to sell the actual game. Steam understands this. Microsoft does not. And to get back to the Xbone, it's pretty much dead on arrival. Even if they sack the entire chain of command and bring new guys to handle things over at xbox, by that time they will have lost significant ground.
