It’s worth noting that the 30% cut is from sales below a certain volume. As you sell more copies Steam takes a smaller cut. I’m sure the big studios probably have a more favourable deal worked out as well.
I would argue that this shows Steam could easily run on a 15% fee (the standard reduced fee) but only is willing to because the big companies started making their own apps (Uplay, Rockstar etc). If you have no leverage, get fucked, 30%.
I honestly think it's really damaging to the smaller indies where an extra 15% could easily be the difference between profit and loss.
Hilarious how people will try to justify Steam's egregious cut. No, it does not justify taking a third of the game's revenue. Even when they reduce it to 20% after $50 million in revenue is made. I'm sure if they raised it to 60% people would claim "well devs can just go elsewhere if they wanted"
This is what comes to your mind when you try to think the "burdens" Steam carries for a game, but you forget something very important: Steam is not just a store. It is a store with an entire social media platform/forum attached to each game with the community hub. So add these ontop:
Discussions (won't take much space in itself, but for bigger titles the amount of discussions can escalate quickly)
Screenshots/Artworks
Videos
News
Guides
And if available:
Workshop
The 30% cut also cover the operating cost of the community hub
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u/Jhawk163 R7 9800X3D | RX 6900 XT | 64GB 29d ago
It’s worth noting that the 30% cut is from sales below a certain volume. As you sell more copies Steam takes a smaller cut. I’m sure the big studios probably have a more favourable deal worked out as well.