Steam vs ?

I have some apps on Windows 8 store but I realise that is only 10% or so of the PC market. It would be nice to multiply my sales by 10! $_$. So I would like somehow to sell my games also on Windows XP/Windows 7.

I heard it's very hard to get on Steam compared with, say, the Windows 8 app store.

Has anyone got any good experience of selling games on Windows XP/Windows 7 and what would you recommend?

I like the Store system because it frees me up from complaints about "this game with DRM doesn't work on my laptop even though I paid for it on my work computer." or "Why doesn't my game work after I reinstalled my operating system" etc. Also, implementing all the PayPal or other payment system with PHP etc. is a drag. I just want to find a simple store to sell my games on Windows XP/Windows 7 without it having to be reviewed so I can link to it on my website.

I see that Minecraft mainly sells its game from it's website. But it looks like they implemented their own system.

Alternatively I could just cross my fingers and hope that Windows 9 takes a bigger market share from Windows XP.

 

Look into GOG.com

You need to have a very very solid product in order to get on gog.com

 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/08/6-pc-gaming-alternatives-to-steam

Alternatives to Steam.

 

Either struggle your way on to Steam, or pick a platform which isn't PC.

All other forms of PC distribution are pretty much insignificant. Valve/Steam is basically a monopoly these days.

(It does seem to be getting a bit easier to get on there, though - there's been a lot more games getting through Greenlight recently - which is both good and bad, because with a lot more content on there, getting on Steam is no longer 'guaranteed success')

It's a shame that Microsoft were so determined to push Metro so hard, really. If they'd built a desktop App Store instead, that might have worked out quite nicely for indie developers...

 

It's a bit of a gamble though. $100 for a developer account on Steam. And then have to wait ages to get Greenlit.

Also you can put desktop apps in the Windows 8 app store but there is a price, and secondly that's no good for XP/7!

In the old days I think I used to use download.com and such like but it's just full of adverts these days and viruses.

I did have a system in which I took a hard-disks unique identifier then sent that to a website which generated an unlock code after the user had paid on PayPal. Then the PC software would alter a secret file on the users computer to unlock the game. Probably easily crackable but it seemed to work. But a lot of hassle if people enter their details wrong etc.

Basically I'm looking for a system which takes care of payments/DRM etc. I'm sure there used to be a lot of them. Maybe they've gone out of business.

Has anyone had a look at Desura? It doesn't have DRM. I'm worried if I sell games without DRM then that would hurt my app sales.

Actually PayPal itself seems to have its own system now. I wonder how that works with tax implications.

Why can't Unity open it's own game store?

 

$100 is a tiny amount of money compared to the massive number of users Steam can expose your game to. Some games do an awesome job of very quickly getting through Greenlight, so not all games need to wait forever in Greenlight. Figure out how you are going to build lots of buzz to quickly push through Greenlight. Don't rely on Steam to build the Greenlight buzz for you.

 

Because there's no reason why they should get into that business it would likely result in losing money. It would be a distraction from things they can do which actually matter and help people.

--Eric

 

How can it lose money? Surely it's a license to print money? Does the asset store lose money? Does Steam lose money? Surely it's just a case of adapting the asset store to allow you to download games as well as assets? The technology is all in place all ready. Just add an option for the user to get a refund within 24 hours if they are not happy with the game and it's win-win for everyone! You got to think big in this day and age. If you snooze you lose. I bet Unreal Engine will open it's own game store before long...

 

Well I've given them my £60. Now I think it was a mistake as my games are more suitable to mobile and the causal market. I think Steam is more for dedicated gamers. Oh well YOLO as they say. I'd have only spent it on fast cars and lose women anyway.

 

Because staffing and especially marketing cost far more money than it would likely bring in. Why would anyone use it? What possible benefits are there compared to existing stores, which already struggle vs. Steam? The asset store is an entirely different market, and it's not at all suitable for selling games. You need to think things through in the first place before you can consider "thinking big".

--Eric

 

....marketing cost...
No marketing needed. Provide a useful service and people will use it. Build it and they will come! Each game would be marketed by the person who made it. Build it on the cloud then it expands to fit the demand. Minimal staffing cost as if people are not satisfied within 24 hours they click the "refund" button.

Why would anyone use it?
Because it would be easier than trying to get it on Steam. Or setting up a PayPal system to sell your game on your website.

What possible benefits are there compared to existing stores, which already struggle vs. Steam?
There is a pre-existing user base of Unity game makers who trust Unity. Unity is trusted compared to other no-name websites. It has a proven track record of selling things through its asset store.

You need to think things through in the first place before you can consider "thinking big".
Do first think later. That's my motto!

 

I wish. Believe me, you 100% do need to market; it's thoroughly naive to think otherwise.

It would not be easier for gamers to find, buy, download, and play, which is the only thing that matters. Making a store because you want to cater to game-makers, not gamers, is completely bass-ackwards.

None of which are games.

Yeah, I can tell.

--Eric

 

also look at amazon.com and greenmangaming.com

also desura.com and humblebundle.com

 

I don't know if there would be any logical reason for Unity to launch a game store to compete with Steam. Game makers really like Unity, but most gamers are unaware of Unity. In some cases, gamers actually dislike Unity because they associate the brand with some of the very poorly coded games made with Unity Free by very inexperienced developers. There is some stigma with PC gamers regarding Unity games. It would probably be an uphill battle to convince gamers to use Unity's game store instead of Steam.

I remember when I first started using Steam. I was forced to install Steam in order to play Half Life 2 and Counter Strike Source. At the time, I was very mad about being forced to install Steam, but I grew to really like Steam overall. Earlier this year, I was forced to install Origin in order to play Titanfall and I was actually mad that I was being forced to do that, especially since I already have Steam installed. I doubt anybody could convince me to install a 3rd game store package at this point.