Is now the time to ditch Steam and consider alternatives for digital game distribution?
In recent news, Valve is facing legal trouble for ‘ripping off 14M UK gamers’. What does this mean for Steam? Could the distribution juggernaut be losing its dominance in the digital marketplace space?
Valve Corporation, the owner of Steam, which at current is the largest purely digital distribution platform for PC games globally, finds itself in hot water and has been accused of using its superiority in the space to overcharge 14 million users in the United Kingdom. With the company being sued for £656M and audience trust seemingly low, now is the time for developers and publishers to consider worthy alternatives as to not fall into the same trap.
At present Steam takes the spotlight, with an estimated 400 million games sold on the platform in 2023 alone and an annual gaming revenue of $8.56B. Due to these impressive figures, it’s often the platform developers and publishers gravitate towards to provide their keys to the masses. On the other hand, allegedly, Steam has in place a mandatory action that requires publishers to sign up for price parity obligations as well as already taking a 30% cut from any revenue generated. Yes, the number of games sold in a single year via Steam is awe-inspiring, but with various obstacles in the way to sell on the platform, more often than not resulting in a negative for the user, people may be questioning their allegiance to Steam.
At present Steam takes the spotlight, with an estimated 400 million games sold on the platform in 2023 alone and an annual gaming revenue of $8.56B. Due to these impressive figures, it’s often the platform developers and publishers gravitate towards to provide their keys to the masses. On the other hand, allegedly, Steam has in place a mandatory action that requires publishers to sign up for price parity obligations as well as already taking a 30% cut from any revenue generated. Yes, the number of games sold in a single year via Steam is awe-inspiring, but with various obstacles in the way to sell on the platform, more often than not resulting in a negative for the user, people may be questioning their allegiance to Steam.
Why publishers don’t trust marketplaces
Naturally, digital game distribution is more cost effective than pushing physical sales due to the ease of accessing a game near instantly. However, that doesn’t mean care shouldn’t be taken when considering who will be distributing those important keys.
When selling on a digital marketplace, it often feels like there are only two main options. On big stores like Steam and smaller marketplaces like G2A, Eneba, or on smaller stores such as CDKeys. The latter offers publishers the opportunity to secure a higher revenue, but in turn they can be precarious to control. The lack of control is often why publishers opt to sell on Steam and fail to look at using other marketplaces.
A big concern when it comes to digital marketplaces is reselling. Resellers will buy games in the cheapest region and then proceed to sell them onto marketplaces in Europe resulting in publishers losing out on potential revenue which can be anywhere between 10%-50%.
It’s not only differing regional currencies that resellers exploit. Often, resellers will use various workarounds to purchase games in bulk, such as purchasing during promotions, and then go on to sell the games on marketplaces. This creates problems as it consistently lowers the sale price of the game and, if during the next promotion the discount is higher than the price the game was originally bought for, they won’t be able to sell the remaining keys. This leads to key blocks by publishers and means an alternative method is needed for refunds since they have already received the funds from the sales.
However, it isn’t all doom and gloom. Yes, there are difficulties when it comes to working with smaller marketplaces, but the extra work is worth the reward given that they can increase profit margins, build greater community rapport, and ultimately bring your game to an audience truly interested in playing the game and not just hoarding keys. It’s an avenue that should be utilised when done correctly.
When selling on a digital marketplace, it often feels like there are only two main options. On big stores like Steam and smaller marketplaces like G2A, Eneba, or on smaller stores such as CDKeys. The latter offers publishers the opportunity to secure a higher revenue, but in turn they can be precarious to control. The lack of control is often why publishers opt to sell on Steam and fail to look at using other marketplaces.
A big concern when it comes to digital marketplaces is reselling. Resellers will buy games in the cheapest region and then proceed to sell them onto marketplaces in Europe resulting in publishers losing out on potential revenue which can be anywhere between 10%-50%.
It’s not only differing regional currencies that resellers exploit. Often, resellers will use various workarounds to purchase games in bulk, such as purchasing during promotions, and then go on to sell the games on marketplaces. This creates problems as it consistently lowers the sale price of the game and, if during the next promotion the discount is higher than the price the game was originally bought for, they won’t be able to sell the remaining keys. This leads to key blocks by publishers and means an alternative method is needed for refunds since they have already received the funds from the sales.
However, it isn’t all doom and gloom. Yes, there are difficulties when it comes to working with smaller marketplaces, but the extra work is worth the reward given that they can increase profit margins, build greater community rapport, and ultimately bring your game to an audience truly interested in playing the game and not just hoarding keys. It’s an avenue that should be utilised when done correctly.
So, are marketplaces worth it?
When looking at the alternative considerations when it comes to marketplaces, it may seem like a headache that you’d actively want to avoid. But working with marketplaces can increase both your audience and sales between 10%-20%, all whilst cutting out that 30% fee from Steam.
Both regional price policy violation and promotion period violations are real issues with resellers on some marketplaces. However, this can all be avoided if you use marketplaces as a separate market and utilise the expertise of an experienced partner, such as Rokky, which can avoid the grey areas of marketplaces and create official partnerships that you can trust.
Both regional price policy violation and promotion period violations are real issues with resellers on some marketplaces. However, this can all be avoided if you use marketplaces as a separate market and utilise the expertise of an experienced partner, such as Rokky, which can avoid the grey areas of marketplaces and create official partnerships that you can trust.
Is now the time to consider alternatives for digital game distribution?
With Rokky, developers & publishers are offered:
📈Increased sales revenue
💡Trusted expertise from an experienced partner
🦺 Safeguarding against key resellers & promotion exploit
rokky.com
📈Increased sales revenue
💡Trusted expertise from an experienced partner
🦺 Safeguarding against key resellers & promotion exploit
rokky.com
Is now the time to ditch Steam and consider alternatives for digital game distribution? 🎮
In recent news, Valve is facing legal trouble for ‘ripping off 14M UK gamers’. What does this mean for Steam? Could the distribution juggernaut be losing its dominance in the digital marketplace space?
Naturally, digital game distribution is more cost effective than pushing physical sales due to the ease of accessing a game near instantly. However, that doesn’t mean care shouldn’t be taken when considering who will be distributing those important keys.
When looking at the alternative considerations when it comes to marketplaces, it may seem like a headache that you’d actively want to avoid. But working with marketplaces can increase both your audience and sales between 10%-20%, all whilst cutting out that 30% fee from Steam.
Both regional price policy violation and promotion period violations are real issues with resellers on some marketplaces. However, this can all be avoided if you use marketplaces as a separate market and utilise the expertise of an experienced partner, such as Rokky, which can avoid the grey areas of marketplaces and create official partnerships that you can trust.
Naturally, digital game distribution is more cost effective than pushing physical sales due to the ease of accessing a game near instantly. However, that doesn’t mean care shouldn’t be taken when considering who will be distributing those important keys.
When looking at the alternative considerations when it comes to marketplaces, it may seem like a headache that you’d actively want to avoid. But working with marketplaces can increase both your audience and sales between 10%-20%, all whilst cutting out that 30% fee from Steam.
Both regional price policy violation and promotion period violations are real issues with resellers on some marketplaces. However, this can all be avoided if you use marketplaces as a separate market and utilise the expertise of an experienced partner, such as Rokky, which can avoid the grey areas of marketplaces and create official partnerships that you can trust.
With Rokky, developers & publishers are offered:
📈Increased sales revenue
💡Trusted expertise from an experienced partner
🦺 Safeguarding against key resellers & promotion exploit
Find out more information here: rokky.com
💡Trusted expertise from an experienced partner
🦺 Safeguarding against key resellers & promotion exploit
Find out more information here: rokky.com
Join Rokky and boost your sales!
