Steam-punked - A Comment

[Evo]

Steam is changing the gaming world. That is what I think, and I think it is doing it for the better. Since it first came into being with the release of Counter Strike 1.4 it has gone through legal proceedings, long periods of downtime and major facelifts. But that is history, I want to talk about how Steam is going to, and is changing the gaming world.

Currently Steam is host to over 13 million accounts (of which I contribute two) and distributes 219 games (as of 3/12/07) numbers which are constantly increasing. As such Steam offers developers a chance to distribute and promote their products to over 13 million users. It is a platform offering developers a great chance to analyze the statistics of users playing their games and the hardware they are currently using. Steam is also an unparalleled online distribution method and is most likely contributing a massive amount to PC game sales.

Developers of all sizes, be they major ones like Valve and id Software or smaller ones like PopCap Games are being given the chance to show off their games and sell them to a massive worldwide target audience. They are able to sell games at price points they feel are fair without having to incur the costs of going through publishers and onto physical shelf space. And they get to keep a much larger proportion of the profits. This is surely only a good thing for a gaming area which is being marginalized in retail outlets by the newest generation of games consoles. Oh and piracy, but that is an issue which I will probably tackle another time. Steam is offering developers a chance to reap what they deserve for their games, something which for the smaller developers like PopCap is a great source of revenue and for people like id Software can show them that there is still a viable market for PC games and lead them to continue developing for the PC. Steam is changing the gaming world by providing developers a chance to sell directly to the customer from a massive platform base.

Developers can use Steam to view statistics of their games. While currently only Valve do this I am sure that in the future other developers will want similar options for their games. These statistics are a great way to change the gaming world. It allows people to see the trends in their game, what difficulty people play on, how long it takes people to complete a game, most used weapons, where people died the most and more. This allows developers to tweak their game to suit the needs of the gamers; the most prominent example of this is in the scene in Half-Life 2: Episode 1 where Gordon and Alyx are battling to get to the elevator in the car park facility. Valve could see that people were struggling in this area and changed the level slightly as a result. These changes were easily implemented by the content distribution available with Steam and gave gamers a more balanced game. This can change the gaming world as developers will be able to see where people are giving up the game or dying too much, as such they can make the necessary changes to balance the game out, or even to make certain areas more interesting. This means that developer have a greater chance to target their game to the audience much better than ever before.

Another great use of the Steam statistics is the Hardware Survey. This shows the spread of hardware being used by all of those who take part in the survey. It covers almost every part of a persons system allowing developers to see trends in the hardware of gamers. The most striking results of the latest survey show that only 7.49% of the 558615 survey participants use DirectX10. This and the other statistics show developers what their target audiences are playing their games on. This had led to Valve to take an example not making the step to DirectX10 as they can see whether it is a worth while effort to undertake. For other developers they may start to appreciate that flashy graphics and high system requirements are just going to disenfranchise large proportions of the gaming public. For developers to do this would be a monumental shift in the gaming world.

In relation to PC game sales many statistics that are released concerning the number of game sales for the consoles and the PC show ever declining figures relating to PC revenue. However this is a system which does not take into account MMORPG subscriptions and online distribution. With Steam being host to over 13 million accounts then there surely is a massive discrepancy between what the official statistics from groups like the NPD, and what the real term figures for PC revenue are. If information like Steam sales was included in the NPD reports then maybe the doom mongers in the PC gaming industry will realize that their target audience is changing and moving into the online world. For this to occur we would witness a great change in the gaming world, and Steam could have a large part to play in it.

In closing I wish to say that Steam is an evolving beast, and is something which more and more developers are realizing and that more and more will move onto. Steam is a key component in the future of the gaming industry; it has already changed it and in the future will change it even further.

Look out world; you are getting Steam-punked.

[Insano]

Steam was released with Counter-Strike 1.6, not 1.4

[FunkyHippo?]

Originally Posted by Insano

Steam was released with Counter-Strike 1.6, not 1.4

Are you sure? Because I thought it was 1.5

[Evo]

I got that little bit of information from Wiki

D:

[CyberPitz]

1.4 is when it went into beta testing, 1.6 is when it was released.

Good article, Evo. Worth the read!

[Evo]

Originally Posted by CyberPitz

1.4 is when it went into beta testing, 1.6 is when it was released.

Good article, Evo. Worth the read!

Huzaa!

[Naurgul]

Popcap is by no means a small developer/publisher. I actually stopped reading when I reached that part. Maybe I'll read the rest later.

[Edited to fix spelling mistake]

[Evo]

PopCap it is and they are small in comparison to Valve etc. in my opinion.

This was an Editorial piece so it is my views

[Geogriffith]

"The average PopCap budget today is between $200,000 and $300,000. There's so much competition now that I think the only way to really establish yourself anymore is to spend above the clouds"-- Gamasutra

Saying Popcap is a "smaller developer" is like saying Honda is a smalltime vehicle manufacturer. Neither one is the top in their industry, but they're hardly getting steamrollered by the "big guys". Because they ARE the big guys.

And when your little startup is about to get crushed by a bunch of 7 foot thugs, you don't stop to notice that one of them is actually 6' 10", and think, "Gosh, he must have a hard time keeping up".

[Intamin]

I have but one thought, how can progress be made if we're all stuck on oil?

Analogy aside--adoption of new tech that "advances" the industry is eventually required.

I'm not saying it should be DirectX 10, I wouldn't know, I'm still with 9, haha...but honestly, we can't stagnate, and it seems that by saying that becuase only 7-8 percent of those polled have adopted, it means we should stay where we are.

I dunno...seems kinda stagnant to me.

[Insano]

Originally Posted by CyberPitz

1.4 is when it went into beta testing, 1.6 is when it was released.

Good article, Evo. Worth the read!

Weird, I'm quite sure it didn't exist until 1.6.

I know this, because I played CS at the time for over two years. I had been playing 1.5 on WON. Nobody talked about Steam those days. Steam was released in beta with 1.6, and it was total shit tbh. So many errors it made people mad.

[Absinthe]

Only issue I take with it is the idea that changing the elevator scene in Ep1 was a good thing. IMO it was one of the few mistakes they've made, and I'd prefer not to see a repeat unless there's something immensely unbalanced.

While I did find that part challenging, it was not frustratingly so. It was hectic and exciting, and surviving it felt great and gave a real sense of accomplishment. But then that was taken away. I wouldn't have had a problem if, say, this only applied to Easy mode. But it effects every mode. That lessens the enjoyment of everybody else who liked it.

[Cyber$nake]

Originally Posted by Insano

Weird, I'm quite sure it didn't exist until 1.6.

I know this, because I played CS at the time for over two years. I had been playing 1.5 on WON. Nobody talked about Steam those days. Steam was released in beta with 1.6, and it was total shit tbh. So many errors it made people mad.

I'm fairly certain it was 1.4 or at latest 1.5, definately not 1.6- I used the Steam beta very early on (before any of my friends who were probably bigger gamers than I) had ever heard of it, and it was definately before 1.6. I don't know which of the other two it was. And as for Pocap, it may not be small, but it isn't exactly super well-known either like some of the gaming giants today- at least from my perspective. But then again, every now and then I lift up a rock that I never realized I was living under, so I may be mistaken there.

First off I'd like to say this is a good article and I agree completely. I have been using steam since its inception got in on it the first day of the limited public beta. Alot of Valve's greatness comes from their dedication to their projects. The fine tuning and execution that has taken place over the years has really shown. I dont think that would have been possible if they weren't independent.

Now on to the off-topic:

Originally Posted by Cyber$nake

I'm fairly certain it was 1.4 or at latest 1.5, definately not 1.6- I used the Steam beta very early on (before any of my friends who were probably bigger gamers than I) had ever heard of it, and it was definately before 1.6. I don't know which of the other two it was. And as for Pocap, it may not be small, but it isn't exactly super well-known either like some of the gaming giants today- at least from my perspective. But then again, every now and then I lift up a rock that I never realized I was living under, so I may be mistaken there.

The first release of steam was in early 2003 to a limited amount of public participants that grew and grew until it became public in the summer. it provided a beta version of cs 1.6 for free even in its open beta and i believe even shortly after 1.6 became final. def def not 1.4 or 1.5.

here we go to give you a reference for your article
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/27392

[Mr-Fusion]

All this money whoring hoohaa and valves own game, Day of defeat:source, still has not been updated in such a long time.

So pathetic.

So sad.

YOU USED TO BE COOL VALVE! USED TO BE COOL WHEN YOU SUPPORTED THE gAMES THAT MADE YOU WHO YOU ARE

/vanishes into the mist.