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UK Games Retailers Threaten Boycott of Steam Games
RogueyWon writes "Games industry trade site MCV is reporting that two major UK video games retailers are threatening to ban Steam-enabled PC games from their stores. The as-yet-unnamed retailers are apparently concerned that by selling Steam games, they are pointing their customers towards a competitor and will by trying to bring pressure upon publishers to strip Steam functionality from their games. This could prove an interesting test of where the real power lies at the retail end of PC gaming."
More sales for Steam then?
Publishers are creating a monster – we are telling suppliers to stop using Steam in their games.
No, publishers are finding new innovative revenue streams that cater to the customer. The only reason it's a 'monster' is because you perceive it to be a threat to your business model and, surprise surprise, you're not a part of that revenue stream so it's the devil. And you don't understand it, that is painfully evident by the 'stop using Steam in their games' part of your statement. They don't use Steam in their games anymore than they use Wal-Mart in their games.
... you aren't going to get very far in my book. I mean, Steam has DRM but it saves me gas and money and puts me a little closer to that little developer that spends countless nights slaving away over code. That's where I want the bulk of my money to go when I purchase a game -- to that guy.
If you understood that this is increasing revenue and profits to the publishers, you might also start to see that it increases the number of copies sold. Now, if more people are buying the game it is possible that Steam will expand this market and leave some of the sales to the brick and mortar stores. It is, however, a possibility that you are correct in that your model will become obsolete -- such is the nature of business. You can either respond by being a jerk about it (although you're holding aces backed with eights as a large middle man), you can attempt to become part of that distribution model (have you thought about selling steam gift cards?) or you can do nothing. If you lose your business, well that's just some good old structural unemployment where the hostile market of capitalism violently guides you to better serve the consumer in a new and -- here's the scary word -- innovative ways. Seriously though, when is the last time you did something new and interesting aside from unboxing the latest game and paying some high school student minimum wage to set up the Halo display and cardboard cutouts?
Hey man, if you want to make me pick between you, the distributor, and the publishers that actually make the games I cherish
My work here is dung.
I haven't bought anything in a real store for ages, PC-games-wise. Why bother? All they stock is the expensive shit and anything older than 3 months is in the "Pre-owned", scratched-to-death pile and still costs 2/3rds of its original price. Plus a lot of PC gear can't be played second-hand anyway (and not because of Steam but because of other DRM) so there is no "cheap" game available in those shops.
I just order a retail box online (rare anyway) or I just buy from Steam or GOG. Stop charging me £60+ for a game that'll last a couple of hours and start stocking things that sell. Steam make a killing by selling things like PopCap games, World of Goo, Altitude, etc. - I never, ever see those in the shops and if I do, it's on a shelf in a big department store, not in the "games" store. You aren't complaining about XBox Live or PSN, so you can't really complain about Steam either. The fact is, though, that anything you do stock in my price range I'm more likely to be buying it online - quicker, cheaper, easier.
Give it up - either charge sensible prices, increase your stock range to appeal to customers or damn well concentrate on games console where you make an absolute FORTUNE.
I don't like Steam, so I've never bought any Steam delivered games.
I rarely, if ever, buy products from companies I dislike.
A couple months ago we heard how game stores were using used games to cut the publishers out of the revenue stream for a game. They were buying back games for $10 and reselling them for $45 and pocketing 100% of the $35.
There was a great brouhaha.
Now the return shot. Game publishers intent to cut game stores out of the first sale AND not publish any physical copies to resale.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Brick and mortar game retailers have been the architects of their own demise on this one. For years they have devoted the majority of their stores to the various different console platforms and their customers upped sticks and left. I've watched the PC section in my local Game store go from 8 panels back in the days of the XBox and Playstation to 2 panels today. Why would I want to buy a game from a store like this? The choice is more or less limited to the latest chart games and new releases. Steam lets me choose from a vast catalogue and find the games I want to play. The convenience of the games stores was their main driving force, if I wanted a game I had only to go into town and buy it. It was faster than Steam and you also got a nice box and manual, or at least you used to. These days if you want a boxed PC game you have to order it online as the local shop won't have it in stock. If you're going to have to order it online, you might as well use Steam, you'll get it faster.
Although they are doing it for all the wrong reasons, I applaud any effort to stop this Steam juggernaut from becoming the de facto DRM monopoly and the single point-of-failure for entire game collections. It's just not healthy.
One day Steam will go dark, and then you won't be able to reinstall any of those games.
Footnote: "blah, blah, blah,...but they said they'd release a patch....blah, blah, blah". Please show me the legally binding clause in the Steam TOS that guarantees that.
older games on steam are normally a fraction of the price of used games from a traditional retailer.... I see this weekend steam was having a day of defeat weekend for like $2.45 cents. I don't know how many games I have bought from steam simply because it was 1 am, I was drunk and wanted to shit stuff right then. well, have to stay awake for it to download and all but you see the point. no bullshit macrovision on my pc, no scratched disks, no having to use a disk, no idiot sales clerk who wants to tell me how to play civ! i'm too old and grumpy for that
If you pay 30 bucks for a game on steam and play it for a year, that is like eight cents a day. Show me any other business that will rent you a game that cheap.
But who pays 30 bucks for a game on steam? Their christmas sales bring prices down to at or blow 5 bucks for last year's new releases.
Buying games from steam (if you are willing to wait for the sales) is about as cheap as it gets.