Valve have updated the developer guidelines for releasing a game on Steam, making it clear that the scourge of mobile gaming advertising-based business models are not going to work on Steam.
Some options you could consider include […] making your game free to play with optional upgrades sold via Microtransactions or Downloadable Content (DLC).
I am not sure this is better. I hate microtransactions usually more than ads.
Ads don’t cost you money, just time, and sometimes some screen space. They are annyoing and that sucks. But leveraging dark patterns as stuff like FOMO and other psychological tricks to nudge people towards microtransactions can cost you a lot. A business model, which relies on techniques from the gambling industry – also by catching some whales – is imo way worse than ads.
Such games aren’t made for all players, just for some who don’t have control over their expenses (or can really afford it).
I can live with DLCs as long as there aren’t so many that it becomes increasingly indistinguishable to microtransactions. But in the end I don’t want to buy a fucking lego set, where I have to constantly buy new stuff.
That’s why I prefer single purchase games. I am also ok with paying more for them if that means the devs get the proftis to keep the development of games I like going. Buy once – have it all. Keeping games at a comparably equal price over decades is imo not meaningful anyways due to factors like inflation. But the gaming community can be really unforgiving in this regard. That’s why ad-based or microtransaction-based games are taking off. A majority of gamers are uncritical enough that this works. And then they are surprised when it bites them in the ass…
I think what matters more, or perhaps at least in Valve’s perspective, is that microtransactions are inherently binding between the game’s developer/publisher and the player, so the game’s developer/publisher is the sole party held accountable here (by Valve), while ads inherently involve and invite a 3rd party advertiser, muddying the situation for everybody. While on the other hand, microtransactions can only be done for content already a part of the game, while ads serve content outside the scope of the game.
So this is much much more enforceable for Valve, while DLC and microtransactions marketing is already subject to the established rules on Steam.
I am not sure this is better. I hate microtransactions usually more than ads.
Ads don’t cost you money, just time, and sometimes some screen space. They are annyoing and that sucks. But leveraging dark patterns as stuff like FOMO and other psychological tricks to nudge people towards microtransactions can cost you a lot. A business model, which relies on techniques from the gambling industry – also by catching some whales – is imo way worse than ads.
Such games aren’t made for all players, just for some who don’t have control over their expenses (or can really afford it).
I can live with DLCs as long as there aren’t so many that it becomes increasingly indistinguishable to microtransactions. But in the end I don’t want to buy a fucking lego set, where I have to constantly buy new stuff.
That’s why I prefer single purchase games. I am also ok with paying more for them if that means the devs get the proftis to keep the development of games I like going. Buy once – have it all. Keeping games at a comparably equal price over decades is imo not meaningful anyways due to factors like inflation. But the gaming community can be really unforgiving in this regard. That’s why ad-based or microtransaction-based games are taking off. A majority of gamers are uncritical enough that this works. And then they are surprised when it bites them in the ass…
I think what matters more, or perhaps at least in Valve’s perspective, is that microtransactions are inherently binding between the game’s developer/publisher and the player, so the game’s developer/publisher is the sole party held accountable here (by Valve), while ads inherently involve and invite a 3rd party advertiser, muddying the situation for everybody. While on the other hand, microtransactions can only be done for content already a part of the game, while ads serve content outside the scope of the game.
So this is much much more enforceable for Valve, while DLC and microtransactions marketing is already subject to the established rules on Steam.