Meanwhile, Steam has being trying to go after Discord recently, and now Discord is going after Steam.
Steam’s offering did not work well for us at all. While playing the extreme system taxing game called Overcooked 2, the only thing Steam Voice Chat was consistent at was dropping the call and generally choosing not to work at random times. I won’t be using it again.
Anyone know what their (Discord) percentage cut is?
30%
Discord will also be rolling out a system for developers to submit their games for consideration in the stores, he added. The company takes 30 percent of sales from games that end up in the store, matching what Valve’s massive online game store Steamtakes from developers.
I am excited. Bill Gurley is a very very smart man, when he was on my board at Linden he always gave great advice even when it wasn’t what I wanted to hear :)
This surprises me not at all. While Discord has its issues (sometimes you have to switch servers mid-chat or y’all sound like robots), it super rarely drops the call entirely.
Muuuuch better than Skype and crystal clear. I use it for all VOIP type stuff if I can.
Interesting question; @Rod_Humble, why didn’t Steam try and capitalize laterally on other services surrounding their store?
Yeah we use Discord all the time. if I have a problem with it, it’s usually my wireless headset.
Steam’s product was just… awful. I’ve used them all off and on for years, Skype, MSN, Google Chat, Discord… switch when one just goes bad. Unfortunately, Steam was the worst one, by far, in recent years.
I haven’t ever used Steam voice chat (still using the old UI until they force me over), are we talking about the one they just rolled out or the old system?
Didnt quite understand the question brah. Can you rephrase? Cheers!
Yeah that one. I used it oh 3 days ago or so. It was a struggle for 30-40 minutes until we abandoned it and went back to Discord.
Why didn’t they really drill into peripheral services (like voice chat) to really dig in like ticks with their market and customers? And generate even more revenue? Be more than a store. That sort of thing usually is a life preserver when the market changes (again).
Good question, I dunno. You are right that would have been smart. Then again Valve due to their organization are pretty slow to react. Maybe thats what we should expect from a company whose strategy seems set by consensus rather than leadership? But yeah, good point.
The kiss of death in so many professions and endeavors.
Steamworks is the backbone to the multiplayer in many games, to the extent that disentangling them from Steam is not a trivial undertaking (specially given the little economic benefit of such a move in most cases -unless you are Epic, really-). If you see an indie or mid-budget MP game or console port on Steam but not on GoG or other PC delivery platforms, that is most likely the issue (consoles offer comparable frameworks that save decent bucks in development time).
That’s where I think Steam has been the most clever taking advantage of the storefront to tie products to their systems. So yeah, some of this has taken place already.
I mean, they’re way more than a store. They provide patching infrastructure. They’ve had voice chat forever, it was just bilateral. They have a crazy-easy-to-use-for-consumers modding platform. They have a game-item marketplace. They do network code and matchmaking. They have game specific forums. They have a user-created guide system. They have an in-home streaming solution. They have a freaking VR headset and software platform.
Could they have done more? Of course. But they’ve done way more than just have a storefront and sit on their laurels.
Thanks! The modding platform is really a win, I hadn’t thought about that. As is the network code and matchmaking. Things to think about…
I think they really didn’t put a lot of effort into the game communities, forum, integration with voice and text chat with communities, etc. Don’t get me wrong; they’ve done good stuff, it just feels like they really did some of the other things as an afterthought, and without a lot of focus or follow through.
Having said that, they are also the first, so…
I wasn’t really trying to be overly critical, just more pondering, if anything.
Whatever the case, this seems to be a very limited test of a website that expands on Steam’s streaming functionality, creating a more Twitch-like experience for viewers.
Does Valve really want to play this game? I can’t imagine how much frickin’ server space and storage something like Twitch must require. But if there’s a company that can afford it, it’s Amazon.
It’s not like Valve isn’t making money-buckets also. Maybe not to quite the same scale, but they’re also not doing nearly as much with it.