Steam allegedly threatened devs if they sold games cheaper anywhere else

rpm

rpm

Admin
Staff member
Joined
Jul 22, 2003
Messages
66,772
Reaction score
5,001
Location
Johannesburg
The Price Parity Rule at it again. Many devs/pubs has complained about it though it is explicitly stated in the Steam(Works) Ts&Cs, you are not allowed to redistribute Steamworks issued keys in non-compliance with the Price Parity Rule.

There is always the Epic Games Store as a alternative, Itch, etc.

Publishers have always hold the rights on Valve to publish a game at their own stipulated price, in any given applicable region, and to participate in discount campaigns.

Many authorised third-party retailers circumvents this with their own regional applicable discounts.

All those publishers complaining about their keys being sold on grey markets, how did those sellers obtain your Steam keys?

I believe this is the exact reason why Ubi doesn't sell new titles on Steam anymore.

Many publishers are also mentally challenged by the regional pricing schemes.
 
No one is forcing you to use steam. Don't want to abide by their rules use one of the other multiple options out there. Or create your own.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
They want Steam-DRM.
Click to expand...
Doesn't seem like a good reason to distribute through Steam. Even when DRM-free GOG versions of games exist, I see Steam versions on the RARBG top 10 page. And considering the increase in big titles hitting GOG at launch, I think more and more publishers are coming round to the idea that DRM does nothing but annoy your legit customers.
 
Herr der Verboten said:
Then live the set agreements or gtfo.
Click to expand...

Sure, the person who ran Humble Bundle should know and understand these conditions?

He pointed out,

But when I asked Valve about this plan, they replied that they would remove Overgrowth from Steam if I allowed it to be sold at a lower price anywhere, even from my own website without Steam keys and without Steam’s DRM. This would make it impossible for me, or any game developer, to determine whether or not Steam is earning their commission. I believe that other developers who charged lower prices on other stores have been contacted by Valve, telling them that their games will be removed from Steam if they did not raise their prices on competing stores.
Click to expand...

Publishers who sell on GOG, Itch and now Epic, not to mention the other marketplaces, has been doing this a long time already. Funny enough, many publishers have a higher price in a marketplace like GOG.

In my opinion, this is part of why all competing stores have failed. This suit insists that Valve stop interfering with pricing on other stores, and allow gamers and developers to make their own decisions. That’s why I joined the lawsuit.
Click to expand...

I think a collective wants the Most-Favored Nations Clause overturned in the Valve Ts&Cs. He is adding his voice and entity to the lawsuit which was opened against Valve back in January. This has a lot more to do than Price Parity. It is best to understand what Most-Favored-Nation Clause actually means within the WTO.

Though ordinary peeps may champion this there is a chance that this lawsuit may bring an end (or compromise) to regional pricing schemes which Steam is championing (as well as Epic who is late to the party).
 
Bryn said:
Doesn't seem like a good reason to distribute through Steam. Even when DRM-free GOG versions of games exist, I see Steam versions on the RARBG top 10 page. And considering the increase in big titles hitting GOG at launch, I think more and more publishers are coming round to the idea that DRM does nothing but annoy your legit customers.
Click to expand...

Just going to quote Steam's dev notes here,

Steam DRM (Steamworks Documentation)

partner.steamgames.com partner.steamgames.com

The Steam DRM wrapper is an important part of Steam platform because it verifies game ownership and ensures that Steamworks features work properly by launching Steam before launching the game.

The Steam DRM wrapper by itself is not is not a anti-piracy solution. The Steam DRM wrapper protects against extremely casual piracy (i.e. copying all game files to another computer) and has some obfuscation, but it is easily removed by a motivated attacker.

We suggest enhancing the value of legitimate copies of your game by using Steamworks features which won't work on non-legitimate copies (e.g. online multiplayer, achievements, leaderboards, trading cards, etc.).
Click to expand...
 
Arstechnica has a good article,

arstechnica.com

Steam’s “price parity rule” isn’t wreaking havoc on game prices

Game publishers aren’t “passing on the savings” from “cheaper” online storefronts.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com

Personally, regional pricing have served me well. Peeps with Argentinian, Russian/CIS accounts have been scoring big time.

From what I am getting is that there is more to this than Price Parity and that publishers wish to set their own rules in the respective territories which will be applicable to both consumers and distribution.

The possibility exists that these publishers, who are unable to target grey market sellers, are indirectly targeting grey market sellers by directly targeting Valve.

I read through some case snippets, almost everything is based on public statements made by Tim Sweeney, and they make ludicrous marketplace comparisons. Is Price Parity the reason why Google Stadia cannot compete???
 
Fulcrum29 said:
The Price Parity Rule at it again. Many devs/pubs has complained about it though it is explicitly stated in the Steam(Works) Ts&Cs, you are not allowed to redistribute Steamworks issued keys in non-compliance with the Price Parity Rule.

There is always the Epic Games Store as a alternative, Itch, etc.

Publishers have always hold the rights on Valve to publish a game at their own stipulated price, in any given applicable region, and to participate in discount campaigns.

Many authorised third-party retailers circumvents this with their own regional applicable discounts.

All those publishers complaining about their keys being sold on grey markets, how did those sellers obtain your Steam keys?

I believe this is the exact reason why Ubi doesn't sell new titles on Steam anymore.

Many publishers are also mentally challenged by the regional pricing schemes.
Click to expand...

This same problem is actually....everywhere.

People "agree" to rules, regulations and conditions.
Then when they are included and signed up, then they complain about those rules, regulations and conditions.

Examples:
- Facebook
- WhatsApp
- .....
- Even in property, ie sectional title complexes, the same thing happens. People agree to the rules and regulations and after they signed up, knowing about the rules and regulations, now they want it changed.
 
ConfusedR said:
This same problem is actually....everywhere.

People "agree" to rules, regulations and conditions.
Then when they are included and signed up, then they complain about those rules, regulations and conditions.

Examples:
- Facebook
- WhatsApp
- .....
- Even in property, ie sectional title complexes, the same thing happens. People agree to the rules and regulations and after they signed up, knowing about the rules and regulations, now they want it changed.
Click to expand...

The thing is, the Most-Favored-Nation rule exists to denote equal treatment to all countries (well, strictly speaking it applies to those who are WHO members), and it is within this rule that the Price Parity rule exits. Though this does not apply to game stores per se, it does apply geographically.

It is not like the publisher in the OP didn't know about the rule, the Price Parity rule, they sold Steam games on Humble which they owned. They know and understand the terms and conditions like any other authorised distributor, more so than developers and publishers which they also happen to be.

When you use a term like, "I believe", to quote,

I believe that other developers who charged lower prices on other stores have been contacted by Valve, telling them that their games will be removed from Steam if they did not raise their prices on competing stores.
Click to expand...

he better back up who else believes.

There is an angle here.

Valve don't like to respond to these issues, they tend to take their challenges head on in court and have a high success record. It will be some time until we do hear how Valve will respond to the allegations.

I agree that publishers should be able to set any price, but I have seen various publishers set their own pricing in the respective stores that they are listed in. I assume that there is more to this and that the Price Parity rule is an attack angle.
 
I checked out the game in question.

I did not set out with the goal of suing Valve, but I have personally experienced the conduct described in the complaint. When new video game stores were opening that charged much lower commissions than Valve, I decided that I would provide my game "Overgrowth" at a lower price to take advantage of the lower commission rates. I intended to write a blog post about the results.

But when I asked Valve about this plan, they replied that they would remove Overgrowth from Steam if I allowed it to be sold at a lower price anywhere, even from my own website without Steam keys and without Steam’s DRM. This would make it impossible for me, or any game developer, to determine whether or not Steam is earning their commission.
Click to expand...


I see it is sold on both Steam and the publisher's website. The game was never sold on GOG as the dev opted to sell the game on Humble since release. The game doesn't have DRM, so you don't need to be online to play the game, neither does it have Steam achievements.

Pricing:

Steam: $29.99 / €24.99 / R175
Humble: $29.99 / €27.99
Direct: $29.95

Curious why the Euro price is higher on Humble than on Steam, but I can point out is the Rand pricing, unlike the Euro and Dollar it took a permanent new price not too long ago,

Capture.PNG

All keys are Steam issued. How haven't the publisher to date not determine whether Steam is earning their commission or not. Is nobody buying the game on the website or Humble? I am quite sure that Valve doesn't take commission on the issued keys to be distributed elsewhere.

Why this 2017 title, and not a newer title like Receiver 2 which does use SteamWorks?

They are unhappy about something, but I don't believe it is the Price Parity Rule. I will hate to be right about the geographical thing...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter