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All Hail the Game Platform War - Discord to Offer Devs a 90/10 Split - MMORPG.com News
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
All Hail the Game Platform War - Discord to Offer Devs a 90/10 Split - MMORPG.com News
Discord is the latest entry into the game platform war. Previously, we learned that Steam takes a whopping 30% cut for distribution of games. Enter Epic and its proprietary game platform with a 12% cut for distribution. Now we have Discord which is offering developers a 10% premium to distribute games. Let the battle begin! The blog asks, "Why does it cost 30% to distribute games?" Their answer? It doesn't.
Comments
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
30% is way too big of a cut .. and that big games can negotiate a better deal and also getting better disposure just tilts the balance even more against indie and small developers.
Are you watching crApple and Guggol?
"I am my connectome" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HA7GwKXfJB0
The only query i would have is how Steam operates,like do all of those devs signed up with Valve have commitments ,are their contracts or anything legal binding to force them to continue using Valve..idk.I thought trying to operate a monopoly was very much illegal but seeing this sort of stuff is already happening with for example sports games,i guess the government legal forces have gone AWOL.
If everything is legit ,then it might just simply come down to $$$ leaving Steam out in the cold.
What both Discord and Epic need to do is really market their apps,make sure people see them everywhere with links to download otherwise people already likely have Steam loaded and won't be bothered to load another.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Sometimes. This competition is going to be a pain in the ass though. It's going to fragment access to games further. If companies start signing exclusives, it's going to be annoying as hell. I was already pissed when EA, UBI, EPIC and the rest all created their own platforms. If I have to start having a dozen platforms to have access to the games I want, I may just be an old grumpy man and just go back to consoles save for MMOs. Ahh who am I kidding, i'll just stay on Steam forever.
If I want a world in which people can purchase success and power with cash, I'll play Real Life. Keep Virtual Worlds Virtual!
I don't use any of these platforms for social features or anything else. If I can buy a game at a good price and have the chance for a refund if it's a dud, then I'm happy. I don't care if I have everything all in one place and I find the idea of a single company holding a monopoly on games distribution to be an odious, non-consumer-friendly thing.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
After doing some research on all 3,it really seems like Discord may be the best of them all.
IMO All 3 have flaws,can't anyone get the whole package done right...sigh
So Steam=less than 2 hours you get a refund.NO support for games.That is it that is all.20-30% take is garbage.
Epic=a super pain in the ass to get a refund,basically bullshit.Exclusives ,meaning they are trying to CONTROL the market,,that is a no no.They will however give any dev using the Unreal engines an even better break,so this is definitely a good thing.
12% with possibility of 5% less if using Unreal engine is the best of the best.
Discord=Same refund policy as Steam but had to be purchased last 14 days.One flaw here gifting cannot be refunded which is imo very odd.I think i know why this is but don't want to talk about that right now,has to do with accounts and removing accounts.10% is a great deal with developers no other options.
Discord will allow you to play games purchased on other platforms,that is a huge ++.
So how i rate them...
Discord 8/10
Epic 6/10
Steam 5/10.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
That's all assuming, we the consumer, see any difference in price. I wouldn't bet on it. But hey, to each their own. Me, I'd gladly pay a buck or two more per game for the convenience.
Shelves of CDs is fairly irrelevant. My shelf isn't the distributor, the store is. And while it's nice to have options, I do want to make sure Amazon is able to carry every game because I don't want to have to go to a dozen different stores to get the collection of games I want. Exclusives have never been a win in the gaming industry. And it's a pain in the ass that I have to have Origin just so my wife can play 1 game (the sims). I for one, really don't want a system where I have to have a dozen platforms to play the games I want.
And if your bottom line is your dollar. Let's refresh on how economics work. The one moving the most product can charge the most fees and still offer it at the biggest discount to the consumer. Walmart and Amazon are one of the most expensive places for companies to sell products yet they sell the most and for the cheapest to the consumer.
Steam is Walmart. There are other cheaper options for the seller, but they won't move product like Steam. And because Steam makes so many sales to such a large audience, they can cut their prices further. EPIC and Discord need higher margins to compete with steam yet their business model is based on destroying those margins by cutting their fees. I doubt it will last.
Have you ever heard of this trading platform called Robinhood? They offer commission free trades, it was pretty radical like cutting developer fees in 1/3. They drew some respectable business (for the time being). Even me because it's fun to make aggressive stock and option trades with spare change. Yet the majority of my investments are in the high fee big banks. Why? I get better management, I don't do frequent trades with my long term investments so the commission doesn't bother me, and I get better prices when I do make trades because they don't sell my flow. Sure some, like JP Morgan, are lowering their fees to better compete, granted with a new platform that sucks compared to their normal platform. But ultimately, the others will wait for these commission-less platforms to fail and probably increase their prices when everyone comes running back.
My point is that when you cut fees, you ultimately cut service or infrastructure (people lost tons of money on Robinhood the other day when accounts were locked and option trading was down almost all day). One thing I'll be real eager to hear as these platforms roll out is how the developers like working with them. It will be cheaper. Will it be as easy. WIll it be more restrictive? Will they support and promote indie games? Or bury them for big sellers, because they REALLY need to move inventory to be successful. One thing steam does do well is promoting indie games. Which is part of the reason I'm in love with Steam.
I obviously feel these platforms are a dumb idea, but it will certainly be fun to watch as it all plays out.
So as always, keep us updated! You do a great job on the news!
If I want a world in which people can purchase success and power with cash, I'll play Real Life. Keep Virtual Worlds Virtual!
Also Discord is garbage
I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil
Competition is good, but I'd like to see how this is going to be a financial benefit to the consumer. If this translates into lower pricing for the same games, then that'll be a huge win for the gaming community. But, if we are going to continue paying box pricing for digital downloads from all of these store platforms, then what's the point? I'll just stick with steam since since my library is already on that platform.