Aiming their sights at bigger developers, Valve have adjusted how much of a cut they will take for bigger titles.
Once a game makes $10 million on Steam, the new revenue split will be 75% for developers and 25% for Valve. If developers manage to hit $50 million, they will get to keep an even bigger share at 80% for them and 20% for Valve. When talking about revenue, this encompasses everything like DLC, in-game transactions and so on.
It's a smart move, one I expected Valve to do at some point given how bigger studios and publishers have been leaving Steam for their own launchers. On top of that, I was sent a screenshot of Epic Game's new beta of their launcher and it looks a lot more like a store itself now too. Considering Epic's launcher is the only place on Windows to get Fortnite, they could have a pretty huge pull and I'm sure that and more has worried Valve to make a move like this.
This doesn't directly help smaller developers though, since their share will remain the same which is apparently 70% for the developer and 30% for Steam. The argument there though, is the network effect of keeping larger titles on Steam and attracting more might help smaller developers find more users too.
The other change is a good one for developers. Before, developers were quite scared to share detailed sales data from how their games sold on Steam. Valve seem to understand that developers want to share this information, so they're now allowing it. The important bit from that:
We've heard you, and we're updating the confidentiality provisions to make it clear that the partner can share sales data about their game as they see fit.
That's really nice to see, I always felt like any attempt to hide sales data would be Valve covering up issues developers might be facing on Steam. Pleased to see that be opened up too. So now, if any developer wants to share how their games sold on Linux, reaching out to us shouldn't be an issue at all.
You can see the full post on Steam here.
You could argue for other stores like itch.io, which allow you to set the share you wish to give back which is rather nice. However, itch has a dramatically smaller user base and so sales are likely to be lower anyway. The same story for likely any other store that takes a lower cut.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: kuhpunktQuoting: DuncIt's true they didn't abandon it completely - maybe I should have said new game development - but Portal 2 is almost eight years old, and Left 4 Dead 2 is nine. Dota2 was effectively bought in, and TF2 hasn't seen a major update in a long while. It's pretty obvious that Steam has been the priority for the best part of a decade.
They LITERALLY just released a game this week. Dota 2 wasn't bought in. And just because you don't know what happens behind closed doors doesn't mean they aren't working on games. What else do you think those developers are doing?
Gabe Newell said they are [back in the business of “making and shipping games.”](https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/9/17099920/valve-artifact-new-games-gabe-newell) Emphasis mine.
He should know what happens behind his closed doors and if there's been some major gap, no?
Quoting: EikeQuoting: kuhpunktQuoting: DuncIt's true they didn't abandon it completely - maybe I should have said new game development - but Portal 2 is almost eight years old, and Left 4 Dead 2 is nine. Dota2 was effectively bought in, and TF2 hasn't seen a major update in a long while. It's pretty obvious that Steam has been the priority for the best part of a decade.
They LITERALLY just released a game this week. Dota 2 wasn't bought in. And just because you don't know what happens behind closed doors doesn't mean they aren't working on games. What else do you think those developers are doing?
Gabe Newell said they are [back in the business of “making and shipping games.”](https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/9/17099920/valve-artifact-new-games-gabe-newell) Emphasis mine.
He should know what happens behind his closed doors and if there's been some major gap, no?
How does that contradict my statement?
Quoting: kuhpunktQuoting: EikeGabe Newell said they are [back in the business of “making and shipping games.”](https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/9/17099920/valve-artifact-new-games-gabe-newell) Emphasis mine.
He should know what happens behind his closed doors and if there's been some major gap, no?
How does that contradict my statement?
You implied they've been working on games all the time, Newell is cited as being back on games, which implies they haven't.
If that's not what you wanted to express, you should make your point clearer. I got the impression though this became a discussion for the sake of discussing.
Quoting: EikeQuoting: kuhpunktQuoting: EikeGabe Newell said they are [back in the business of “making and shipping games.”](https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/9/17099920/valve-artifact-new-games-gabe-newell) Emphasis mine.
He should know what happens behind his closed doors and if there's been some major gap, no?
How does that contradict my statement?
You implied they've been working on games all the time, Newell is cited as being back on games, which implies they haven't.
If that's not what you wanted to express, you should make your point clearer. I got the impression though this became a discussion for the sake of discussing.
I'm never discussing things for the sake of discussing things. That would be pretty pointless. I just wouldn't put too much emphasis on that quote by Gabe, especially because there's some context.
It's a fact that they have been working on games all the time. Things like that space game might have fallen apart, sure. Others like HL3 might have slowed down/been restarted due to a lack of interest or whatever... but saying that they haven't been working on anything for the past couple of years is just plain wrong.
Quoting: kuhpunktAs if Artifact is no real game. Just because you don't like it or just listen to this dumb hate train?Not just me. There are thousands of reviews on Steam. People are saying it's unplayable without spending additional money on cards. Just look at this: https://steamcommunity.com/app/583950/reviews/?browsefilter=toprated
Quoting: kuhpunktHow do you know? Thos things, they take time. TF2 was shown at E3 1999. Then nothing for 7 years.HL2 and CS: Source aren't nothing. CSGO, Dota 2 and Artifact are.
Quoting: kuhpunktYou know that's a dumb argument.Do you have better guesses what Valve spent their billions on? I don't. Definitely not on game development.
Quoting: kuhpunktOthers like HL3 might have slowed down/been restarted due to a lack of interest or whatever...Because gamers are much more interested in a Dota card game than in HL3, sure.
Quoting: ageresDefinitely not on game development.
You don't know that.
Quoting: ageresBecause gamers are much more interested in a Dota card game than in HL3, sure.
Lack of interest BY THE DEVELOPERS. That's how things at Valve work. Low hierarchy.
Quoting: kuhpunktYou don't know that.You too.
I think if they had games in development they would have shown them just to tell people that Artifact is not Valve's top priority and more games are to come.
Quoting: kuhpunktLack of interest BY THE DEVELOPERS. That's how things at Valve work.Exactly. Valve don't care about what gamers want anymore, just $$$. I appreciate what Gaben is doing for Linux, but let's get real: Valve is dead as a game development company.
Quoting: ageresQuoting: kuhpunktYou don't know that.You too.
With the difference that I don't make claims like you do.
Look, it's Schrödinger's cat! You say it's dead. I say we don't know if it's alive or dead until we actually find out.
Quoting: ageresI think if they had games in development they would have shown them just to tell people that Artifact is not Valve's top priority and more games are to come.
They already said that they are working on multiple projects. Did Blizzard need to show people Titan to tell them that they were working on something? Was showing Duke Nukem Forever back in 1997 a good idea? No. It's ridiculous.
Quoting: ageresExactly. Valve don't care about what gamers want anymore, just $$$. I appreciate what Gaben is doing for Linux, but let's get real: Valve is dead as a game development company.
Way to miscontrue things. They do what they want and what they think is right. They've always done that. And if they would just want $$$ - they would just release Half-Life 3, because that guarantee millions of sales.
Quoting: kuhpunktQuoting: ageresQuoting: kuhpunktYou don't know that.You too.
With the difference that I don't make claims like you do.
Quoting: kuhpunktIt's a fact that they have been working on games all the time. Things like that space game might have fallen apart, sure. Others like HL3 might have slowed down/been restarted due to a lack of interest or whatever... but saying that they haven't been working on anything for the past couple of years is just plain wrong.
Quoting: EikeQuoting: kuhpunktQuoting: ageresQuoting: kuhpunktYou don't know that.You too.
With the difference that I don't make claims like you do.
Quoting: kuhpunktIt's a fact that they have been working on games all the time. Things like that space game might have fallen apart, sure. Others like HL3 might have slowed down/been restarted due to a lack of interest or whatever... but saying that they haven't been working on anything for the past couple of years is just plain wrong.
Yeah, so? There are facts. Things have been leaked. That's no baseless claim. I don't claim to know anything besides that. I don't know what games they will release next (besides In The Valley Of Gods) and when Half-Life 3 will be a thing and what VR games they are exactly working on.
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