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ViktorBKK on 13 June 2013
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CDiablo said:
ViktorBKK said:

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.

Call of duty and Elder Scrolls are the worst examples you could possibly use. Call of duty is STILL $60(Ive seen physical copies NEW as low as $30) on steam Skyrim(again new physical as low as $10) is $30, both are MSRP store retail price. MW3 $40, retail Black Ops 1 $40, retail again. Black Ops 2 will be $40 when ghosts releases at $60. They use Steam because its the #1 DD/DRM platform on PC, and they (like the assholes they are) are the ones launching the games @ $60 for their licenses. For the longest time it was $50 standard on PC because there was no license fees and Activision was like F you guys we just want $10 more in our pockets and many of the major publishers followed suit. I know there is Steam sales and whatnot but they arent much better than retail sales especially on newer "AAA" titles. The middlemen are being ditched and prices are will stay the same on the blockbusters. The flops and old games will be sold at digital firehouse prices.

For a long time my biggest gaming fear was that Steam would take off under the guise of convenience(cant deny that) and low prices(you can usually do just as good by sale and used shopping). I was afraid consoles would copy this method and remove ownership for good, and despite the internet backlash I think the xbone will do great and with it will come the death of ownership as game devs choose the bone as their preferred method of DD/DRM. I pray that I am wrong and the bone is a colossal failure.

Physical copies of Activision & Bethesda require Steam as well. My point was that even mega publishers go through Steam, because it maximises their profit. I believe you agree with that. Steam has a fixed % cut for digital purchases, I don't know if they get a cut for physical steam-enabled copies. Other than that, the publisher/developer sets the price. Personally, I don't care for call of duty. If I can get cool games like Alan Wake or Hitman Absolution for less than 10 bucks, then I'm cool with that. To be honest though, since I got Playstation Plus I don't have nearly enough time to finish the games I get from there, so go figure ^^.

Now you may not like Steam, but I assure you the Xbox marketplace will be A LOT more expensive. And yes you are wrong, the Bone will fail. Massively. DRM or not, 500 dollars is completely out of touch with the market.