should Xbox follow PlayStation & stop selling games on Steam ?

should Microsoft deploy xbox games on Steam

  • never

    Votes: 3 75.0%

  • timed exclusive on xbox pc app. deploy later on steam app

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • day & date on steam app alongwith xbox pc app

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • Total voters
    4
Marees

Marees

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why should Microsoft pay Valve 30% for first party xbox games?

on top of this xbox games already share most codebase with xbox pc app. going forward with xbox helix, any xbox playanywhere game will have identical code base between console & xbox pc app — whereas with steam you may need to optimize game (for nvidia PCs)
 
MS could negotiate a sweetheart deal with Steam. Or do a hostile takeover.
 
I'm willing to bet Microsoft ~does~ have some sweetheart deal with Valve. Most of the large distributors do, I'm sure, and the details of such are probably locked behind NDAs. Even Apple has a discount for "preferred" distributors/developers.

That said - why shouldn't Microsoft pay them? No one is forcing Microsoft, or anyone else, to list on Valve, and Valve doesn't force you to make the price equal on all storefronts... so you could just mark it up to cover the loss of revenue, if you really wanted to.
 
Brian_B said:
Valve doesn't force you to make the price equal on all storefronts...
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if true, this should make it easier for Microsoft

maybe they could give discount on game purchases, if you already have a base/starter game pass subscription
 
Marees said:
if true, this should make it easier for Microsoft

maybe they could give discount on game purchases, if you already have a base/starter game pass subscription
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Usually - not always, but usually...

If you purchase the base game on one platform, all the subsequent purchases need to be through that platform to apply to the game. There are some exceptions, it depends on how you do IAP/redeem in your game. But most developers don't let you mix and match storefronts.

That said - would be nice. But I wouldn't count on it.
 
If MS made the Helix store tightly integrated with the new Xbox experience (games are optimized 'out of the box', seamless crossplay/crosssave, etc) and third party stores are "behind a desktop" (user has to go into desktop mode, install the launchers, install the games, properly configure - just like Steam Deck); The Helix store would already be ahead of the curve and shouldn't have to make their games exclusive to their PC platform.

I also think it'd be smart for MS to introduce 'price matching' to their online store that will match major 3rd party launcher game prices (Steam, Epic, etc) or some further incentive to have users purchase from their store.

However, should MS start blocking their single player exclusives for Playstation? They might want to consider that - with Sony focusing on keeping their exclusives Playstation-only and offering (allegedly) cheaper hardware than Helix - there's a lot of incentive to go with Playstation over Xbox next gen.
 
SeymourGore said:
I also think it'd be smart for MS to introduce 'price matching' to their online store that will match major 3rd party launcher game prices (Steam, Epic, etc) or some further incentive to have users purchase from their store.
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i am asking something like this

  1. limit porting to playstation. either never or timed with a delay
  2. remove day and date from all gamepass except the highest ultimate (tiers)
  3. rest of the tiers will only have old games aka timed exclusive model
  4. have a very basic gamepass tier that has only live service games. make it as cheap as possible. example $25/year
  5. heavily & permanently & publicly discount all Microsoft first party games for any gamepass subscriber of any tier
for ex:

let us say Call of Duty is $90 on steam
it could be available day and date for "free" on the topmost/ultimate tier
in one or two tiers below that it could be available for free after a delay
in all other tiers sell it for a significantly discounted vs steam. ex $40 to $50 assuming steam price is $90

this is the only way they survive as a hardware company
otherwise xbox becomes a software brand like Sega
 
I don't know... steam protecting their revenue stream.. I need to read this... will edit with impressions.

So lets digest that post... Valve AKA Steam is not the bad guy here... The cases in point are...

Publisher makes game (not Valve aka Steam).

Publisher lists game on steam working with Steam on an presumably agreed price or just sets the price to X.

Publisher then has a sweetheart deal with another distributer.. lets call them Epic. Where Epic can sell the game for a LOT less.

Or better yet... Publisher has their OWN digital market place as well. So sells the SAME game for markedly less on their platform with the goal of gaining more direct users to their platform instead of Steam.

What's clear here is...

1. Steam is NOT in charge of the price on their platform. They expect people to play ball and maintain price parity. (I don't know about steam sales... probably negotiated with publishers as part of the contract.)

2. Developers/Publishers not Steam set their prices working with Steam.

When the same publisher offers the game for markedly less cost on competing platforms it's an anti competitive move against steam.

Steam delisting the game from their storefront simply steers users to the alternate platform if they choose to use it, where they can get said game for a less expensive cost.

There lever here is that in the PC gaming arena steam IS the big dog. Some developers simply can't exist without Steam to maintain profitability. It hurts them financially to be delisted on Steam.

So this begs the question... Why in all that is holy would you BITE the hand that feeds you? You don't try and say screw you Steam. They are in effect your partner not your competitor. They maintain a largely neutral presence in the market place. As a game maker I wouldn't want to screw over steam... if I got a sweetheart deal from Platform X... I would let Steam know so they could choose to offer the same deal or not... and not blindside steam. Work with your partners. I've seen no evidence here that Steam is doing something bad or unethical here. If anything they are just protecting their storefront and their consumers from what looks like otherwise anticompetitive practices.

Maybe I'm too much of a Steam fanboy here...

but the normal employee at Steam reportedly is bringing in 43 MILLION a year... I can support that.
 
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I bought and play forza horizon 6 via the native Microsoft store. Works fine... zero issues. What the heck are people bitching about here?
 
Grimlakin said:
So this begs the question... Why in all that is holy would you BITE the hand that feeds you? You don't try and say screw you Steam. They are in effect your partner not your competitor. They maintain a largely neutral presence in the market place. As a game maker I wouldn't want to screw over steam... if I got a sweetheart deal from Platform X... I would let Steam know so they could choose to offer the same deal or not... and not blindside steam. Work with your partners. I've seen no evidence here that Steam is doing something bad or unethical here. If anything they are just protecting their storefront and their consumers from what looks like otherwise anticompetitive practices.

Maybe I'm too much of a Steam fanboy here...

but the normal employee at Steam reportedly is bringing in 43 MILLION a year... I can support that.
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the tension here is this:

Phil Spencer convinced Nadella to spend trillions on Xbox including ABK — all this would mean either a) some kind of discount on xbox pc app for first party games (vs steam) or b) full/timed exclusives on xbox pc app vs steam

we know for sure that newly appointed xbox chief STRATEGY officer Matthew Ball – in his previous avatar as analyst — has publicly questioned why xbox should pay 30% to valve

we know what they are thinking. question is do they have the balls to pull xbox games off steam or deep discount for gamepass users vs steam store ?

remember if they can't promote hardware they risk becoming a software company like Sega. to promote hardware their games have to be optimized for directx 13 in rdna 5 console. they've also publicly said that it is literally the exact same code base between helix console code & pc xbox code, with some slight modifications for handhelds / clouds.

all this console specific optimization could go for a toss if they have to deploy on steam rather than xbox play anwhere or xcloud. at this point, they might as well ask asus & lenovo to sell a PC booting into xbox mode & exit hardware
 
crux of the problem is that Phil Spencer projected a delusional level of growth for gamepass. with GP having stagnated (& also eating into play anywhere sales + dev bonus), it is time for a reckoning now.

xbox is now a massive content publisher. do they turn into a sega & keep paying 30% of the cut to Valve & Sony ? it is not just xbox that is at risk. valve has their own operating system & hardware too

or do they throw a hail mary pass in a last ditch attempt to save hardware. I am sure CEO Asha & CSO Matthew are looking at all possible options to execute a hail mary
 
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