Post by Olive in Steam release (here to hoping!)

Viewing post in Steam release (here to hoping!)

The current plan is:

1. Finish the core game and fulfill our Kickstarter obligations (by Q1 next year)

2. Make a checklist of features required for a strong Steam release (e.g. controller & workshop support, localization, community management). Put up a Steam page and start collecting wishlists.

3. Possibly find finishing funding & implement the remaining steam-required features.

4. Release & profit (???)

I'd much rather go through our "early access" phase here on itch rather than Steam because things can get so volatile over there. The current community manager is just me and I don't want to have to wrangle Steam Gamers(tm) while also doing dev.

DocNessuno134 days ago(+1)

If the game releases on Steam, will itch.io backers receive a steam license as well?
Not wanting to buy the game twice is the main reason I have not bought it on here so far.

Olive134 days ago(+1)

I’m of two minds. It feels bad to give Steam a 30% cut while itch.io is getting %15 even though I love itch more, so I’ve considered marking the Steam price higher to cover the difference (ie if the final game was $20 here, it’d be something like $25 on Steam because that last $5 is all just Steam Tax).

However, the way Steam keeps people from doing precisely that is with the carrot of letting devs give out Steam keys with purchases on other platforms — but only if it’s not less expensive on the other platforms.

So my choice will be:

Cheaper on itch, but with no bundled steam key.
Same price both places (by either taking the Steam Tax hit or arbitrarily increasing the itch price to match), allowing bundled steam keys.

I know most devs pick #2, but I’m salty about it lol. I’d welcome your thoughts as a game-buyer as to which world you’d want to live in between those two.

DocNessuno133 days ago (4 edits) (+2)

Well obviously it's ultimately your decision as a developer, personally I prefer to have my games over steam for ease of use/access (and I hope Lancer Tactics will be published there, because proper mod/workshop support could extend the game's longevity tenfold).

I am itching (pun somewhat intended) to play the game, but at the same time I'd rather wait out for the Steam release and buy it there directly unless there is an official statement about itch.io purchases being transferable.

Also, do consider that even with the Steam price at parity, if the purchase is transferable you can still encourage people to buy on itch.io to get the larger cut of the pie.