Network now...MAGAZINE
The Age of Steam
And Newell suggests the publisher side of Valve is inevitably affecting the developer, too. “In the old days we had folk knowledge of what our customers were doing: now we can measure it. I can now get direct figures on how many of our customers have crashed anywhere in the world in the last 24 hours. It’s mind-boggling to make that transition.”
“Behind the scenes, we sit and look at the problems our customers have that are generating support requests, and we try to see how we can redesign games so those problems go away.”
Despite its penetration, Valve remains aware of potential problems ahead, given an increasingly competitive marketplace. “At the moment, we’re doing really well, but as soon as someone else has better developer tools and useful things for customers, they’ll move,” says Newell. “That’s a dominant thing on the internet – customers aren’t locked into what you’re doing at all. That’s why we’re focused on creating services for them: services control the dominant distribution tool at any time.”
And some argue that perhaps the tide is already starting to turn. “I think for a time Valve and Steam was big enough to sustain an organisation,” says Morris. “What I think has happened is that many small distribution platforms have been set up, and the market’s become increasingly fragmented. In the old days you could just go to Valve and they’d give you a massive portion of the online market. Now you need to talk to Valve, Direct2Drive, WildTangent, and all of these other ones too.”
Whether Morris is right or not, Newell knows what’s kept Valve on top so far: his mantra of listening to the customers. “We read the forums every time we do an update, and we get very clear signals on high-level direction and low-level implementation on what we’re doing right and wrong. You just have to be willing to listen.”
And so far, just listening has taken Valve a long way – not only has it written a startling success story amid claims of PC gaming’s decline, and found a means to sell independent games alongside triple-A titles in a way that makes sense, but, in the process, it’s ensured, first as a distributor, and then, with Steamworks as a middleware provider, that the company that made some of the best PC games of the last decade is now sending deep roots out into the wider development community.
And as for the future? “We can predict all we want,” laughs Newell, “but we know we’ll be wrong.”
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Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
For *new* games in the US, Steam is usually the same price as brick-and-mortar retail but a few dollars more than Amazon. I keep it around just for the sales on older games.
My only issue with Steam is Steamworks. Dawn of War 2 requires you to be a Steam user to do anything. So you'll never see it on another distribution platform because of that.
If we should have learned anything from Microsoft, its that giving one person all the keys is a really bad idea. But other then that, its a good platform these days and its success is good for the industry.
One thing I have always liked about Steam: I have never, ever been unable to download my games onto any pc I wanted. That in and of itself makes it valuable for me...at least until they go out of business.
Brian
www.brianwoods.com
To Wall_E:
I agree with you, but, from what I've heard, it is the publisher who fixes the prices of their products on Steam, not Valve. And, even then, there are Steam discount sales which offering very generous savings - the 'Bioshock' Christmas sale being a notable example.
SwiftRanger:
Yeah, I've heard many people on the forums complaining about the Steam rollout of E:TW. Luckily, I wasn't one of them; although, I feel it's pretty tough on people who bought the game game for a premium price and end up getting a flat-out broken service.
Also, I agree with the worry of Valve establishing a monopoly over online distribution. As a gamer I like to have my games in one place, and I also have a lot of goodwill stored up in Valve. As a consumer I don't believe that any company with that kind of dominant position in a market won't exploit it, just to keep the fanbase happy. Competition keeps companies competitive and sparks innovation: it's almost like a physical law of nature.
If anybody isn't aware, Stardock provides a fairly good distribution service called 'Impulse'. Unfortunately, it lacks the features which make Steam's service seem more like a community than a business model. If other distribution platforms want to compete with Steam, I think they will have to step up their game somewhat.
Who the f**k in their right mind would pay £39.99 for Total War on Steam when the game can be bought for £30, or even order it from some places online for £25.
Madness!!
Madness, this is Sparta!
sorry couldn't resist. :)
"and the service’s opening months were marred by bottlenecks and a frustrating online registration experiment. "
Well, that's still the case even now, both the DoW II and Empire launches didn't go all that smooth to put it lightly.
I like Steam but it's essential it doesn't become a monopoly or that the gaming press doesn't exclusively highlight certain Steam pricedrops and special deals. PC gaming should never rely on one company pulling the strings, like it's the case on consoles.
As much as i like Steam and the content it provides, i can't help but get annoyed at the price tag of some games.
For example:
Fallout 3 £26.99 on Steam - £16.99 for retail version.
Bioshock £13.99 on Steam - £10 for retail version.
Dawn Of War II £34.99 on Steam - £22.99 for retail version.
Empire: Total War £39.99 on Steam - £29.99 for retail version.
This is just a small example (there are loads) when comparing retail and downloadable games.
Considering there are no distribution costs for downloadable games i.e. no disc, no printed manual, no box, and no shelf space fees, these games shouldn't be price so high.
Games just aren't worth £30/40 and asking such high prices for downladable games is laughable considering the no distribution costs.
I for one won't be moved on my maximum £25 per title, therefore i'll go to the place where i can get the title the cheapest.
The future isn't digital downloads if they are priced at these ridiculous numbers
Hrm. Maybe the experience is different in the UK. Here, I first installed Steam when I thought about buying the orange box on special at a local office supply store. When I checked steam, it was cheaper. I ended up buying the valve complete pack.
Similarly, I have picked up things when they've been deeply discounted... like bioshock for $4.95.
Now Steam for us Canadians is in American dollars --- so the actuall price has become more skewed of late, but I still find that releases are cheaper on Steam... even FEAR2 at $49.95 vs. $59.95 (although that's awfully close with the current exchange rate).
There 's a big debate over the price of games within Steam over at the Steam forums (see link below). Most of Europe are at War with Valve over pricing.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=770231
Maybe the moaning idiots should have kept hold of their own currencies then?
//Sorry, double post.
Definitely agreeable.
And also--Gabe Newell really needs to lose weight.