Indie developer behind 'Overwhelmingly Positive' rated shipbuilder argues that Steam's "free advertising" is worth the 30% cut
Jul. 25, 2024“Steam will probably still outsell everything else combined by 100x”
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
One indie developer has argued that selling games on Steam is worth the 30% revenue split because games can find bigger audiences on the platform “in the long run.”
To recap, when you buy a game on platforms like Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo’s eShop, those companies take a portion of the revenue - usually 30% - and leave the remainder for the publishers and/or developers. Walternate Realities, the indie developer behind acclaimed shipbuilderCosmoteer, was recently asked about the split in a Steam forum post.
“Have you considered selling Steam keys elsewhere like via your own page or on the Humble Bundle store or other digital stores,” one playerasked. “This would allow you to sell the game outside of Steam while the actual game and its features would still be tired to Steam. You might also be able to bring in a bit more profit since alternative places may take a lower cut thanValvedoes.”
“Selling Steam keys is certainly much easier than making a whole non-Steam build of the game,” Walternate Realtiesresponds. “We may do that in the future, but there are a couple reasons I’m not currently doing that.”
One reason is that maintaining additional store pages is too much of a time sink. “After doing all that, Steam will probably still outsell everything else combined by 100x, so honestly, it’s just not worth the effort except for really huge games.”
“Yes, Steam takes 30% of revenue,” the developer continues, before pointing out that if someone buys a game on the platform, “Steam will generally reward that game with free advertising” on the platform that “makes up for the 30% cut.” The bigger player base and higher visibility mean Walternate Realities would “prefer you buy [Cosmoteer] on Steam,” even if you could find keys elsewhere, “because in the long run, I think I’ll make more money that way.”
Steam’s unquestionably the biggest digital games storefront because it does its best to get out of your way, though storefronts like GOG (DRM-free games) and Itch.io (smaller indie gems) fill out niches. TheEpic GamesStore tried to compete with Valve by offering smaller revenue splits and paying for exclusives - it even went as far aswithholding Fortnite from Steam until the platform scraps “these ridiculous 30% fees”- but it failed to attract a competing crowd.
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
I’ve waited 8 years for American Truck Simulator to recreate my hometown and I wasn’t prepared to see the 200-year-old tree my entire university mourned brought back to life
Stardew Valley 1.6 has brought a sense of excitement and discovery back to Pelican Town, and I’m losing myself to it all over again
As if The Outlast Trials couldn’t get any more deranged, the horror co-op game’s big new update adds more tooth guns and lady who lives in the walls
