Is STEAM dying or near death?

Is STEAM dying or near death? (Full Version)

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aaatoysandmore -> Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 11:06:40 AM)
I know it's something we discuss and take sides on all the time but have you really noticed steam lately or for the past few years? All these B movie type games on the front page now. Hardly any mainstream titles and most of their sales games now are these B movie type games. I feel they are struggling now and trying to make the budget line with no-name titles and all these greenlite games that are pretty much all trash (platformers and fps) except for a few titles that we were waiting on long before there ever was this kickstarter program or green lighting. Now, I know Matrixgames has a few titles on Steam now but for them they could really use them for exposure, but a lot of these other games wouldn't make mint with enough exposure. I never seen so many I would even let in my house let alone on my computer even if they were free. It's worrisome to say the least. As more and more crappy games make their way to the front page and not enough coming attractions I worry that all the games I bought on Steam may end up like that mess that Windows Live turned into and already several of the games that I bought on Steam do not work because Windows Live no longer supports them or is active. It's what I've been saying all along they can "promise" you the moon but when it comes right down to it when the plug is pulled it will be pulled and they won't give a hoot about you or anyone else. Now, these 3rd party activations have to be processed like the new AOW III and you have to setup an account outside of Steam using your Steam account to link up with. UBIsoft or one of those UBI sites also has an outside activation and password setup system that I encountered when I bought Tropico IV. Everytime I launch it I have to put in my password from this UBI site and lauch the game with an outside launching system. What is this crap now?

warspite1 -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 11:13:10 AM)
I don't really understand all this. You say that there are few mainstream titles nowadays. So what is happening then? Where are the mainstream titles? Are you saying there are less quality games being produced or that they are going elsewhere? If so where?

Terminus -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 11:36:57 AM)
Plenty of mainstream titles. What's happening is that Steam is trying to compete with Good Old Games by releasing oodles of very old games on the store, pushing out newer and better titles. With Valve's lack of quality control, a lot of garbage gets put out there, in both old and new titles. As for whether or Steam is dying, that's unlikely (sorry, Steam haters). I don't think you realize precisely how much money Valve has.

jday305 -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 11:39:51 AM)
Sorry aaatoysandmore but I don't really agree as I check out Steam on a weekly basis. I see several new games each week that include mainstream and greenlite games. I usually wait until the game is on sale before I buy it anymore as I can't afford $50+ price tags. Personnally, I think Stream pushes the Greenlite games before they are ready for the consumer. I do agree that more of their games are being activated by 3rd parties (UBIsoft) as I found with FarCry3 recently when I bought it on sale. Though I haven't bought any Greenlite games yet some of them I have found interesting; just waiting until they are out of beta.

aaatoysandmore -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 11:40:06 AM)
Dunno just less than a few years ago. Taking 5 years or more to make games had to catch up to them sometime. They've been giving discounts on many of the older titles for years but now there aren't enough new old titles to keep up that tactic. They are seemingly becoming Big Fish Games. Check it out sometime. Lots of games that are on Big Fish Games are now making it to Steam as well as Gamers Gate who I've noticed is also presenting more B Movielike game material. Plusl, the saturation of discount games is more prominent. I have everything I can think of I would want and so no longer spend $100's of dollars a year on gaming. So, if I have maxed out my gaming library and things I want I'm sure others have too. Thus, less sales, the spiral down effect just appears to be happening and they are grabbing at straws to make budget and ends meet. Watch for layoffs in the near future I think that will be a sign. As most of us know when businesses start to lose money payroll is the first to get cut.

Terminus -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 11:53:48 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: jday305 Sorry aaatoysandmore but I don't really agree as I check out Steam on a weekly basis. I see several new games each week that include mainstream and greenlite games. I usually wait until the game is on sale before I buy it anymore as I can't afford $50+ price tags. Personnally, I think Stream pushes the Greenlite games before they are ready for the consumer. I do agree that more of their games are being activated by 3rd parties (UBIsoft) as I found with FarCry3 recently when I bought it on sale. Though I haven't bought any Greenlite games yet some of them I have found interesting; just waiting until they are out of beta. Greenlight is going to be discontinued shortly, exactly due to all the complaints about non-existent quality control.

neofit -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 12:31:55 PM)
I am sure Steam is doing fine, thank you very much :). What new "mainstream" or AA+ titles did you see that a publisher, other than EA who has a competing platform, can afford not to put on Steam? What we are seeing is that few AA+ titles are being produced, and they are drowning in a sea of low quality indie crap that I wouldn't have bothered even copying for my ZX Spectrum back in the day :). All the good indies are in the "Early Access" section. They have apparently figured out that Desura, GoG and consorts are making a lot of money selling this kind of games, and even if less people are buying each than AA+ games, as long as it costs less to put them up for sale, it's still extra profit.

Terminus -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 12:40:30 PM)
Of course, the problem with Early Access is that people might give up before finishing the product. It's happened a few times recently, and if you bought an Early Access game, your money is basically gone down the toilet. Translation: don't buy Early Access. It's even more stupid than buying preorders.

wings7 -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 12:41:05 PM)
Steam is not dying! Sure, there are alot of garbage games on it but there are alot of great mainstream and indie games also. If it were not for Steam (and others) we would never see these terrific indie games [:)] (think Banished). If Steam falters someone (or group) will step in and take over...look how many members that are on Steam. [X(] Patrick

Werewolf13 -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 1:12:21 PM)
When it comes to online distribution of games and effectively marketing them STEAM is the 800 lb Gorilla on the block. Heck - I can't remember the last time I bought a boxed game for the PC or the Playstation. Online distribution is it and STEAM right now is number one. They've got some competition - Amazon for one - and Steam may not be the 800 lb gorilla forever. But they are for now. Personally - I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Chickenboy -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 2:04:07 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Terminus Translation: don't buy Early Access. It's even more stupid than buying preorders. Soo...are you suggesting that the $500 preorder check that I sent Warspite1 for WiTP 3: WE (Warspite Edition) may have not have been in good judgement?

Terminus -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 2:06:51 PM)
Yes. You should have sent me $750 instead.

wodin -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 2:17:24 PM)
Highly unlikely. Unless they've blown shed loads of money in bad investments I'm sure they are more than fine.

warspite1 -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 2:23:35 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Chickenboy quote: ORIGINAL: Terminus Translation: don't buy Early Access. It's even more stupid than buying preorders. Soo...are you suggesting that the $500 preorder check that I sent Warspite1 for WiTP 3: WE (Warspite Edition) may have not have been in good judgement? warspite1 Relax CB your money is safe. As soon as I've learned how to program a computer I will have the game up and running in no time. WITP: WE will be THE bestest, most accurate war game ever, and will be free of the sort of stupid, childish mistakes that plague rubbish games like World In Flames, WITE and WITP: AE etc; namely, HMS Warspite will of course be unsinkable. Used correctly, she will naturally win any battle, against any opposition, at any time in the war. Examples include: Running low on Spitfires during the Battle of Britain? send for the Grand Old Lady, Having trouble with Uranus? Ouch! Don't send for Zhukov, call for HMS Warspite, Getting hurt in the slot? The US Navy isn't the answer, call for everyone's favourite battleship, having trouble getting rid of a rather unsightly Bulge? Kick Patton into touch, dial 999 and request the assistance of HMS Warspite, The Allies favourite superheroine. You know it makes sense [:)]

Josh -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 2:26:44 PM)
Greenlight is to be discontinued shortly? Damn that was the part I liked the most about Steam you know... these oldschool sidescrollers, hardcore RPG's all there in Greenlight.

zakblood -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 4:58:36 PM)
steam is what steam is, you either like it or don't, myself i have a few games on there, but don't use it most weeks, don't like the direction it's going but not bad enough to not use it at all. updates and no cd/dvd protection is good, but a lot of clutter there i don't like, green light is ok if you like what's on offer, but mostly low end budget stuff thats not mainstream enough to sell either for me and some of it really is poor/rubbish, below even free tbh would be over priced at

warspite1 -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/10/2014 5:20:37 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 quote: ORIGINAL: Chickenboy quote: ORIGINAL: Terminus Translation: don't buy Early Access. It's even more stupid than buying preorders. Soo...are you suggesting that the $500 preorder check that I sent Warspite1 for WiTP 3: WE (Warspite Edition) may have not have been in good judgement? warspite1 Relax CB your money is safe. As soon as I've learned how to program a computer I will have the game up and running in no time. WITP: WE will be THE bestest, most accurate war game ever, and will be free of the sort of stupid, childish mistakes that plague rubbish games like World In Flames, WITE and WITP: AE etc; namely, HMS Warspite will of course be unsinkable. Used correctly, she will naturally win any battle, against any opposition, at any time in the war. Examples include: Running low on Spitfires during the Battle of Britain? send for the Grand Old Lady, Having trouble with Uranus? Ouch! Don't send for Zhukov, call for HMS Warspite, Getting hurt in the slot? The US Navy isn't the answer, call for everyone's favourite battleship, having trouble getting rid of a rather unsightly Bulge? Kick Patton into touch, dial 999 and request the assistance of HMS Warspite, The Allies favourite superheroine. You know it makes sense [:)] warspite1 I've had a lot of PM's in the last couple of hours. Don't worry. I can confirm that WITP:WE WILL be available on both Steam and Physical copy.

gradenko2k -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/11/2014 12:30:28 AM)
What aaatoysandmore is seeing is Steam/Valve simply being (even more) liberal with what they allow into their store. The long-term goal is for "Steam" as we know to simply be a distribution platform but with publishers maintaining their own front-page "stores". It would be somewhat similar to how Google Play or iTunes operates - wherein you wouldn't necessarily shop for an app that you need from the Google/Apple storefront, but rather simply use it as a method of delivery to your gadget. The community itself is still healthy with a peak of 6 million users within the last 48 hours as of this writing.

Aurelian -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/11/2014 12:54:23 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 quote: ORIGINAL: Chickenboy quote: ORIGINAL: Terminus Translation: don't buy Early Access. It's even more stupid than buying preorders. Soo...are you suggesting that the $500 preorder check that I sent Warspite1 for WiTP 3: WE (Warspite Edition) may have not have been in good judgement? warspite1 Relax CB your money is safe. As soon as I've learned how to program a computer I will have the game up and running in no time. WITP: WE will be THE bestest, most accurate war game ever, and will be free of the sort of stupid, childish mistakes that plague rubbish games like World In Flames, WITE and WITP: AE etc; namely, HMS Warspite will of course be unsinkable. Used correctly, she will naturally win any battle, against any opposition, at any time in the war. Examples include: Running low on Spitfires during the Battle of Britain? send for the Grand Old Lady, Having trouble with Uranus? Ouch! Don't send for Zhukov, call for HMS Warspite, Getting hurt in the slot? The US Navy isn't the answer, call for everyone's favourite battleship, having trouble getting rid of a rather unsightly Bulge? Kick Patton into touch, dial 999 and request the assistance of HMS Warspite, The Allies favourite superheroine. You know it makes sense [:)] Where do I sign up?

warspite1 -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/11/2014 5:44:26 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Aurelian quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 quote: ORIGINAL: Chickenboy quote: ORIGINAL: Terminus Translation: don't buy Early Access. It's even more stupid than buying preorders. Soo...are you suggesting that the $500 preorder check that I sent Warspite1 for WiTP 3: WE (Warspite Edition) may have not have been in good judgement? warspite1 Relax CB your money is safe. As soon as I've learned how to program a computer I will have the game up and running in no time. WITP: WE will be THE bestest, most accurate war game ever, and will be free of the sort of stupid, childish mistakes that plague rubbish games like World In Flames, WITE and WITP: AE etc; namely, HMS Warspite will of course be unsinkable. Used correctly, she will naturally win any battle, against any opposition, at any time in the war. Examples include: Running low on Spitfires during the Battle of Britain? send for the Grand Old Lady, Having trouble with Uranus? Ouch! Don't send for Zhukov, call for HMS Warspite, Getting hurt in the slot? The US Navy isn't the answer, call for everyone's favourite battleship, having trouble getting rid of a rather unsightly Bulge? Kick Patton into touch, dial 999 and request the assistance of HMS Warspite, The Allies favourite superheroine. You know it makes sense [:)] Where do I sign up? warspite1 Thanks Aurelian. I need to buy some books, en-roll in a college course on programming, and update my computer. Please send me �1,000 GBP in cash and I will put your name down as one of the first to receive a free game when its ready.

Hertston -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/11/2014 7:43:44 AM)
Steam creates it's own 'mainstream' titles these days. Games like Day Z and Terraria have sold millions of copies, and even something as 'indie' as Space Engineers has just topped 500,000. The PC games market has changed dramatically. There are now very few publishers of 'AAA' PC titles anyway, and of these Ubi still use Steam, and Blizzard never have. The only high-profile player I can think of that has actually withdrawn is EA, and the reasoning behind that was keep their own prime stuff to boost their intended 'rival' to Steam, Origin. As it turned out, the only reason anybody even installs Origin is to get the (invariably overpriced) EA games not available elsewhere. IMHO the increase in availability and visibility of those 'B Movie' type games is a prime reason nobody talks about PC gaming being killed off by consoles any more. The markets have diverged to a significant extent, to the benefit of gamers. A considerable number are far superior (and far more original) games. A lot of what you are commenting on was originally user-driven anyway, including Greenlight and early access, although I agree the former didn't work out, and IMHO the latter was always a bad idea on quality control grounds. Likewise the oldie re-release titles; the success of GoG clearly shows a commercial demand Steam were just responding to.

shunwick -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/11/2014 2:32:58 PM)
The only problem with Steam is the sheer number of games it handles especially with so many "new" releases. Steam needs to overhaul their front end to make it easier for players to connect with developers/publishers of games they like. At the moment, it is clunky. The present format has outlived its usefulness. Best wishes, Steve

aaatoysandmore -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/11/2014 8:21:06 PM)
Well, at least I can honestly say I don't have anything on steam that I would greatly miss if they closed the doors tomorrow. I was just concerned that the B - Movie type games were plastered all over the front page now and a lot of early access stuff. I just see a reduction of AAA titles and even the ones they have (Rome 2 and Rebirth) aren't worth the media they are printed on. I would hate to lose my Total War collection I have on there but I have all the ones that aren't steam required on disks at home anyways. I'll always have MTW1 and RTW no matter what happens to steam. [:)] It's good to be a wargammer still as long as Matrixgames and Slitherine an HPS don't jump ship on us. If they ever go exclusive Steam or Gamersgate though I think it will be over for me. I like owning what I buy.

JDM -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/11/2014 8:42:02 PM)
You have no problem

wworld7 -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/11/2014 11:04:23 PM)
So it will be possible for HMS Warspite to defeat panzer Lehr in the battle for Moscow, then ...

Aurelian -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/12/2014 12:18:10 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 quote: ORIGINAL: Aurelian quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 quote: ORIGINAL: Chickenboy quote: ORIGINAL: Terminus Translation: don't buy Early Access. It's even more stupid than buying preorders. Soo...are you suggesting that the $500 preorder check that I sent Warspite1 for WiTP 3: WE (Warspite Edition) may have not have been in good judgement? warspite1 Relax CB your money is safe. As soon as I've learned how to program a computer I will have the game up and running in no time. WITP: WE will be THE bestest, most accurate war game ever, and will be free of the sort of stupid, childish mistakes that plague rubbish games like World In Flames, WITE and WITP: AE etc; namely, HMS Warspite will of course be unsinkable. Used correctly, she will naturally win any battle, against any opposition, at any time in the war. Examples include: Running low on Spitfires during the Battle of Britain? send for the Grand Old Lady, Having trouble with Uranus? Ouch! Don't send for Zhukov, call for HMS Warspite, Getting hurt in the slot? The US Navy isn't the answer, call for everyone's favourite battleship, having trouble getting rid of a rather unsightly Bulge? Kick Patton into touch, dial 999 and request the assistance of HMS Warspite, The Allies favourite superheroine. You know it makes sense [:)] Where do I sign up? warspite1 Thanks Aurelian. I need to buy some books, en-roll in a college course on programming, and update my computer. Please send me �1,000 GBP in cash and I will put your name down as one of the first to receive a free game when its ready. My pleasure. Just waiting for that special paper I ordered. Already have the engraving.

warspite1 -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/12/2014 6:03:25 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Aurelian quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 quote: ORIGINAL: Aurelian quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 quote: ORIGINAL: Chickenboy quote: ORIGINAL: Terminus Translation: don't buy Early Access. It's even more stupid than buying preorders. Soo...are you suggesting that the $500 preorder check that I sent Warspite1 for WiTP 3: WE (Warspite Edition) may have not have been in good judgement? warspite1 Relax CB your money is safe. As soon as I've learned how to program a computer I will have the game up and running in no time. WITP: WE will be THE bestest, most accurate war game ever, and will be free of the sort of stupid, childish mistakes that plague rubbish games like World In Flames, WITE and WITP: AE etc; namely, HMS Warspite will of course be unsinkable. Used correctly, she will naturally win any battle, against any opposition, at any time in the war. Examples include: Running low on Spitfires during the Battle of Britain? send for the Grand Old Lady, Having trouble with Uranus? Ouch! Don't send for Zhukov, call for HMS Warspite, Getting hurt in the slot? The US Navy isn't the answer, call for everyone's favourite battleship, having trouble getting rid of a rather unsightly Bulge? Kick Patton into touch, dial 999 and request the assistance of HMS Warspite, The Allies favourite superheroine. You know it makes sense [:)] Where do I sign up? warspite1 Thanks Aurelian. I need to buy some books, en-roll in a college course on programming, and update my computer. Please send me �1,000 GBP in cash and I will put your name down as one of the first to receive a free game when its ready. My pleasure. Just waiting for that special paper I ordered. Already have the engraving. warspite1 [:D]

warspite1 -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/12/2014 6:19:04 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: flipperwasirish So it will be possible for HMS Warspite to defeat panzer Lehr in the battle for Moscow, then ... warspite1 Of course.

gradenko2k -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/12/2014 7:05:52 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: aaatoysandmore Well, at least I can honestly say I don't have anything on steam that I would greatly miss if they closed the doors tomorrow. I was just concerned that the B - Movie type games were plastered all over the front page now and a lot of early access stuff. I just see a reduction of AAA titles and even the ones they have (Rome 2 and Rebirth) aren't worth the media they are printed on. I would hate to lose my Total War collection I have on there but I have all the ones that aren't steam required on disks at home anyways. I'll always have MTW1 and RTW no matter what happens to steam. [:)] It's good to be a wargammer still as long as Matrixgames and Slitherine an HPS don't jump ship on us. If they ever go exclusive Steam or Gamersgate though I think it will be over for me. I like owning what I buy. Those are two different issues though: 1. So many games are getting into Steam that the "triple-A" titles are getting buried in the avalanche - while this may be partly true, this is simply because Steam is popular enough that everyone wants to get on-board. The problem isn't that there are too many games on Steam, it's that their storefront isn't customizable enough to filter out stuff that a person doesn't want according to his or her own taste. 2. The "triple-A" titles you see aren't actually very good - this is not Steam's problem, like, at all! Your sample size is two games according to your own personal preferences and is again purely a symptom of Steam being a carrier for a vast majority of games. Hypothetically speaking, if the turn-based strategy game market exploded and we had 50 releases in a year and all of those went to Matrix/Slitherine, it's practically guaranteed that A. some of those games would be hammered ***e (cough* World in Flames coughcough) and B. that has absolutely no bearing on whether or not Matrix/Slitherine would be shuttering their doors anytime soon.

aaatoysandmore -> RE: Is STEAM dying or near death? (5/12/2014 7:38:22 AM)
I only used 2 examples because that is all I wanted to type not because those are the only 2 that suck at this time. My main concern is before all this greenlite stuff and early access there were a lot more premium games on the front page and that has dwindled to GoG standards of just put anything up there that is being made. I'd more like to see 85-90+ reviewed scored games on the front page than B-Movie crap. Once again if it turns me away from visiting Steam it is turning others. The silent majority can be louder than you think.

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