Verno wrote on Aug 10, 2011, 17:27:
Why should I try? It's a pointless aside that has nothing to do with the topic and can't be proven either way.
Dude, you couldn't be more wrong. You couldn't be less understanding of my entire point if you tried. A well reviewed and well received indie game not getting on Steam and therefore suffering from lack of interest by people who treat Steam as PC gaming itself is EXACTLY my point. It's not an aside what-so-ever.
I don't think you'll find many people subscribing to the idea that Steam is anything but incredibly supportive to the indie side of the industry in general.
As long as they want to support you, sure. I think cliffski and the guys behind Gemini Rue would have something to say about what happens when they don't want to support you however.
Nah I'm not buying, you repeatedly criticize specific aspects of Steam all the time having nothing to do with marketshare but don't do the same thing with other services.
Uh, okay then. I guess you know me better than I know myself.
The people who only buy things on Steam are probably the least likely to branch out so that makes no sense to me.
They'll branch out for huge games they don't want to miss like Diablo 3 and Battlefield 3, and hopefully that means they will be more likely to branch out the next time a good indie comes out without a Steam release.
The platform is wide open for development
Sure, but that's only worthwhile if you make money doing so. If the only way to really make money is to be on Steam then Valve essentially become your publisher and have their own list of requirements and suggestions.
If Steam steps out of bounds the industry will adjust, that's the nature of an open platform. If Steam started purchasing competitive services and other publishing companies then we've got a problem.
I don't have as much faith in consumers as you do I guess, and Valve don't need to buy out their competitors when they handily control the market without doing so.