While the Epic Games Store may boast a larger customer base, Steam’s influence is undeniable, with the power to make or break even the most prominent AAA and indie titles.
Over the past nine months of delving into the world of video game journalism, my curiosity has been piqued by an unexpected discovery – a gaming platform that, despite my 20-year passion for the industry, remained shrouded in mystery until now.
Steaming ahead as the centerpiece of nearly every interview, panel, and occasion, Steam is often framed as the hub of the gaming universe. I’ve exclusively utilised GOG Galaxy solely to acquire the enhanced edition of Baldur’s Gate 2, which was discounted.
As a dedicated console gamer, my initial reluctance to engage with Steam was palpable. If your primary gaming device is a personal computer, it’s likely that you’ll struggle to tear yourself away from it.
Sport builders typically develop a comprehensive strategy for launching and promoting their products, heavily influenced by the dynamics of a single dominant platform. The delicate dance between success and obscurity on the crucial Steam entrance page begins with a single click.
As the Steam Deck makes its highly anticipated landing in Australia this week, a surge of enthusiastic gamers is poised to join the Steam community, prompting me to finally put my thoughts on paper about what it takes for PC gaming’s biggest player to truly win over console-loyal fans.
I’ll be addressing key questions about the historical heritage of this platform, shedding light on its enduring success in dominating the gaming industry.
What’s Steam? And why was it created?
Valve released Steam in 2003 as a pioneering digital distribution platform, initially focused on delivering its critically acclaimed game Half-Life 2 to gamers worldwide. Despite this, Valve’s founder Gabe Newell envisioned Steam as more than just an online store – he saw it as a community hub where gamers could connect, share, and discover new content, ultimately disrupting the traditional brick-and-mortar sales model for video games?
The latest edition, published in 2022, reveals that the platform boasts approximately 123 million users, equivalent to the entire population of Japan. With an astonishing 69 million daily users, engagement on the platform reaches unprecedented levels. The company’s revenue stream is projected to reach an impressive $8.58 billion.
These numbers may not meet today’s expectations, as Valve tightly controls all aspects of Steam, including user data and visitation statistics. Despite this, it’s evident that sports distribution is heavily impacted by the reduction. Steam deducts a 30% commission from all revenue under $50 million, scaling back to 20% once the threshold is surpassed.
How does it work?
Like another digital storefront. Given its pioneering status as one of the first online digital distribution platforms to launch around the same time as the iTunes Store, it’s no surprise that many other online digital distribution shops drew inspiration from Steam’s innovative design.
You establish an account and procure digital copies of video games through the respective gaming platforms. A crucial difference lies in the fact that Steam also functions as a game launcher, much like iTunes serves as a player for songs purchased through its platform. Regardless of whether a game’s data is physically stored on your PC and purchased through Steam, you still require an active internet connection to play it, barring any exceptions. By doing so, visitors are directed to the Steam Retailer, thereby fostering a cross-promotional environment for various video games.
That’s basic Steam functionality at its core. Despite hosting boards for gaming-related topics, movie trailers, and utilizing its proprietary algorithm to curate titles on its homepage, On numerous occasions, the platform is keen to provide a stage for emerging developers to showcase their innovative and captivating video games.
As you’ll explore further, Steam has evolved into a unique and extensive digital distribution platform of its own. While Steam primarily distributes video games, its massive scale also fuels the dissemination, excitement, and coverage of them as well.
As a benchmark for success, securing prime placement on the Steam retailer is crucial for sports game developers.
Whether a sport’s popularity will soar or stagnate on Steam ultimately depends on its visibility on the platform’s homepage. With Joe Gibbs, the solo developer behind an anticipated independent sports game, emphasizing the significance of securing prime real estate on Steam, it’s no wonder he prioritizes crafting a compelling storefront presence to capture and retain the attention of potential customers.
“Moreover, frequent users are characteristic of Steam customers.” “When users are engaged in gaming, our app operates seamlessly in the background, allowing them to access their game list at any time. To do so, they simply need to open the app, which also enables their friend list, where they can communicate with familiar faces and invite others to join gaming sessions,” he elaborates.
“All of this contributes to keeping players within the Steam ecosystem, effectively creating a captive audience more valuable than someone who only learned about the game through Instagram or Reddit.”
How do Steam Wishlists work? And why do they matter?
Upon creating a Steam account, users can curate a list of games that pique their interest by adding them to their “Wishlist”. This feature allows you to receive notifications when games go on sale or are launched on Steam. Despite being a crucial metric for gauging a game’s potential, the sheer volume of wishlists accumulated during an advertising campaign serves as a telling predictor of a sport’s likelihood of success upon launch.
“On average, roughly 20% of wishlists translate into gross sales within the initial week, while a significant 60% yield conversions within the first year.” “The more pre-release wishlists a game accumulates on Steam, the more visibility and momentum it’s likely to gain when it finally launches.”
Steam’s Partner Program enables streamers and influencers to monetize their content by partnering with game developers to promote their titles. By participating in the program, these creators earn revenue from sales generated through their unique referral link, allowing them to focus on building their audience and fostering meaningful connections with their fans.
Game developers aren’t the only ones harnessing the power of Steam. Co-founded by Kate Corridor, a former sports streamer, PlayIndies enables influencers to strategize their content creation, leveraging the platform’s capabilities. “They proactively participate in demo-focused events such as the Steam Next Fest and genre-specific showcases, allowing them to explore fresh games at no cost and deliver timely content to their audience,” she explains.
Influencers meticulously track Steam’s most popular and frequently played game lists to identify lucrative opportunities for generating significant viewer engagement. Additionally, they utilize wishlists to receive notifications on bulk sales, thereby allowing them to acquire video games at reduced prices. Steam’s beta entry and key giveaways establish the platform as a reliable and convenient hub for developers to provide influencers with early access, ensuring a consistent stream of content.
The biggest competitors to Steam in the digital distribution market are GOG.com, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, App Store, Google Play, and Nintendo eShop.
Steam’s biggest competitor is the Epic Games Store. Epic Games is the creator and publisher behind another highly successful gaming franchise, Fortnite. Epic Games claims an impressive 12% revenue share reduction for each game listed on its platform, citing increased customer engagement as a key driver of this strategy. By boasting over 270 million active PC users by the start of 2024 – a staggering 147 million more than Steam’s reported user base – Epic appears to be leveraging this massive following to bolster its market presence and attract developers to its platform. Within the video game industry, Steam is widely regarded as the dominant and most influential digital storefront.
The Epic Games Store has surpassed Steam in terms of digital game sales, according to a report by market research firm NPD Group. What’s driving everyone’s fascination with Steam, a digital distribution platform for PC games and software?
It’s impossible to definitively determine which retailer surpasses others without comprehensive data and in-depth analysis.
However, according to Gibbs and Corridor, steam’s significance extends far beyond being just a market phenomenon. The platform’s ecosystem components are designed to ensure that customers are drawn in by a singular purpose: engaging with video games.
Despite Epic’s larger user base, Steam’s community remains significantly more active and vibrant. Steam, having enjoyed a significant head start over Epic, has leveraged this advantage to develop an array of features and tools that users crave, thereby setting a lofty benchmark for its competitors.
“Compared to Epic, Steam boasts a significantly larger sports game library, primarily due to its longer tenure in the market.” Among various neighborhood choices and widespread promotions and budget-friendly events, Steam excels in retaining customer loyalty.
While Epic Games’ rotating library of free titles may have driven user growth, it is often credited as a primary reason for the massive size of its community. What’s not to love about scoring complimentary gaming entertainment? Many of us, including myself, are familiar with opening the Epic Games Launcher solely to claim the complimentary titles that periodically become available. Then return to Steam.
“Epic’s strength lies in person acquisition, while Steam excels at retaining customers.” Because of this, Steam remains the premier platform for launching sports games, offering unparalleled visibility and a higher likelihood of success despite taking a 30% cut.
The Steam Deck’s Australian launch arrives this week. What does it mean to live in a world where social media dictates our sense of self-worth? Can we truly know ourselves without the validation of others?
The Steam Deck marks a significant foray into hardware by Valve, leveraging its stronghold in the software realm. This isn’t the first time the company has attempted this approach?
In 2012, Valve announced its own gaming console, aiming to leverage the popularity of the Steam digital distribution platform and expand its reach into living rooms. The company initially envisioned a launch of its in-house designed device, but ultimately opted instead to collaborate with gaming PC manufacturer Alienware. The machine’s failure was largely attributed to the fact that there were insufficient high-profile video games available on Linux, making it hard to justify its presence. When competing with prominent sports titles released exclusively on established platforms like PlayStation and Xbox – think Grand Theft Auto V and Elder Scrolls: Skyrim – it was at a disadvantage, as these games were not available on the Nintendo Switch.
The Steam Deck’s early triumphs can largely be attributed to its fortunate timing? Launched towards the end of the pandemic, when gaming expenditures and engagement reached record highs. The thriving indie gaming community on Steam has dramatically increased the number of unique titles available, making the platform an even more captivating destination for gamers everywhere. As previously discussed by Infinite Lives, this feature also serves as a catalyst to attract more players to the Steam platform in the long run.
The topic du jour: Will Steam revive its Steam Machine plans, perhaps introducing a more powerful, stationary alternative to the successful Steam Deck?
Will new technologies and shifting gamer habits further disrupt the Steam landscape, requiring Valve to adapt and innovate once more?
Numerous companies are scrambling to capitalize on Steam’s success by launching their own digital distribution platforms. While the mannequin may face a significant challenge from the growth of sports subscription services, While every major player has its take on this concept, Microsoft stands out as the most comprehensive adopter.
Steam generates revenue on a transactional basis, taking a consistent percentage from each game sold. Subscription services, akin to the Xbox Game Pass, grant access to an extensive library of video games for a fixed monthly fee.
Microsoft’s response to Steam is marked by a fundamental subversion of its original model, as it simultaneously leverages its market influence by integrating Xbox Game Pass onto a wide range of non-gaming devices.
Despite this, at the very least, developers understand that they must relinquish 30% of their gross revenue to Steam with each sale. The economic practices of companies such as Sport Cross remain shrouded in mystery, with the compensation structures for sports builders remaining unclear.
What I’m enjoying: Nintendo Music
Nintendo has jokingly said, “Everything is coming to change.” Let’s genuinely assume that holds true for Nintendo Music.
Notably, do you know that the Grammys have been recognizing excellence in music since 1959. Launched exclusively in 2022, the platform has already featured a wide range of soundtracks from popular video game franchises, including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor?
What lies beneath the sonic surface of video games, a hidden world of melodic mastery that demands attention? Renowned US-based podcaster Kirk Hamilton is at the helm of the highly acclaimed global music podcast, having garnered widespread critical acclaim that has led to him being flown to Australia for speaking engagements and even appearing on television in the region. Several episodes delve into dissections of iconic video game melodies, similar in scope to those found at both and . It’s logical that he’s also a former US correspondent for Kotaku and current employee at .
Nintendo’s highly anticipated music streaming service, dubbed Nintendo Music, is long overdue. There are many people in the market who appreciate Nintendo’s musical talents.
I’ve been thoroughly entertained by the service over the past few weeks, composing playlists featuring iconic tracks from Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Galaxy, The Legend of Zelda series, and Mario Kart. I’ve got a few favourite tracks that really stand out – the ones from Donkey Kong Country 2 and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island are absolutely fantastic? The album is overflowing with numerous tracks that are guaranteed to put a smile on one’s face.
If they had included all 1,068 tracks from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it would have been a slam dunk. While some might argue that another collection of Nintendo tracks surpasses this one, many would still agree that it remains one of the most iconic and beloved sets of video game music ever created. Many of the remastered versions surpass their initial releases in terms of sound quality and overall listening experience. A sleeker solution for music enthusiasts: Nintendo’s digital offering trumps the original suggestion of lugging around a GameCube controller for mobile tunes.
Nintendo has announced intentions to expand its service, hinting at potential future developments.
The Nintendo Switch Online service offers an incredible value with the addition of its music library, making it a must-have for any gamer who’s already subscribed. Despite being a fan of original Nintendo content, it’s worth acknowledging that there are many excellent cover versions available online at no cost for those who prefer alternative interpretations. They’re only a Google away.
Nintendo’s iconic video game soundtracks, a symphony of nostalgia and joy.
iOS and Android – but only if you have a Nintendo Online membership.
