Metro Exodus Removed Off Steam, Decision Unfair, Says Valve

[Guest]

Has Fortnite sounded the death knell for Valve? Yesterday publisher Deep Silver made the decision to pull Metro Exodus from Steam, giving exclusivity in its entirety to the Epic Games Store instead. The AAA title has been available on the Epic Store for

Metro Exodus Removed Off Steam, Decision Unfair, Says Valve : Read more

 

[shrapnel_indie]

THQ Nordic has a right to do what they want with the Metro IP. But, Valve may need to look at their pricing model if they don't want this to be a trend.

Woe to all of us though IF Valve does go under, taking steam with it, as that would mean any game in your library NOT installed may become unavailable without plunking down your cash again if still available for sale somewhere.

EDIT: I guess I have to emphasise something in my original post...

 

[XaveT]

"Woe to all of us though if Valve does go under, taking steam with it, as that would mean any game in your library NOT installed may become unavailable without plunking down your cash again if still available for sale somewhere."

This is exactly why huge game platforms like this are a bad idea. I've been on Steam for 14 years at this point, and very, very rarely buy anything on there, just in case. Besides the upcoming platform wars, I just hate the idea that if Valve decides to nuke my account (or any reason), I have lost hundreds/thousands of dollars. It's the "putting all your eggs in one basket" metaphor taken to PC gaming.

 

[jaexyr]

Now I'm kinda siding with Valve

 

[Snipergod87]

Well i know I wont get stuff if its not on the steam store so one less game for me to buy.

 

[Mr5oh]

[quotemsg=21725563,0,1363432]"Woe to all of us though if Valve does go under, taking steam with it, as that would mean any game in your library NOT installed may become unavailable[/quotemsg]

Ummm, since many games don't work without Steam being online, expect to basically be "pirating" or cracking the game you legally bought anyways... This is why physical media was so nice. Just the other day I was telling my son there were Simpsons video games (we were watching the show) and I was able to pull out my copy of Simpsons Hit and Run for the PC install it, and we played it without issue. Same can't be said on this digital stuff when servers start to go offline a decade from now when people start to feel nostalgic.

 

[drivinfast247]

Yeah its BS! I was looking forward to this game. I'll still be playing it but it won't be on Steam or Epic Games.

 

[derekullo]

[quotemsg=21725612,0,33750][quotemsg=21725563,0,1363432]"Woe to all of us though if Valve does go under, taking steam with it, as that would mean any game in your library NOT installed may become unavailable[/quotemsg]

Ummm, since many games don't work without Steam being online, expect to basically be "pirating" or cracking the game you legally bought anyways... This is why physical media was so nice. Just the other day I was telling my son there were Simpsons video games (we were watching the show) and I was able to pull out my copy of Simpsons Hit and Run for the PC install it, and we played it without issue. Same can't be said on this digital stuff when servers start to go offline a decade from now when people start to feel nostalgic.



[/quotemsg]

Steam has been around since 2003.

Why would the next decade be different from the last decade?

It isn't like they have an outdated renting model like blockbuster.

Even your precious Simpsons Hit and Run CD will eventually deteriorate and become unreadable.

 

[rantoc]

No it wasn't unfair, while i like Steam - Epic takes less of a cut and some of that in turn was put towards the customers in this case

 

[lazymangaka]

Competition is typically a good thing. I've used Steam for years and have hundreds of games through them, but it always could be better.

HOWEVER, competition in tech all too often leads to the demise of one of the competitors. While I don't think that Epic is going to put Valve out of business, the possibility is certainly there, and it would mean millions of customers losing access to what may be the bulk of their PC game library. There's a real, if unlikely, danger in that for us consumers. With so many places to buy games these days on the PC, we should be accounting for future accessibility when making our decisions. Companies like GoG becoming increasingly attractive for support of DRM-less downloads, enabling user backups.

And, as an aside, I don't need another damned game launcher. FFS. Steam. Blizzard. GoG. Epic. Twitch. Origin. Whatever the Ubisoft one is that I forget my password to every time. When is enough enough?

 

[d--anderson]

Valve aren't going anywhere anytime soon, they still basically have a monopoly on gaming platforms. Let's not forget that competition is good - I would gladly welcome a change where I won't have to pay $120AUD($86USD) for a newly released triple A game. As much as I dislike the inconvenience of using multiple platforms, being priced out of the market is a greater problem.

 

[SockPuppet]

I'm going to pirate it now. Full stop.

 

[jaexyr]

[quotemsg=21725894,0,74126]I'm going to pirate it now. Full stop.[/quotemsg]

Good luck with that

 

[extremepenguin]

Epic is only doing now what Valve started with and forgot, Valve used to put out solid first party titles, license gaming engines, and offer lower prices and incentives to put titles in their store. Now they no longer license a modern engine, their first party titles are lackluster at best and they no longer offer incentives and have raised their prices. Valve got complacent and it is painfully obvious, Epic creates first party titles, they are actively licensing a good modern engine, they have a huge developer base and a solid profit sharing model, they are offering lower prices and better incentives. Epic is currently working on better building their brand and Fortnight has afforded them the cash reserves to make a solid go at it, and I say good for them. Valve makes more than 50% of its annual revenue from the sales of less than 100 titles, all Epic needs is to take a small handful of those. Amazon and Microsoft have significantly reduced the costs needed with hosting large online storage services and delivering the data needed with them. Valve isn't going anywhere any time soon but this will light a fire under them and it can only be good for us, even if this somehow did cause Valve to eventually close somebody would buy those assets and re-brand it, the licenses won't go anywhere.

 

[eakeele]

Getting advertisement on the Steam platform, just to pull it is a dick move. I had it on my Steam wishlist. I will not purchase through the Epic store. Where are the cloud saves? Where are the features on EPIC? I am so sick of more launchers. I understand 30% is a lot, but Steam is a better platform than Epic. Maybe there is wiggle room for developer percentage, but the platforms are not equal. Bethesda has own launcher, no longer picking up their games. Origin, Battle.net, GOG, Discord. I hope this moves bites Metro in the ass.

 

[jamesbstiritz]

STEAM won't be going anywhere soon. I suspect that they will eventually be forced to compromise and re-structure pricing to stay in the game. (Hopefully they'll update their interface as well. It's too clunky and disjointed IMO). If all else fails though, they can go ahead and release HL3 and make a quick billion in the first month while deciding how best to compete with the expanding market.

 

[valeman2012]

[quotemsg=21725563,0,1363432]"Woe to all of us though if Valve does go under, taking steam with it, as that would mean any game in your library NOT installed may become unavailable without plunking down your cash again if still available for sale somewhere."

This is exactly why huge game platforms like this are a bad idea. I've been on Steam for 14 years at this point, and very, very rarely buy anything on there, just in case. Besides the upcoming platform wars, I just hate the idea that if Valve decides to nuke my account (or any reason), I have lost hundreds/thousands of dollars. It's the "putting all your eggs in one basket" metaphor taken to PC gaming.[/quotemsg]
Steam is more notable than Epic Games Store.

Epic Games known to "steal ideas without crediting others" to have their buisness move forward. That`s unfair.
Epic Games known pull or shutdown games once they made a lot of money. I would not support Epic Games for their stolen ideas.

 

[Greg_32]

Besides Pubg I've boycotted steam for the last ten years and will continue to do so within reason until half life 3 comes out.

 

[Exia00]

[quotemsg=21725573,0,2588467]If Valve wants to whine about money, maybe they should focus on what people want and earn it ... As far as I'm concerned, at least it's not on Origin or Uplay.[/quotemsg]

And what is wrong with Uplay since i don't see any issues with it when gaming on that launcher.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

People in this comment thread are clearly missing the point.

1) Epic launcher is a poorly optimized mess devoid of features Steam makes us take for granted.

2) Exclusive deals do NOT belong in PC gaming. I don't care who's done it before, it's wrong and hurts consumers.

3) Epic "passing on savings to consumers" is a blatant lie. They do not offer regional pricing like Steam and thousands of customers outside of West Europe and North America will not be able to afford the game anymore, because the $10 discount Epic graciously offers still keeps the game at $50, which is nearly double of what some gamers would pay otherwise. Additionally, the game is flat out not offered in some regions. Don't believe me? Go check the Metro subreddit.

4) While you're there, check out how many people won't buy it on Epic. That extra 8% (because Exodus would qualify for Steam's top revenue tier, set at 80%) will cost Deep Silver dearly and simple math states they will lose money.

5) Vavle has promised, IIRC, that in an unlikely event of Steam shutting down, they will provide customers with means to run their already owned games without Steam. And if they break that promise, others will fulfill it. There is nothing to worry about.

6) Epic is 48% owned by Tencent. This is not a company gamers should be supporting.

 

[vmylo81]

The only reason I stopped downloading pirated games is steam. I never buy on launch day or preorder though. I'm old enough to have some common sense and patience and wait for summer or winter sale. I have a few games on gog and origin and around 200 on steam. We will see how epic's store will develop but I dont think it threatens steam in the degree that some people say. Fearing that steam will close and that they will lose their games is just nonsense.

 

[shrapnel_indie]

[quotemsg=21726707,0,2198380]Besides Pubg I've boycotted steam for the last ten years and will continue to do so within reason until half life 3 comes out.[/quotemsg]

You may be waiting a very very very long time for HL3. They've lost steam on any initiatives to produce it time and time again. As to your boycott, I wish you luck there as, while it is your prerogative to do so, it will have little effect... They (Gabe and Valve) have sidestepped the question of where HL3 is (or a HL2: ep3 for that matter) for quite a number of years now despite a very large fanbase. You'll just have to wait for the third party versions of a leaked script to be finished for anything close to a HL3.

 

[shrapnel_indie]

[quotemsg=21727244,0,470869]
5) Valve has promised, IIRC, that in an unlikely event of Steam shutting down, they will provide customers with means to run their already owned games without Steam. And if they break that promise, others will fulfill it. There is nothing to worry about.
[/quotemsg]

That may be so, AND I certainly hope, that IF it ever happens, they keep their promises. I've seen other companies make promises and later break them.

 

[cryoburner]

[quotemsg=21725984,0,246476]Epic is only doing now what Valve started with and forgot, Valve used to put out solid first party titles, license gaming engines, and offer lower prices and incentives to put titles in their store. Now they no longer license a modern engine, their first party titles are lackluster at best and they no longer offer incentives and have raised their prices.
[/quotemsg]
I'm not sure about Valve's recent games being lackluster, since aside from last year's pay-to-win card pack simulator, and that short VR tech demo a couple years back, they haven't released any new games whatsoever in around 6 years, and no story-based game since Portal 2 nearly 8 years ago. They only seem interested in monetizing the Steam marketplace now. They recently bought up walking-simulator developer Campo Santo, which had a game already in development set to release this year, but it's something that would have been released whether Valve got involved or not. I would think they would be working on some big games behind the scenes, but I would have thought that over 5 years ago as well, and nothing has as yet materialized. Valve used to be one of the best PC game developers, so it's disappointing to see them seemingly abandoning game development. At this point, I don't even know if the current Valve even has the capacity and talent to develop influential games.

As for Metro Exodus though, the suggestion that its publisher pulled the game from Steam due to Valve's revenue-sharing model doesn't add up. They were already charging $10 more for the game on Steam than on Epic's store, so they would have been making roughly the same amount of profit off each sale either way. They would have likely sold more copies through Steam through, probably bringing in more profit off that platform overall. Seeing as Epic has been pushing their store hard in recent months, such as by giving away free games, it stands to reason that they provided the game's publisher with some additional incentive to make them willing to lose sales by making the game platform-exclusive just a couple weeks before launch.

Epic's client itself is pretty weak compared to Steam. It's lacking in features, is a bit awkward to navigate, and the performance of game downloads and updates seems to be inexplicably poor. I can't say I'm particularly impressed with it, though it's hard to complain about free stuff. : P

 

[shrapnel_indie]

... another downvote drive by has occurred...

" zackbacher voted down for this answer January 31, 2019 x:xx:xx PM"