As Xbox and PlayStation flounder, Steam is reportedly having another record year

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• Quazatron@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Treating your customers decently can lead to profits in the long run. What an insight. They should teach that at business schools.

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  • Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Best I can do is create shareholder value by making our product shittier and more expensive. Take it or leave it kid

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  • tixooo@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Who would have thought that eh?

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  • mecen@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Online subscription is a joke at this point

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• JordanZ@lemmy.world ⁨56⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

  One appears to actually like their customers and the other two are actively hostile towards them. I’m sure somebody at Microsoft/Sony are scratching their heads trying to figure out what’s wrong.

  Sony’s disc move just screams of a corporate accountant trying to improve the financials and they pick one of the dumbest options to cut costs on. Retailers are obviously upset as digital download cards probably sell like crap compared to physical copies. Outside of gifts I have no idea why anybody would bother.

  Also worth mentioning Sony’s CEO and CSO sold 56% and 18% of their shares 2 days after the disc announcement to the tune of millions.

  Sony has a 457m lawsuit against them for antitrust issues which they’ve historically defended with…physical disc sales. So I’m happy to see that decision blowing up in their face and I’ll wait for the outcome on that.

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  • MilitantAtheist@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

    Tell me again how many discs valve is selling? What happens to your steam account when you die.

    I like valve, but don’t fool yourselves, Gabe N does not give a shit about the customers any more than Asha or Hideaki.

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• JoeKrogan@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

  Valvle is the only only one supporting Linux!. The rest are greedy fucks.

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• FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Fuck yeah, love you Valve.

  Love your contributions to Linux more though.

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  • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Ew. That’s a corporation. Stop.

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    • FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      If a corporation does something good, it's OK to say, "Hey, good job. I love that!"

      If a corporation does something legitimately shitty, it's definitely OK to criticize them mercilessly too (I do it all the time, would recommend).

      What's not OK is trying to tell me people what they can or can't praise/criticize.

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• IEatDaFeesh@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  The key is being consistent and transparent. We got gut punched by the Steam Machine price, but it was an expected and transparent outcome. XBOX and Sony are so volatile that it’s making Steam look like a saint. From laying people off, to constant price increases, to the disc situation. Both these companies need to chill tf out.

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  • chunkystyles@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Add to this MS buying up all of these game studios to do nothing with them and then kill them because they’re so inept.

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    • imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨28⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      Their actions look like a typical monopoly. Buy competition to destroy it later so you’re the only one in business.

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• cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  In case anyone’s not clear as to why: Sony has announced that they’ll stop producing discs and that they can take your content at any time for any reason.

  Historically, Steam has promised they will never do that and will offer DRM-free (clarification: they’ll remove the Steam DRM) downloads.

  Also, all of them have jacked prices up. Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam have raised hardware prices around 35-40%. However, Steam runs on PCs they don’t sell, as well as Macs, and they have a Linux distribution they provide for free called Steam OS.

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  • Tango@piefed.ca ⁨31⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

    How have Epic and GOG been faring?

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  • FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Valve has not jacked up prices: Their game prices have been consistently among the cheapest and the only reason their hardware is expensive now is because part manufacturers are mostly price gouging (lying about AI being the cause of ALL the increased costs, which isn't true, just like it wasn't entirely true with the bitcoin mining craze).

    It's also worth pointing out that Valve has made massive contributions to Linux gaming (and Linux in general), which enables people to game on potato-spec machines and compared to other gaming platforms, they are far better than almost all of them except for GOG.

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    • cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      Well, if the Steam Deck hasn’t gone up in price where you’re at, you might wanna buy a couple. Keep them sealed, you can sell them for a profit later. Most places, they’ve gone up quite a bit.

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  • rtxn@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Steam has promised they will never do that

    Can you give us a credible source?

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    • Elting@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I have never seen anyone back that claim up, despite it being a very popular one to make. People like to pretend they own their steam games but until that gets enforced by law; you don’t.

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  • yermaw@sh.itjust.works ⁨51⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

    and that they can take your content at any time for any reason.

    Its less that they can and more that they definitely will. The fact that they can has been fear-mongered and pearl-clutched over since the dawn of online sales.

    Until now its been handwaved away as obviously nobody would actually shoot themselves in the fucking face like that. But then they did.

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  • RedIce25@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Even if Valve promised DRM-free downloads if they go belly upn there’s no chance in hell they’ll ever actually do that

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  • magikmw@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    DRM is up to publishers, not Steam. Valve doesn’t enforce or require it, and it’s unlikely publishers would lift DRM from their games because Valve asked.

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    • Sonotsugipaa@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Steam does have a DRM mechanism - it’s optional and easy to circumvent, but it’s there

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• mursejoy@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

  Funny to see articles like this after the wave of steam machine bad press. If you visit console based subreddits there are so many bagging in Steam.

  Meanwhile you’ll never own a PlayStation disc again after next year. Great contribution to the industry Sony!

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• itrealgood@mander.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Gosh I wonder if it is to do with the fact that I can (and do) run steam on a €250 second hand pc running mint

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  • thingsiplay@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    More importantly, the entire software (shops, operating system) and hardware are not a locked down platform and controlled by a single company. And the Steam prices (one word: sales) and rights (money return rights, games never get rewoked) are the best among the industry.

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  • FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Mint is cool, but have you tried Bazzite? I just switched a while back and it's been a pretty solid gaming experience.

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• Canuck@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

  Its clear that PC is the future console. I’ve been buying in GOG primarily, and Steam only when it is not available there and has no chance of ever being there

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• AnalogAllamma@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I have a few issues with Steam. #1 all purchased games are tied to the account. There’s some that supposedly you can extract it from Steam and play it offline. However it’s not quite clear to me how to go about finding that out and how to do it for each game. There should be an icon and game sub menu option in the library for any game capable of extraction for offline play and more so play with out launching Steam.

  #2 Support sucks. It’s automated as hell far as I’ve experienced. Nobody human to speak with.

  #3 it’s a Monopoly.

  #4 Privacy issues. Mainly, no access to full friends list chat logs. Surely Steam has full access. Why withhold it?

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  • hydrashok@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    all purchased games are tied to the account

    This isn’t exactly hidden detail. I do wish you could sell/transfer a game license though.

    However it’s not quite clear to me how to go about finding that out and how to do it for each game.

    Nothing special. Install the game. When you’re offline, play it. Of course things like multiplayer won’t work, or games that require you to be online like an MMO, but that’s about it. The online and offline experience are identical.

    #2 Support sucks. It’s automated as hell far as I’ve experienced. Nobody human to speak with.

    What do you need support for that isn’t documented, out of curiosity? I’ve been on Steam for 20 years and have never needed to contact support.

    it’s a Monopoly.

    It’s the biggest, but it’s not a monopoly.

    Privacy issues. Mainly, no access to full friends list chat logs. Surely Steam has full access. Why withhold it?

    Why would you assume that Steam has access? Chats are auto-deleted after 14 days per Steam policy. This has been the case for at least 5 years now.

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    • AnalogAllamma@lemmy.world ⁨29⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      Why would I assume they don’t have access? Based on how every other large internet company operates, they are capable of using and storing your data for any purpose they want, for however long they want, and not declare it to their users. If questioned, they lie.

      Perhaps I’m an anamoly in that I don’t hold Valve in such high esteem as most do.

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  • FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    What else would purchases be tied to??? This criticism doesn't make any sense. Support has been great for me and no, it's certainly not a monopoly: There are dozens of game stores online. Just because Valve created the best one doesn't mean it's a monopoly, it means that all the other ones are shit (except for GOG, they're awesome and even better in some ways).

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    • AnalogAllamma@lemmy.world ⁨39⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      It’s a monopoly of attention and convenience in the same way that smart phones and social media overall.

      Rest assured I enjoyed Steam in the decade plus after the launch. In throughout the years that followed, I found myself amassing games that I’ve yet to play. 2 bucks for a $50 game? It’s too easy and convenient to resist! I feel I’m not respecting or more so showing less appreciation for games and those that make them. Most all of the physical disc games I’ve acquired in the past. I’ve played heavily. I can only think of one game I never installed / played. Most were full priced games, 40-60.

      I’ve found that the convenience offered by Steam and other systems like it, have hidden costs, security and privacy amongst other things.

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    • Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      The first point is explained if you read

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  • ampersandrew@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    There are DRM-free games on Steam, but they really ought to advertise on the store page which ones those are, because we can currently only find out by experimentation and community wikis.

    You’ll get a human in a couple of days if the automated portions couldn’t resolve your issue in full.

    It’s not a monopoly.

    My guess is that they’re actively purging chat logs at the same rate that they disappear off of your system. They’re storing data for over 130M active users every month, and I’m sure they’d be happy to be rid of a lot of the least useful of it.

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    • AnalogAllamma@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      Chat logs are stored on the clients system? First I’ve heard of that. If that’s true why the need to delete them off the client?

      The reason this bugs me is that I’ve had people accessing my account when I’m not online. Which in the past 8 years, I’ve only been on 99% of the time.

      I know this for many reasons, one of which is the 142 hours logged on No Man’s Sky. I only played that game for 5 minutes.

      Another reason, one day someone on my friends list messaged me. They said they were an old co worker of mine, a particularly nasty individual, someone who would never be playing any video games whatsoever. This person had detailed information about about me and used it to harass / scare me. When I was offline, someone logged in and added / accepted this person as a friend.

      I blocked them and reported it to support. But never received any response. Not sure what they could do anyhow but I at least hoped for some kind of response. Perhaps the response came in when someone else was logged into my account?

      No matter what I do to protect my account, they’ve always been able to get in.

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  • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    There’s no “extraction”, you literally just navigate to the game folder (or click “game files” in the properties window for the game), and click the .exe file.

    Make a shortcut to it if you want.

    If it’s a game without DRM (yes, those are on Steam too), you don’t need to have Steam open to play it.

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• Sunshine@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  The only issue is that Trump can cut you off from your steam library if his regime targets you with arbitrary sanctions.

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  • tixooo@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Imagine if the vast majority of the world does not live in america haha

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    • Sunshine@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      People use steam outside of the USA

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• brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

  I have a theory.

  The “casual” or “mainstream” crowd, the one that used to buy CoD, FIFA, Madden, Sims and such yearly like clockwork, has transitioned to phone apps, or sports betting/fantasy.

  Their attention has been robbed from consoles.

  Meanwhile, “games as art” gamers that treat them more like movies are less affected. That segment continues to grow on PC, and maybe even consoles, but the attrition of the first group masks that for the console crowd.

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  I’d postit that a third factor is Steam’s rising market share coming at the expense of other PC gaming storefronts. For market purposes, it is PC gaming now.

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  • Cybersteel@lemmy.world ⁨45⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

    Then explain the worldwide sensation that is the Switch. Logically speaking, that thing, if you can even call it a thing, shouldn’t have worked, it made no sense financially nor economically.

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