…yes there is - fucking socials. Make a cool trailer, that they do anyway, and use interns to spam it to gaming groups and just tag the hell out of it.
Nothing stops them and yet they mostly don’t. There is no good way for a dev to put a game before your eyes, so they have to have some kind of store to do it.
Skv@lemmy.world 1 week ago
architect@thelemmy.club 6 days ago
LOL SPOKEN LIKE SOMEONE WHO HAS NO IDEA!
You get no fucking reach on socials now. None. It’s all pay to play! I’m speaking fully from experience i do this full time!
Nalivai@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Shit like that could work 10 years ago, not anymore. Not that it worked reliably 10 years ago. You essentially want people to spend all the money and time making a game, and then gamble on the algorythm and that Zukerberg will allow anyone to see your shit. And if you lose the gamble, enjoy your 7 buyers and no shot to get anything in the future.
No wonder nobody actually does that, and people publish on Steam where there are oodles of mechanisms to connect people with money who want a game and people with a game who want money.Skv@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Or pay MORE to Steam to promote your upcoming game? Please.
Nalivai@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Yes, pay more to Steam to get people buying it and also enjoy other Steam perks. Or, pay (presumably) less and receive nothing and not get your money back.
ClamDrinker@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Exactly, this is the clear sign that Steam is providing actual value to both developers and players. The PC ecosystem has always had the guaranteed threat of an open platform, so you could cut out any middleman. Which is why it’s such a hostile platform to predatory middlemen. The fact this isn’t being done to Steam demonstrates them as an example of a (relatively) good middleman.
Best example of Steam being left out and still succeeding on PC - Minecraft launched in a time when Steam was already around and just said “nah, we’re good” (citing the 30% cut and concerns over monopoly status) and just went it’s own way. There are still plenty of games being created on PC without Steam in the mix, itch.io, self publishing. Steam just makes it a lot easier so many people legitimately want to use them, others don’t and can do so. And that’s how it should be!
architect@thelemmy.club 6 days ago
Yea but in the end sure he didn’t fund steam he just became another shitty billionaire with way way worse opinions. Cool. That’s not winning… at all…
ClamDrinker@lemmy.world 6 days ago
I agree, though this was in the time when he wasn’t really crazy. But two things can be true at the same time, and I wasn’t trying to make a point in that direction. I could’ve picked other examples of developers that kept a level head, they would just be much less known.