Epic is wrong on that, or we just have a large number of people lying. There's just too many instances of legit sources claiming that Steam forces price parity between stores regardless if there's a Steam key involved or not. I've even seen numerous patreon funded games that release on Steam have long time subscriber reward tiers adjusted just because Valve forced them to.

Yeah... No.

Valve is crap, and so is Epic to be honest. They're both rental services and Valve has actually said as much. It's a "life-time" rental service.

GOG is the superior service here, and providing the best of both Digital and Physical. I get the convienience of Digital and the ownership and control of Physical. Even Physical now though is crap, because console copies almost always require huge day one patches, and sometime won't even function without them. The disc is worthless if you can't connect online.

GOG, however, I buy and own my copy and I can do whatever I want with it, and no one can say a god damn thing about it. That's the business model that's best for you.

No GOG = No buy. Do you miss out of some of the big anti-consumer filled "AAA" titles? Maybe, but that's a good thing. Still, there's so much good shit that comes here that whatever doesn't is easily ignored. Good games are a dime a dozen these days.

So Valve has no problem with 3rd party sellers, completely disconnected from their platform, if you sell above their price, but will boot you if you go below?
This is definitely something for the courts. There are a lot of arguments to be had for all sides, so I would really like to see how this turns out.

Agreed. All of this seems pretty fishy. Threatening the publishers with booting the game from Steam if they attempt to set their own pricing which might not be the most profitable for Steam could definitely fall under the category of market manipulation.

There were competitors back then like Direct2Drive. I know the Steam hate flows like wine here, and I am not a fan myself either, but to deny Steam created a platform people enjoy and opted into is silly. I remember being on the Bioware forum when Dragon Age Origins came out using only a disc check and people were PISSED it was not a Steamworks game. Even today games available both here and on Steam sell more on Steam by a dramatic margin.

Steam is using its power to strong-arm developers now, but it got that power through customer choice.

I wonder if the claims are true. So many things are faked these days.

Also, for anyone who might have missed the link in the article, here is the exact complaint that has been sent to the courts:

https://www.scribd.com/document/505496523/COMPLAINT-filed-by-Wolfire-Games-against-Valve-Corporation-CASE-NO-2-21-CV-563

It is extremely long in its entirety, but I recommend reading the "Overview of the Action" (points 1-22). Explains pretty well what it's all about.

They didn't force anything. They provided a service that end users and publishers alike wanted to use. The only games they forced onto Steam were the ones they could: VALVe produced games such as Half-Life 2, TF2, and CS.

Except retailers have dealt with this for years. There were contracts in place to ensure price parity so that you couldn't sell your game at Walmart and Babbages, but charge less at Walmart or through your own online store to undercut your distributor. In this case, Steam definitely qualifies as a distributor, and if their contract is worded as such, I see no issue with it. I wouldn't want my sales under cut either.

Well, maybe the devs should "lose some weight" first then!

yeah most of them are so fat , not healthy at all

Yeah, lots of "Overgrowth" there, especially in the waist area!

I could lose some weight too, I feel I am currently too heavy. As first remedies I stopped drinking any sodas and juices (sweetened ones, especially) and just drink water instead, and I've pretty much stopped using the lift (I live in the 5th floor).

If only our apartment house would get the gym downstairs, I'd love to use it regularly...