PC Games Favoring Steam Over Others

[Jarhead0331]

Developers seem to be giving up on third-party launchers in favor of Steam.

https://tech4gamers.com/pc-games-abandon-third-party-launchers/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEtu1hleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHdX-MN6BvmZHn9ksEL1TDZu0F3pRy_xtCogqHWETI6TRaD3PQzNyXuknWw_aem_-fJzRwzJTmf1tsQQKGuaGA

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I get the convenience of Steam but I'd prefer more competition.

Sucks if Steam's not available, which happens every now and then.  I also distrust monopolies as they have the power to decide what does and does not get released.   There was a guy who'd made a Roman Gladiator fighting game which was available on Steam.  He was pretty spicy in the comments and Steam yanked the game from the platform over it, even though the game itself was positively rated and the guys personal opinions didn't make it into the game itself.

I always worry that the Sweet Baby types will eventually worm their way in and start dictating allowable content.


I like GOG's DRM free model the best but it does suffer from lack of modding.  Being able to backup install files locally and play offline are big selling points for me.

[Grim.Reaper]

The developer used patch notes for the game to express his personal views and believe he even targeted certain people.  He was warned repeatedly before the actual ban occurred so had every opportunity to stop before it got to being removed.  Wasn't just a spur of the moment decision by Steam.

Regardless, I don't have any problems with having multiple options for games, but most of my games are on Steam and the overall platform has been better than others for me.  Likewise, I wouldn't lose sleep if Steam was my only platform.

[al_infierno]

I don't really mind Steam's monopoly from a UX standpoint.  Every other third-party store sucks ass.  Even companies like Epic and EA and Rockstar with millions to burn can't seem to get basic QOL features right that Steam has had for years.  But yeah, from a market standpoint, competition is always good.

Misplaced consternation about Sweet Baby aside (they're not censors or purveyors of what's acceptable; they're sensitivity consultants invited to projects, and no matter what outrage grifters like Mark Kern might say, they do not in fact strong arm their want into AAA games), I'm curious what exactly the Gladiator dev was saying that got his game removed.  Steam mostly seems to have terrible oversight wrt new releases, as evidenced by weird money laundering schemes you can find in the depths of the store.  Just as an offhand example, if the dev was spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories in the Steam forum, I would see that as fully valid reason to remove the game from the store, even if those views don't "make it" into the game in a direct and obvious way.  I don't see that as being very different than refusing to sell an album by a musician who's an out and proud Nazi, even if I like the music and the views don't obviously bleed into the lyrics.

That said, if his "spicy" comments were more in the realm of NSFW trolling, edgy jokes that brush up with things like racism, sexism, etc. then I'd agree removing the game over that is unduly harsh.

[Grim.Reaper]

You can read some of the recap here...

https://www.pcgamer.com/domina-has-been-delisted-from-steam-after-yet-another-transphobic-diatribe/

[Jarhead0331]

I'm curious what exactly the Gladiator dev was saying that got his game removed.  Steam mostly seems to have terrible oversight wrt new releases, as evidenced by weird money laundering schemes you can find in the depths of the store.

He is not a fan of transgender "ideology" and let's just say he made some off-color jokes as a way of expressing his views. When this caused people to review bomb his game, he doubled down and turned it into a personal crusade for free speech. I guess he lost.

[al_infierno]

^ I see.  I'm obviously biased with regards to transgender issues, but I can see "abusing the Steam platform to spread a political agenda" as a valid reason for removing the game.  Then again, if he was using the patch notes to say "Trans Lives Matter" or what have you, I somehow doubt he would be judged the same.  I can see this one being pretty washy.

[Jarhead0331]

^ I see.  I'm obviously biased with regards to transgender issues, but I can see "abusing the Steam platform to spread a political agenda" as a valid reason for removing the game.  Then again, if he was using the patch notes to say "Trans Lives Matter" or what have you, I somehow doubt he would be judged the same.  I can see this one being pretty washy.

I think it was foolish on his part to use his patch notes to express any message other than one about the game, be it as a joke, or as a real effort to express an opinion. For better or worse, we live in a culture where if you express unpopular views, there are consequences. I think his biggest problem is that people review bombed his game and when he reported the reviews as false, Steam did not do anything about it. They refused to address the issue and when he got lippy over it, he was actually banned from his own forum by Stream moderators. It really got out of hand.

The biggest losers in all this are the people who love the game. It is a fantastic game and it is real shame that it died over this nonsense. It can still be purchased on other platforms and I believe he is still updating it.

[al_infierno]

Yeah, that's really shitty on Steam's part.  They should not allow games to be review bombed simply because a game dev expressed wrong think.

[Grim.Reaper]

^ I see.  I'm obviously biased with regards to transgender issues, but I can see "abusing the Steam platform to spread a political agenda" as a valid reason for removing the game.  Then again, if he was using the patch notes to say "Trans Lives Matter" or what have you, I somehow doubt he would be judged the same.  I can see this one being pretty washy.

I think it was foolish on his part to use his patch notes to express any message other than one about the game, be it as a joke, or as a real effort to express an opinion. For better or worse, we live in a culture where if you express unpopular views, there are consequences. I think his biggest problem is that people review bombed his game and when he reported the reviews as false, Steam did not do anything about it. They refused to address the issue and when he got lippy over it, he was actually banned from his own forum by Stream moderators. It really got out of hand.

The biggest losers in all this are the people who love the game. It is a fantastic game and it is real shame that it died over this nonsense. It can still be purchased on other platforms and I believe he is still updating it.

Do you know what other platforms selling it?  I came up empty so looking in wrong places.

[Jarhead0331]

Yes. Its called Gumroad. I've never heard of it.

Here is the link: https://thebignic.gumroad.com/l/domina

It costs a whopping $19.99, but it comes with all the DLCs.

[Grim.Reaper]

Thanks

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I went down the rabbit hole a bit. 

He started posting on Gab but soon declared that that website  "...is nothing but boomer memes on top of a CIA psy op - a right wing honey-pot..."

Maybe he ended up in the Fediverse on the poast instance.  I looked in there once....do not recommend...

[al_infierno]

🤔

[Sir Slash]

Steam has ruined me as a gamer. I would rather play an older version of a game than download a patch and upgrade it myself anymore. Now, if they could just clean out and organize my garage for me...