this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2024
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That lawsuit against Steam’s 30% cut of game sales is now a class action, meaning many other developers could benefit (www.rockpapershotgun.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] Jyek 34 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You can also use steam as a distribution platform completely free of the 30% cut by selling steam keys through your own site. Steam specifically gives developers unlimited free steam keys and games no cut from the sale of said keys. And it's not even a work around, it is intentional.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Indeed, the only limitation is to not sell the keys for less than Steam sell them for.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Technically, you can sell Steam Keys for less. But if you sell Steam Keys somewhere else for cheaper, you need to plan giving Steam Customers the same opportunity at some point.

Steam Key Rules and Guidelines https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys%20

I bought Steam Keys for cheaper in different stores, like Humble Bundle. I also got Steam Keys for free from devs/publisher (events, giveaway, press).

And If you don't mind Steam Keys, you can buy games from GOG or Epic and the price is not always the same as Steam.

You can compare prices in "is there any deal", they only allow authorized vendors. https://isthereanydeal.com/game/shadows-of-doubt/info/ You can see how the base price of Steam Keys are very similar, but the discount changes from vendors.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Technically, you can sell Steam Keys for less. But if you sell Steam Keys somewhere else for cheaper, you need to plan giving Steam Customers the same opportunity at some point.

True, but I would consider that as technically the same as my statement.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

I agree, and I am glad we are on the same page.

I just think it is important to highlight missing key-points, that people often misunderstand and can misconstrue, like the devs and lawyers from the now class action from the post. So it is important to clarify to prevent further misinformation.

  • Steam does not care how much you sell keys for different platforms(e.g. GOG, Epic), just Steam Keys (i.e. keys for the Steam platform).
  • And when you sell Steam Keys in different stores, you need to give Steam Store Customers comparable, but not necessarily at the same time or same price.

If you check the historical low on "is there any deal", often stores have games with historical low lower than Steam's historical low. From what I saw, the prices are usually around 10%~12% lower.