• dinckel@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Every time I see a post with this specific claim, targeted at Valve, i just can’t help but laugh.

    Yes. They take a cut.

    Yes. Everyone else takes the same cut, so you’re biased, if you don’t understand this.

    Yes. They are an undisputed leader in the market, but no, that’s not called a monopoly.

    The difference is that Valve, while taking this cut, and being as big as they are, are consistently investing that money into improvement of the platform, AND also paying people to directly contribute to OSS, that affects everyone else in the market too.

    Not to even mention the regular, very considerable discounts, practically platform-wide. Show me a time when Nintendo have done the same. A 10 year old copy of MK8 is still 50$

    This isn’t even a bogus claim, but just a waste of everyone’s time

    • saltesc@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Yeah, I don’t think they realise Steam is itself a product to pay for. Sure, someone could come up with a free game manager, but that’s only a part of Steam’s services. There’s all the licencing, marketing, communities, features, connecting to other platforms, a console mode, remote play, ongoing security, support for external titles, the workshop, great refund policies, all this stuff and Valve doesn’t ask for a sub, pays all the staff involved, and stays on top of it all with premium quality.

      No shit they take some off the top. How else could the Steam we love and know exist if they didn’t?

      The irony of this lawsuit trying to ruin things gamers cherish.

    • WarlordSdocy@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      The cut they take is just one of the claims they have against Valve. Some of the other ones which another comment mentioned seem like fair arguments against Valve. The whole forcing pricing parity so game devs can’t offer the games for cheaper somewhere else and DLC from other platforms isn’t compatible with the Steam game and vice versa. And again you can say other platforms are doing that and worse too but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also go after Valve for it. Just cause they’re a private company and because of that aren’t as profit driven as other companies doesn’t mean they still are gonna do things like this to increase their profits and maintain their majority market share on PC games.

    • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      If there is nothing wrong then the investigation will show this. But the claims argue that they use their undisputed market dominance (your words) to do stuff that is anti competitive.

      The fact there are alternatives does not matter if the dominant player abuses their position to stiffle competition.

      A prosecutor has to make their case, Valve gets to rebuke the claims.

      I’d say, welcome investigation into large corporations. There should be more. The fact that mega corps like the Petro industry where and still are not properly monitored is bad for everyone. A corporation is not a human being, and it’s feelings cannot be hurt, but it can do a lot of bad things.

      If it turns out there is Merrit to the claims, it is good for everyone. Why the urge to defend a multi billion dollar company? I’m not saying everyone should dust off the pitchforks either. Let the law do its thing.

      • stardust@lemmy.ca
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        5 months ago

        Interestingly enough GOG takes 30% and has had periods they struggled.

        The storefront saw a slight increase in revenue but a net loss of around $1.14 million in the last financial quarter. Overall, it’s lost about $2.21 million over the past three quarters compared to a $1.37 million profit over the same period in 2020. CD Projekt didn’t immediately reply to questions about how its new strategy might translate into changes to GOG’s features or catalog.

        One staff member tied the earlier layoffs to increased competition in PC gaming storefronts, which has driven major platforms to lower the commission they take from developers.

        https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/29/22808199/cd-projekt-gog-losses-restructuring-earnings-2021

        Funny thing is lower cut is likely to benefit steam more by killing off the competition for good with the economies of scale they have on their side compared to competitors which themselves are running at a loss and not clear if the cut is sustainable in the long run to justify running.

        • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Everyone is very focussed on the 30pct. But there are multiple points in the claim. Price clauses and such.

          • stardust@lemmy.ca
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            5 months ago

            Used /r/gamedeals and isthereanydeals a long time so not even sure how effective the price clauses are when I’ve gotten so many deals for games on my preferred platform for a lower price.

            • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              Me2… I mostly buy outside steam. But that is not the issue at hand. If a dominant company is thought to abuse their position, it should be investigated.

              And over the last years several indie devs have said there are some narly contract clauses.

      • Audacious@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        Steam will not be better than it is now. I have been using it for years and not much has changed. There is no reason for it to improve for the consumers when it’s the top dog.

        • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          For sure there is something to be said for not “moving fast and breaking stuff”

          I think the incremental improvements have been good on steam. They move slow, but there is development. I especially liked when they added the additional user tags.

          That said, if Valve does indeed use their dominance to stiffle competition it needs to stop, regardless of the other things.

    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      And paying yachts for Gaben, you forgot to mention the money also goes to doing that.

      Get that in your head people, if someone can sell you stuff and it makes them a billionaire then you got overcharged, you can find all kinds of excuses to defend them, they’re still making more a day in interests with 1 billion invested than the median income over four years.

      • dinckel@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        What he does with his money is none of my concern. Unlike the vast majority of other CEOs in his market cap tier, he’s actually paid fairly, compared to an average worker at Valve

        • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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          5 months ago

          He’s

          A

          Billionaire

          No, he’s not paid fairly, no one should have that kind of wealth.

          He makes more from the interest on his fortune than the average salary at Valve even if the average is very high.

          There’s no reason to defend billionaires, no matter how good they pretend to be.

          • Abnorc@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            I highly doubt that most people, given the opportunity, would not live like a billionaire. If someone builds a company like Valve, they’re going to live very well. That doesn’t say as much about the person as it does about the economic system.

            • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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              5 months ago

              That’s the thing though, no one should get to live like that while the majority has a hard time affording basic needs.