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Azzanation on 29 April 2018
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Chazore said:
Azzanation said:

 

In saying all that, I see Xbox reducing there support for Steam but not entirely. They will compete with Steam but they wont destroy Steam. If anything I see low selling MS titles still arriving on Steam while there big hitters remain a selling point for Win10 and Xbox.

Only the future will tell.

Well for one, they aren't doing an impressive job of competing against Steam, in the same way of taking what makes Steam, Steam and making it in their own image.

 

They also have no chance of "destroying" steam. Not in a million lifetimes can they hope to do so. Though that doesn't stop MS from employing it's typical EEE strategy here and there (which is designed to destroy and absorb it's competition). 

 You answered my post with your own reply.

Pemalite said:
Azzanation said:

Of course they are competing, however Steam isn't a horrible factor for MS. MS also make money off Steam and Steam also promotes Windows devices.

Microsoft only makes cash from Steam if they are the owners/publishers of a title or gain royalties from any technology being used.
Otherwise they get nothing.

And like you pointed out before, Microsoft is moving away from Steam anyway. ;)

And whether it promotes Windows Devices or not is inconsequential, it's still not a 30% cut on all sold software.

Azzanation said:

If MS saw Steam as a threat to there business model they wouldn't be releasing some of there games on it.

Microsoft hasn't released a game on Steam since September last year.
Games like Cuphead made it to Steam because Microsoft was not the developer or publisher for the title... And thus Microsoft got absolutely nothing from it.


Azzanation said:

However MS aren't against Steam as much as others want to believe, Apple and other OS's like Linux are the threats to MS. If MS saw Steam as a threat to there business model they wouldn't be releasing some of there games on it. I mean what do we take them for?

Well, you recognized that Microsoft is a competitor to Steam and vice versa.
You also recognized that Microsoft isn't going to release all it's titles on Steam.

I think that kind of says it all, regardless of either of our opinions or sentiment.

Azzanation said:

The reason Valve created the Steam Machine was due to panic of MS invading the PC digital side of games. Steam's counter against that was to compete with MS's Xbox however unfortunately for Valve it didn't turn out that well.

Valve tries all sorts of things. I think everyone and their pet cat knew that Steam Machines weren't going to set the world on fire.
Why? Because they were essentially just entering into the OEM PC market.

Azzanation said:

Valve also don't like to use DX and they tend to be pushing OpenGL which is why Windows 10 Store exists, so it creates competition for MS's own API. For some reason MS want to heavily support DX, I don't know why but they hold that API close to there heart. Win10 is to support DX for PC and Xbox is to support DX for consoles.

Valve uses and supports Direct X when it makes sense.
You can support both Direct X and OpenGL at the same time you know, like Half Life 2... Either way, developers have been leveraging and using both Direct X and OpenGL for decades, nothing has or will change on that front... Thus your claim that Microsoft took a reactionary measure with Windows Store is laughable.

In saying that, not all developers will be using Direct X even on the Xbox One, the Xbox One does have more than 1 API you know, there are low-level API's designed to extract as much capability from the hardware as possible.

Azzanation said:

In saying all that, I see Xbox reducing there support for Steam but not entirely.

 I concur. Microsoft has never truly given a shit about PC gaming, but the writing on the wall has been there for a long time now.

Azzanation said:

They will compete with Steam but they wont destroy Steam. If anything I see low selling MS titles still arriving on Steam while there big hitters remain a selling point for Win10 and Xbox.

Well. PC gamers tend to love and adore Steam, you don't hear the same kind of sentiment about the Windows Store or Xbox.
Can that change? Possibly, but Microsoft needs to do allot of work, because Games for Windows Live! is still fresh in allot of gamers minds.

Valve will argue your point. If the article below doesn't sound like there trying to move away from DX

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/09/valve-with-the-rise-of-vulkan-why-bother-with-directx-12/ 

Valve's Dan Ginsburg said: 

"Unless you are aggressive enough to be shipping a DX12 game this year, I would argue that there is really not much reason to ever create a DX12 back end for your game. And the reason for that is that Vulkan will cover you on Windows 10 on the same class of hardware and so much more from all these other platforms and IHVs that we've heard from. Metal is single platform, single vendor, and Vulkan... we are gonna have support for not only Windows 10 but Windows 7, Windows 8 and Linux."

^This post above is something that would have gotten MS's attention which we all know is a sensitive subject to MS. If MS are willing to create an entire Xbox brand to help promote DX than this is another reason why MS will go all out and have there own platform on PC to do the exact same thing Xbox is doing for consoles.

https://www.cio.com.au/article/593936/gaming-linux-steam-machines-set-soar-directx-competitor-vulkan/

Also just to point out I found this, not sure if its true since I don't own a Steam Machine

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/864980277651340133/?l=portuguese

I think I found enough evidence that proves my point with Valve and there tactics against MS's DX.

Its all an opinion on Valves move to the console market, however its just fitting that they decided to do this when MS was focusing on bringing Xbox games to Windows Store.. and how Valve are heavily supporting MS's competitor Vulkan API and Linux OS for some strangely odd reasons.. Almost sounds like this - Valve "You want to take my market than ill take yours and will do it using your competitors APIs and OS" approach.

Your point about MS not making money on Steam with games like Cuphead is true, however funny you just picked out Cuphead, what about games like Ori and the Blind Forest, Killer Instinct, Quantum Break, Fable 1 and 2, AoE2, Halo Wars, Halo Spartan Assault and Strike just to name some? They are all published by MS which means there are incentives there which means MS makes money off Steam and Steam is supporting MS's games. Of course you can cherry pick games that aren't published by them but majority of MS titles are published on Steam which again earns MS money.

Everything is in competition with each other, they all want to make the most money, that we can all agree on however MS's rivalry with Steam might be there for the fanbase however its not in the leagues of MS's rivalry with other platforms like Apple. Steam is a service which again brings MS money on more fronts than just the game sales which I mentioned above. It also promotes windows devices.

Also remember I am not here praising how good Win10 store is, however give it time and it will only improve much like how Steam was a disaster at launch and took many years before it become anything of quality. How would it settle for Valve when MS starts nailing down the issues with Win10 store and it becomes a quality app with a bunch of not only Steam games but big first party hitters that will drive people to the eco system something Valve cannot compete with unless they start buying out more studios like the Fire Watch team and start making there own games.

Long post, again I am on my phone so its hard to edit.

Last edited by Azzanation - on 29 April 2018