Darryl Still of 1c Publishing speaks out on retail vs Steam

[J T]

Great read:

http://www.mcvuk.com/features/808/OPINI ... l-vs-Steam

My favorite part:

"What is more surprising is the reaction of retail now. I have read it described as the reaction of a small child who threw his toy away because he no longer wanted it, but started screaming as soon as another child picked it up to play with. The metaphor works perfectly, especially in the light of the excuse I heard on numerous occasions.

‘There is no demand’ went the mantra. But is this really true? Not in our experience."

[theclaw]

Yup. Pretty obvious retailers and game companies snub PC. It can't be coincidence so many titles just "happen" to be months-late ports from console with little marketing or shelf space. I don't buy that.

[jfrost]

In my opinion, if companies are forced to choose between Steam or retail, they'll choose Steam. Not only do they have greater control and wider profit margins on Steam, for the consumer is much more practical in many ways as well.

Besides, Steam has a 30 million+ userbase, which is comparable to the install base of the 360/PS3. What does retail have to show for itself?

[Hobie-wan]

Yup. Good read. I liked the line where they sold more copies of the game through Steam than was being sent to stores in the time the distributor talked about it.

[Ack]

In my opinion, if companies are forced to choose between Steam or retail, they'll choose Steam. Not only do they have greater control and wider profit margins on Steam, for the consumer is much more practical in many ways as well.

Besides, Steam has a 30 million+ userbase, which is comparable to the install base of the 360/PS3. What does retail have to show for itself?

I'd also add that you don't get the large used game market with Steam that you do with stores like Game Stop, which developers were complaining about. It's really a pretty big win for them.

[Erik_Twice]

They were the ones who ignored PC gaming so...