Valve gives up on curating Steam

Really, the indie scene might just be too crowded right now.
In fact, considering how overwork developers are, maybe the whole field is a bit too crowded.

I disagree. It’s not good or bad for “the industry” which is a term I see thrown around far too often. This isn’t an industry, it’s an entertainment luxury.

Gaming will be hurt far more by things like the loss of retail presence than it will ever be hurt by having a bunch of good to great games going unnoticed, because all the latter means is there were other great to legendary ones that people were playing instead.

I just think it’s important to make a clear difference between what we’re talking about, private stores trying to keep their shelves in order vs say a real free expression cost which would be a government level, like a true ban. We don’t really ban much, and we shouldn’t. We’re not going to lose that if Steam cares about what they offer to sell on their storefront.

I agree, wholeheartedly. I’ve seen so many indies struggle immensely to make a profit, and watched their labors of love either get constrained to shadows of what they dreamed of or simply been flushed down the black hole of vaporware. This isn’t to say every indie venture should be successful, but rather the hit/miss ratio seems to be getting pretty lean and over-saturation looks to be the culprit.

Yes! People seem to love all the “choices” these days, but fail to see the toll it takes on the industry (oops, entertainment luxury) and developers at large.

Take my very first game on Steam, about 3 years ago. The first day, it sold 56 copies. Not too terrible. No promotion really, no keymailer campaign, no nothing like that. Just a new release on Steam.

My most recent game, released a few days ago. Extra Promoted Keymailer campaign, on the Storefront for two weeks, press release campaign. Good responses from 30 testers (way better than the first game in fact).

First day’s sales. 9. That’s it.

I’m almost certain part of the issue is oversaturation, lack of visibility, and just plain too much going on for players to sift through and find it. I know i’m not the only one this has happened to, on different scales. I’ve spoken to 20+ indies over the last 6 months or so, same story.

And trust me: if you really think there’s an infinite amount of devs who can do game balance and design, layouts, testing and balancing 100 times over, do good customer service and come up with unique and interesting, well-executed ideas that have the committment to follow through and fix stuff long-term…you don’t know much about the industry at all.

I just clicked on your profile. Your Qt3 link for Simprose Studios takes me to a page where there is nothing about your new game. It just says “Log In” at the top right. I decided to Google the company to see if I could find your game. Most people wouldn’t even go that far…

So I did find your Twitter then, which doesn’t have your new game as the first post but something about a board game on Steam? The next post is the new game which says it’s going to be released soon on Steam… not that it’s available. How would I know it’s available? I clicked through (again, fortunate for you that I’m more curious than most) and I see your game, which looks ok, but also looks like a zillion other games on Steam and elsewhere. It may be good for what it is, but that’s exactly the kind of review you could probably expect at first glance.

I could go on, but Derek, take a look at your stuff from outside your bubble. Games are luxury items. No one NEEDS games. Not a soul. You have to give people some reason to really care, and you also can’t put any roadblocks in the way of them caring.

You’re absolutely right that it’s tougher now than three years ago. Consoles get games like yours all the time too! There are more markets for your product and even more reason to differentiate somehow from everyone else. It’s going to take a lot more than Keymailers, press campaigns and 30 testers to get you some real interest.

The alternative is to make games because you enjoy it and leave it at that. I think that’s the best option for almost any indie developer right now!

Ordinarily, I would agree with your assessment, but the fact is, even people with well-coordinated websites, links, promotion, etc (ie no “roadblocks”). are having the same issues as myself. The very same. If it were just me, you might be right, but it isn’t.

This realization is going to be a big shift as the democratization of game making tools progresses. Most musicians, painters, wood-workers, etc. create for themselves because they enjoy the process, not because they expect to be able to make a profit on it.

It’s true that digital products are possible to distribute in a way that physical products aren’t, but that doesn’t make market for those infinitely reproducible products exist.

Bingo.

And here’s the other side of the coin, from the consumer’s standpoint. Are there great games that I’ve totally missed because they were from small indie developers who couldn’t publicize their work? Certainly. Is missing out on those games a problem for many game consumers? Almost certainly not. See the backlog thread here as evidence.

Grownups have finite time to spend playing games. If I am having a great time using my finite gaming time playing a game, that’s good by me. I’m not feeling I’m missing out by not playing someone’s “labor of love”. I mean, that sucks for the person whose labor of love I’m not buying or playing…but it doesn’t suck for me as a consumer.

Even as a gamer though…I don’t even bother going to the new releases on Steam anymore. Why would I? There’s soooo much that I would be drowning to look at all of it. I go to forums, YouTube, etc. That’s the only way I find games. And like many adults and like you said, we have limited time to find and play games. So many worthy games just fade away and that’s it. Too many to be healthy for the industry, IMHO.

You keep talking about the health and success of the “industry”, but I don’t know what that means, or what you think we think it means.

If it’s harder to be successful developing games, that’s okay with me.

Exactly! Neither do I!

Instead I go to RPS, or Qt3, or watch review videos on Youtube, etc. And somehow that system works for me.

I don’t think you are ever going to see a giant bubble pop. For a bubble to pop something would have to be rapidly removed, like large infusements of cash. I am not aware of any of those outside the normal rate of industry investment. Maybe with VR but not gaming in general.

Most of the games are tiny, small and medium businesses and there appears to be an endless supply of those coming and going. It may slow down, but I doubt it will ever really pop. I just don’t see the “hordes” of indie game developers abandoning their dreams in mass. Just a stream in and a stream out with variances in the rate of flow. No pop.

Oh, I agree. I would prefer if Steam took a different route, but anything nuanced or thoughtful seems to be out of the question for any entity these days.

Hmmm. Thinking we need a need a 1983-style crash right now.

Some really awesome C64 games came out in 1984.

I’m going to toot all of our horns here and say that as game consumers, we’re probably a cut above the rest. We’re willing to put in the extra time to find what we want because of how much we enjoy games. How many others would see the pile of trash in the store and just avoid it altogether? It’s the exact reason I don’t bother with the Google Play store.

Still though, the formula must be working for Valve. Either from cost savings on their end or from all of the nickel and dime cuts they’re getting off the dollar menu. I believe its to the detriment to the consumers looking for “middle class” content, and why I hope Steam someday gets a real competitor. They have a monopoly so they’re just coasting.

I agree. I thought for a while we’d see a pop…but we haven’t, and we’re I think unlikely to at this point.

Which ones are you thinking of?

Steam competitor: Oh god yes. One that won’t let “AIDS Simulator” on the Store, but welcomes regular ole’ indies and gives them a fair chance to compete and make at least a modest living if they do decent work.

I really hope GoG takes up the mantle.