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Old 2012-06-18, 11:30 AM   [Ignore Me] #58
kaffis
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Re: Higby/Devs: PS2 Linux + Steam Q's


Originally Posted by Sensator View Post
Competition is good for consumers like us, so be glad Origin succeeded--it means that Valve will have to keep up their game.

As for PS2 on Steam? I'd say it's very likely.
The problem with citing Origin as "competition" for Steam is that the competition only works when you're not talking exclusives for one or the other.

EA is a huge distributor, in control of a vast catalog of games and developers. Since releasing Origin, none of those games have shown up on competing digital distribution services, or, if they have, they require the installation of Origin anyways for the microtransaction/matchmaking integration.

Thus, Origin doesn't compete on price/services, since those games are only available at one outlet, or completely disconnect themselves from the services of competitors in order to just fire up the Origin services instead.

Now, that's not to say that Valve is innocent of the same charges. But their stable of games is vastly smaller -- when you complain about Valve exclusives, you're talking maybe a dozen titles, most of which start with "Half-Life" or "Portal." And, despite not having to compete on price, those still see regular sales and price cuts. Not so with EA's catalog of Origin exclusives.

As for Steam and F2P microtransactions/DLC and their cut... It's my understanding that Valve's cut is pretty reasonable; enough so that many independent developers have stated the magnitude of their preference for Steam distribution over traditional distributors/publishers. That includes some Free to Play games. It is also my understanding that Valve has a requirement that any DLC/microtransactions offered for a game must be offered as well through their own payment system. This is likely why EA pulled their content from Steam -- they've been moving towards DLC in the first place to cut out the retail/Valve middleman and their cut of the profits, so allowing Valve to have a piece of the DLC pie goes against their business strategy that drove them to DLC in the first place. Fair enough, even though I think it's a shitty result for the customer.

SOE, however, appears to be satisfied with its arrangements with Valve in such respects, as the presence of other F2P SOE games suggests. If I'm able to buy Station Cash through Steam, I'm more likely to do so, since it will be more convenient. Why will it be more convenient? Because Steam is one of the web sites I've entrusted in the past with payment information, and feel comfortable doing so again. I haven't given my current credit card info to SOE, and would be disinclined to do so (in the near future, at least), so if I can't get Station Cash through Steam, I have to remember to do so when I visit a retail establishment that sells Station Cash Cards or whatever they're called. Either way, I'm opting to go a route that I consider more private, but which involves a third party in the transaction. It's unfortunate (from SOE's perspective) that this incurs a margin for that third party, but considering that it results in my increased comfort and security in purchasing Station Cash... it probably ends up a net win for them anyways.



Finally, one thing I forgot to point out with #2 in my earlier post -- the point about security and giving out identifying information to make accounts and whatnot. MMOs are an edge-case in this discussion, since they require account information *anyways.* It's worth mentioning, and I forgot to include it.

Last edited by kaffis; 2012-06-18 at 11:44 AM.
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