Notch in No Hurry to Bring Minecraft to Steam
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
Self publishing can be tricky and negative, you have to spend more time/energy/money focusing on marketing than with a partner. We have had an ecstatic relation with Microsoft, not only did they waive the first year licensing fee for us, they sent us over phones to develop on as long as we keep making win phone games for them. We didn't get squat from Apple.
I just read a bunch of blahblahblah and I'm not sure I believe what he has to say, at least not entirely. He talks about how he wants games to reach a point where they don't need platforms like Steam but what stuck out most is "They take my 30%!" Could be wrong, but when he talks about Steam taking too much or supposed "limitations" after releasing Minecraft on the 360, I am left a little confused.
I can't help but imagine Notch wearing hipster glasses and talking about how he wants to be 'independent' and free of 'corporations' and 'outside influence'. I wish him the best of luck but I doubt if trying to be 100% independent is going to help him in the end. Collaboration is sometimes better for getting things done, but considering how Minecraft came to be I'm not surprised if he wants to work on his own.
zombiesinc said:
I know, it's kind of dumb to say "I don't like Steams monopoly" and then release exclusively on Microsoft's platform. He may as well have released it on GFWL. I already have it on PC but if he had released it on PSN, I would have bought it day one but I am done with the 360 and won't be buying anything else on it.
It is. However, Microsoft holds the keys to the Xbox castle. You either need to get a publisher to make a physical copy of your game, and be screwed over by them, or go to Microsoft and release online, and be screwed over by Microsoft. There is no way you can get onto the console otherwise. PC you can self publish. Steam doesn't own the internet or PCs, no one really does, so your not forced to publish on Steam if you want your game to be on PC. Most games are on Steam, since that is largest digital platform that the majority of PC games are published on.Eric the Orange said:
Yes, you get access to a new customer base, but it comes at the price of a service that takes a much larger cut of your profits. One that also charges around $40,000 to release an update or patch and has a vastly more restrictive system of...well...DRM.Suki_ said:
Let's be real about this people. The only reason Notch isn't releasing Minecraft on Steam is because his company, quite frankly, doesn't need to. This is because they've already reached saturation on the PC. They've no need to promote the game further as most PC gamers either already have the game or are aware of it's existence. Bringing it to Steam is pointless and could potentially cut back on the obscene amounts of cash Notch is raking in.
To assume it's for any other reason would be foolish.
Not really.Tiamat666 said:
If Valve goes belly up, they will release a patch to the Steam client that will allow you to play all of your games forever. You'll never have to worry about logging on again. They've said this many times over the years. Likewise, many users on this very forum have mentioned it quite often.
And, if you're worried about installs, just do what I do. When you install a game to your machine, just use the in-client utility to create a back-up. Then either copy the back-up to a spare hard-drive or burn it to a disc; or both.
Then you've got both your digital copy and a hard copy.
I mean, seriously. It's been years since I bought a PC game at retail but I've got quite a collection of discs sitting on my shelf, all containing every game I bought off of Steam. Coupled with the likes of Amazon and GoG there's literally no reason for me to go to any store (like Gamestop) to satisfy my PC gaming needs.
Notch is an idiot that struck gold, now things are actually being worked on by proper developers (Jeb) Minecraft is looking better. If it were on steam they could integrate better multiplayer, along with steams new mod capability, it would provide a better user experience, but alas, Notch never really cared about that, as per releasing the buggiest game I've ever played and never fixing the damn bugs yet still releasing new content for what, years?
He's greedy. Even if he released on Steam, that wouldn't stop people buying it from his site either, but he's greedy, and doesn't really care about his player base. Yeah, Minecraft is great, I just can't stand Notch.
He's greedy. Even if he released on Steam, that wouldn't stop people buying it from his site either, but he's greedy, and doesn't really care about his player base. Yeah, Minecraft is great, I just can't stand Notch.
SupahGamuh said:
not at all.. its not an option to release it on xbox but not xbla , minecraft doesnt need the infrastructure or presence steam offers other indies. ask him who he prefers working with steam or ms and i bet its still steam, its just steam isnt a monopoly that your forced into using.
its no secret how much pain it is to release on xbla , heavy fees slow process cant get patches out when you want. if you only option is to eat shit it doesnt mean you like it.
That won't happen for legal reasons. Steam is DRM and publishers release their games on Steam with that DRM in mind. If Steam went under and they removed the DRM, that would likely violate some agreements with publishers.
Put it another way, releasing a patch that removes the DRM would be the same thing pirates do. Valve can't do it legally either.
Doing a backup through the client takes way too long and in the end, you still need Steam to use the backup.
Best thing to do is to navigate to the common folder and copy the game to an external hard drive or a dvd. Then you can simply copy it back after a reformat. Go into Steam and try to install the game, Steam will see it's already there and simply verify the files.
Isn't what basically happened is that EA didn't want to sell their DLC directly through the Steam Store, but wanted to sell it either through the game itself or externally? Makes sense to me, then, for Steam to not want to have their games on the store. EA was essentially cheating Steam out of their cut. Add to the fact that the DLC EA was selling was poorly accessible and hard to actually get in your game...robert01 said:
Greed on both side, true, but one was cheating the other while the other wasn't.
(edit)
Is it not possible that, when a developer/publishers signs up to have their games put on Steam, that in the contract or whatever, Steam reserves the right to do that if they so please, or under certain circumstances?Crono1973 said:
His choice, but I don't think his reasoning is completely independent of the fact that he's already made a mountain with Minecraft.
Sure, if he doesn't put it on Steam, then he doesn't, and that's okay - but blaming Valve for it is a little silly. I mean, yeah, Valve is dominating the market currently, but all that's needed to dethrone them is provide a better service than they do, no?
So to sum up, I got no problem with Minecraft not being on Steam, but saying his reason is "Steam is too big" is just shifting the responsiblity for his own decisions on someone else.
Sure, if he doesn't put it on Steam, then he doesn't, and that's okay - but blaming Valve for it is a little silly. I mean, yeah, Valve is dominating the market currently, but all that's needed to dethrone them is provide a better service than they do, no?
So to sum up, I got no problem with Minecraft not being on Steam, but saying his reason is "Steam is too big" is just shifting the responsiblity for his own decisions on someone else.
Because frankly, that's all he really does.AzrealMaximillion said:
Seriously, I'm really tired of Notch. He made a great game, but he makes a horrible front man for a company. Just shut up and have someone who knows how to deal with other companies do the PR work for you man.
That said, I don't really see any reason Minecraft SHOULD be on Steam. Mojang doesn't need it for distribution. It's popular enough (and has probably emptied the market anyway) it doesn't need Valve's advertising. And it's probably easier to update the game through their own system. I legitimately can't think of a single reason for Mojang to put it on steam.
Can't really say I agree with Notch's reasoning though. Steam is a behemoth, sure, but there's not exclusivity there. People are just as able to buy games off Impulse and Origin. Steam is just the most successful because of their prices, service, and a strong history of building customer loyalty.
Is it not on other steam like services such as desura or does that not offer the same level of mod/community stuff? Never really used it so I don't knowBuretsu said:
It's not just selling fine, though. It's selling phenomenally, and practically to the point of market saturation. It's rather ignorant to assume this would be a cash grab. And of course EA doesn't NEED Origin, but then, they weren't already distributing their stuff digitally. And they were nowhere near online saturation. Notch is in a different situation.WhiteTigerShiro said:
Hypocrisy on the internet? From fanboys? Mind=blown!Zefar said: