The issue is that MFN means publishers can’t sell cheaper in GOG than in Steam, which means GOG has trouble competing, even though GOG sales cost Valve nothing. IMO it would be fine if Steam said steam keys need to be sold at the same price as the game on Steam, but that’s not what’s happening ehre.
Valve policy states you cannot undercut the base price on another site, sales happen all the time on GOG and Epic that do not happen on Valve. The steam keys mean the developer cannot resell the keys at a lower cost since it provides access to Steam features such as the workshop and cloud storage.
You also do not need to use Steam, Steam OS and Steam Deck are completely open source with alternative game stores, the 30% cut you give Steam is entirely voluntary.
Steam is literally just preventing people from using Steam services to undercut Steam itself, if you cannot see past the market share or why Steam is the big dog on the block you should do more research or go outside. Stop simping for overegulation.
No they are not. You literally can’t set the base price of your game cheaper in another digital store even if they give you much better terms that Steam. And because Steam is so dominant you need to be on Steam, so you end up having to overcharge players that buy your game outside of Steam. In turn this removes an incentive for the players to buy the game elsewhere and preserves Steam’s dominance.
Why should Steam have a say on the price of games in GOG when GOG games don’t use Steam services at all?
Again, only if you use Steam keys, a Steam feature. Limited time sales are also still allowed on Steam keys. You can undercut Steam prices if you do not sell a steam key with it.
If you want to sell your game keyless on GOG for cheaper you can, and should.
The issue is that MFN means publishers can’t sell cheaper in GOG than in Steam, which means GOG has trouble competing, even though GOG sales cost Valve nothing. IMO it would be fine if Steam said steam keys need to be sold at the same price as the game on Steam, but that’s not what’s happening ehre.
That is exactly what is happening though?
“It is important that you don’t give Steam customers a worse deal than Steam Key purchasers.” https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys#%3A~%3Atext=It+is+important+that+you+don’t+give+Steam+customers+a+worse+deal+than+Steam+Key+purchasers.
Valve policy states you cannot undercut the base price on another site, sales happen all the time on GOG and Epic that do not happen on Valve. The steam keys mean the developer cannot resell the keys at a lower cost since it provides access to Steam features such as the workshop and cloud storage.
Which means they are using their dominant position to distort the market and protect their 30% cut. Which means they should be fined.
You also do not need to use Steam, Steam OS and Steam Deck are completely open source with alternative game stores, the 30% cut you give Steam is entirely voluntary.
That’s immaterial. Their store has a dominant position in the market and they are using it to prevent competition. Stop simping for companies.
Steam is literally just preventing people from using Steam services to undercut Steam itself, if you cannot see past the market share or why Steam is the big dog on the block you should do more research or go outside. Stop simping for overegulation.
No they are not. You literally can’t set the base price of your game cheaper in another digital store even if they give you much better terms that Steam. And because Steam is so dominant you need to be on Steam, so you end up having to overcharge players that buy your game outside of Steam. In turn this removes an incentive for the players to buy the game elsewhere and preserves Steam’s dominance.
Why should Steam have a say on the price of games in GOG when GOG games don’t use Steam services at all?
Again, only if you use Steam keys, a Steam feature. Limited time sales are also still allowed on Steam keys. You can undercut Steam prices if you do not sell a steam key with it.
If you want to sell your game keyless on GOG for cheaper you can, and should.