I have no idea how many devs worked on BG3 and that number has 0 impact on my enjoyment of the game. Given the number of hours I spent playing BG3, the price made it one of the cheapest forms of entertainment available.
And, as a developer, I really don’t care how much companies pay to marketing vendors. Developer pay is generally negotiated when you’re hired. I haven’t worked in B2C but, as I understand it, they usually pay bonuses on sales volume rather than profits.
You seem to have completely missed the point that Valve does not deserve 1/3 of all gaming revenue for running an automated digital store.
And, as a developer, I really don’t care how much companies pay to marketing vendors. Developer pay is generally negotiated when you’re hired. I haven’t worked in B2C but, as I understand it, they usually pay bonuses on sales volume rather than profits.
Honestly what are you even trying to say here? That because you write B2B software on a salaried basis, that that means that an indie game dev doesn’t care whether or not Valve takes 30% of all of their revenue?
Like no shit sherlock, thats a matter of you being a salaried employee. If you owned your own company you would very much care about a middle making taking 1/3 off the top.
That would be how monopolies work. You realize that Steam doesn’t require exclusivity, right? You can get BG3 all over the place. When customers have choice between vendors it’s not a monopoly, even if they tend to make the same choice.
If Larian didn’t list their game on Steam and subject themselves to Valve 30% mafia fee, they would get no sales because Valve has a monopoly.
That is why they choose to keep paying Valve’s extortionate fee.
Consumers keep using Steam because Steam’s terms of service prevent a developer from selling their.gsme cheaper on other stores, meaning that consumers never have incentive to buy it elsewhere.
Valve is abusing their monopoly, which is why monopolies need regulation, the type of which Tim Sweeney is calling for.
You’re just going to link to an unrelated article?
Literally all that says is that the Larian Publishing Lead doesn’t like Epic buying exclusive game rights. It says literally nothing about their thoughts on Steam’s 30% of revenue fee.
Because it’s enriching millionaires and billionaires for not doing shit, at the expense of gamers who are overpaying, and/or game developers who are losing out on revenue they can use to pay the people actually making games.
And because gamers act like billionaire-Gabe is a saint, and billionaire-Sweeney is the devil, when Gabe has ripped everyone off for decades, and Tim Sweeney just paid developers for exclusive game rights to try and launch a competitor store.
Tim Sweeney has also risked a significant chunk of Epic’s Fortnite fortune on lawsuits that have fundamentally changed and broken the app store monopoly, and he’s spent much of his personal fortune on buying up land for nature conservation.
The idea that Gabe and Valve are saints and Tim and Epic are the devil is fucking dumb.
How many people did it take to make Baldur’s Gate?
Do you think it took Valve 30% of that number to maintain steam during that time?
That’s a completely irrelevant number.
I have no idea how many devs worked on BG3 and that number has 0 impact on my enjoyment of the game. Given the number of hours I spent playing BG3, the price made it one of the cheapest forms of entertainment available.
And, as a developer, I really don’t care how much companies pay to marketing vendors. Developer pay is generally negotiated when you’re hired. I haven’t worked in B2C but, as I understand it, they usually pay bonuses on sales volume rather than profits.
Whoosh.
You seem to have completely missed the point that Valve does not deserve 1/3 of all gaming revenue for running an automated digital store.
Honestly what are you even trying to say here? That because you write B2B software on a salaried basis, that that means that an indie game dev doesn’t care whether or not Valve takes 30% of all of their revenue?
Like no shit sherlock, thats a matter of you being a salaried employee. If you owned your own company you would very much care about a middle making taking 1/3 off the top.
So you don’t care that Larian isn’t harmed, you don’t care that the dev’s aren’t harmed, you don’t care that the consumer isn’t harmed.
You just feel bad for Epic?
What are you talking about? Larian loses 30% of every single dollar spent on their game.
Of course that harms them.
Do you think Larian’s management is also stupid?
Any halfway decent GTM executive would have checked their distribution channel options and chosen the mix that makes them the most money, net of fees.
Why would they pay for a service that harms them?
Because it’s the only one. That’s how a monopoly works.
That would be how monopolies work. You realize that Steam doesn’t require exclusivity, right? You can get BG3 all over the place. When customers have choice between vendors it’s not a monopoly, even if they tend to make the same choice.
If Larian didn’t list their game on Steam and subject themselves to Valve 30% mafia fee, they would get no sales because Valve has a monopoly.
That is why they choose to keep paying Valve’s extortionate fee.
Consumers keep using Steam because Steam’s terms of service prevent a developer from selling their.gsme cheaper on other stores, meaning that consumers never have incentive to buy it elsewhere.
Valve is abusing their monopoly, which is why monopolies need regulation, the type of which Tim Sweeney is calling for.
If Larian has no problem, why do you?
Also https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/in-response-to-epic-ceo-tim-sweeney-waging-war-on-steam-larians-publishing-lead-says-giving-everyone-everything-for-free-might-bump-numbers-but-doesnt-create-a-viable-storefront/
So you’re not going to answer the question?
You’re just going to link to an unrelated article?
Literally all that says is that the Larian Publishing Lead doesn’t like Epic buying exclusive game rights. It says literally nothing about their thoughts on Steam’s 30% of revenue fee.
Like seriously what do you care? Why does it matter to you how much cut Steam or Epic take?
Personally I just don’t give a shit. I am supporting Linux gaming development, that’s all I care about.
Because it’s enriching millionaires and billionaires for not doing shit, at the expense of gamers who are overpaying, and/or game developers who are losing out on revenue they can use to pay the people actually making games.
And because gamers act like billionaire-Gabe is a saint, and billionaire-Sweeney is the devil, when Gabe has ripped everyone off for decades, and Tim Sweeney just paid developers for exclusive game rights to try and launch a competitor store.
Tim Sweeney has also risked a significant chunk of Epic’s Fortnite fortune on lawsuits that have fundamentally changed and broken the app store monopoly, and he’s spent much of his personal fortune on buying up land for nature conservation.
The idea that Gabe and Valve are saints and Tim and Epic are the devil is fucking dumb.
I’ll respect Tim more if he supports and contributes to Linux.
Linux Development Quickstart: Get started developing with Unreal Engine on Linux.
How many contributions to RADV, ACO, Proton?
How many viable game engines / game development toolchains does Valve produce that run on Linux?
You’re cherry picking parts of the ecosystem to care about, because it serves your preexisting narrative that Valve=Good, Epic=Bad.