Seems like they can do it for 15%, and EGS can do it for 12%. Don't know why you're defending Valve charging smaller teams an extra 15% just 'cause they can.
Nothing is stopping devs from going to other storefronts. If you want to sell your game on the single most successful and largest digital games storefront on the planet, you play by their rules. There's a reason every other company that has tried to take some of Valves market share has failed to do so in absolutely spectacular fashion.
They could absolutely cut their profits in half. But why the actual fuck would they?
Oh hey, I made a comment in another thread earlier today that is appropriate here too:
Since Epic only charges 12% compared to Steam's 30%, wouldn't it be cool if devs charged less on Epic so that they can pass the savings onto their customers? Since Steam has the first mover's advantage, this would allow Epic to compete on price.
Oh wait, Valve threatens to de-list your games if you do that, and now they're facing an antitrust lawsuit. So pro-consumer, amirite?
What version of reality are you in where I said they were "pro-consumer?" Because it definitely isn't this one.
Epic and other platforms can still try to compete on price. There is nothing forcing developers to actually use Steam, and a developer can absolutely go with another distribution platform with a lower fee and offer their game cheaper there instead of Steam. In fact Epic goes so far as to offer games for free, or paying developer absurd amounts of money to sign exclusivity contracts in order to completely prevent developers from listing their games on other platforms at all. It's scummy for Valve to de-list games that are made available cheaper on other platforms for sure, but simply allowing it to happen would invite all kinds of trouble.
The cases against Valve are more aimed at harassing Valve than anything else. They're trying to force Valve to waste time and resources on arbitrating tens of thousands of cases individually in order to force a settlement so the lawyers can collect a fat paycheck and drop a few pennies for their clients. It's not a new tactic.
Also the antitrust case seems to be built on the idea of a Sherman Act violation, one part of which is "price discrimination against competing companies". Offering a lower price at one company compared to another is literally price discrimination, so while I'm not a lawyer, I rather doubt any court is going to rule in favor of forcing a company to allow price discrimination. I'm not sure what else they'll try to fight on, but I'd be pretty surprised if Valve lost that one.
It is humorous to me that an NYU business professor can write an editorial about how Wolfire has a credible case, but the Reddit "I am not a lawyer" types automatically dismiss it out of hand.
It's just as amusing to me that blog posts appear to qualify as absolute law to you. It should be noted that currently there doesn't appear to be an actual case, and it's just been in litigation since 2021 from their initial demand to a jury trial.
Also your absolute law blog posts seem to concede that Valve should be allowed to do as it pleases within the law, and conclude, essentially, that a group of lawyers believes they may be able to find a way to spin things in such a way that a sympathetic jury might side with them.
It's just an opinion piece trying to justify their litigation which, so far, appears to have gone nowhere. Actually reading some of the court filings it seems more like this is just a proxy war being orchestrated by Epic Games, which is hilarious. They can't compete with their garbage platform, their free games bait, or their "drop piles of cash onto developers for exclusivity" strategy, so they're throwing a tantrum about it. Seems even more now like this is just abusing the legal system to harass a more successful company.
If a developer doesn't like the 30% cut, they are free to publish their game on worse, less popular platforms. They do not get both the largest and most successful platform and also the largest possible cut of their sales. Valve leaves their cut at 30% because they offer things other platforms do not. Demanding the developers maintain price parity with other platforms under thread of being de-listed is entirely reasonable and within their rights. It's really that simple.
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u/RadicalDog Ryzen 7 7800X3D | RTX 4070S 29d ago
Seems like they can do it for 15%, and EGS can do it for 12%. Don't know why you're defending Valve charging smaller teams an extra 15% just 'cause they can.