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72% of devs believe Steam has a monopoly on PC games, according to study (www.gamesindustry.biz)

submitted 1 day ago by mr_MADAFAKA@lemmy.ml to c/steam@lemmy.ml

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[–] Oppopity@lemmy.ml 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

That's only for steam keys.

[–] Lfrith@lemmy.ca -2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

That is wrong.

Recent example is ARC Raiders. https://isthereanydeal.com/game/arc-raiders/info/

Current best price is 15% off for $34.17 versus $39.99 on Steam. And all time low was $31.92.

Don't assume because a game is for example $39.99 on Steam that it is the lowest prices and paying more for the exact same game tied to the same launcher. Search before buying. Don't overpay.

[–] Oppopity@lemmy.ml 3 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

What does that have to do with my comment?

[–] Lfrith@lemmy.ca 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Previous comment you replied to said

Also the fact that Valve will drop games from their store should the dev/publisher sell it somewhere else cheaper.

And based on your response assumed you meant Valve will drop games from their store if they sell steam keys for lower than on Valve. Which is why I gave a recent example of Steam key being sold lower than on Steam.

Unless you meant different.

[–] Oppopity@lemmy.ml 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

So you're saying even in the case of steam keys valve is cool with it?

[–] Lfrith@lemmy.ca 1 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (1 children)

Must be since as a long time user of /r/gamedeals and isthereanydeals most of my games on steam are from steam keys sold from other storefronts because they have been cheaper and have sales much more frequently.

My approach to buying games is to check isthereanydeals or ggdeals to see if the price has been cheaper. Then buy from whatever storefront is cheaper for the launcher of my preference if its at a price I'm willing to bite on. I don't buy from keystores, so I disable those when checking ggdeals.

[–] Oppopity@lemmy.ml 1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Weird. Does this mean the selling of cheaper steam keys just isn't true or is it just not enforced?

[–] Lfrith@lemmy.ca 2 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Not enforced and hasn't been for over a decade.

And I guess the language is flexible.

It's OK to run a discount for Steam Keys on different stores at different times as long as you plan to give a comparable offer to Steam customers within a reasonable amount of time.

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys

Comparable being used when it could have used same. Couldn't find language being explicit on lower prices not being allowed.

Only part I've really seen Steam enforce is that if steam keys are given away then game should have a giveaway on Steam too. So like in the past games would make you make an account on a site then give you a key for free, but now even if they do that, few days later you can redeem the game for free directly from steam without signing up for anything.

Steam Keys shouldn't be given away for free if you aren't also offering the same deal (i.e., give the game away for free) to Steam customers. This includes giveaways for promotional purposes, unless that giveaway is very small (under 100 Steam Keys).