It is completely fair to not use steam but having used it for over 20 years I am curious what your ethical reasons of not using it are? Do you mind telling me? I am not trying to have a dig at you just wondering.
I only have little games on itch.io but I would probably do a similar thing, demo on itch and full game on steam. But realising a full game on itch.io is also an option, I think steam gets more people than itch.io
Not at all! It seems like most of the reasons why people love Steam are reasons why I don’t. Everyone’s preferences are different :)
I’m a solo offline gamer. I prefer to avoid online achievements, leaderboards, co-op, multiplayer, etc.
I love weird games. Steam loves popular games. Rarely do the two intersect. I only find stuff I like on Steam after I’ve searched for related games here, only to discover that the “real” game for what was apparently just a really great demo is on Steam. And even the free games on Steam (that look like they belong on here tbh) come with the “install Steam launcher to download” string attached. I’m not doing that.
I like having physical or digital copies of purchased games on my own redundant media storage so I can play them for as long as possible. Pre-Silicon, I used VMware Fusion to play my old Windows 98/XP/7 games. I still use CrossOver for older Windows games, and SheepShaver for Mac OS9 games.
My more Mac-specific gripes:
Most of the games I want to play have no Mac version, and I need to be able to purchase a DRM- or launcher-free Windows version to run it on a translation layer like GPTK, Wine, etc. in CrossOver or Heroic. Trying to deal with Steam on top of this is too much hassle.
Steam doesn’t care about labeling Mac games properly. There are many that are still incorrectly labeled as pre-Catalina or Intel-only, so Mac players never get the memo and purchase what could be a playable version. Devs lose out on sales. Devs don’t see the point in making future Mac ports or Mac-native games because Apple hates them (it’s a long story) and Steam ignores them. The cycle continues. At least on itch, I can easily see when the game file was last updated and correctly guess if my machine can run it.
I understand that everyone uses Steam, so everyone continues to only put full games Steam. It means I can’t buy a game I want to play. That’s a missed sale for the dev.
I would probably do a similar thing, demo on itch and full game on steam.
Can you elaborate your reasoning?
You can even give the Steam key with a purchase on Itch.
https://itch.io/games/steam-key
Some devs are concerned about local pricing or do not understand how pricing works and fear they are not allowed to publish on other platforms, without matching prices. But do not understand how taxes work and miscaluclate the prices. Or they just do not want to have the hassle of managing another site with payments.
But usually, developers are keen to release their game on as many platforms as possible.
You can even give the Steam key with a purchase on Itch.
A similarly frustrating thing is when a dev gives out ONLY Steam keys (no downloadable files) if I try to purchase here. A good example is the game Smile for Me. I loved the art style and was really excited to play it. Then I realized that purchasing it on Itch would only give me a Steam key…except they released it on Steam, Switch, Playstation, AND Xbox. Makes no sense.
But usually, developers are keen to release their game on as many platforms as possible.
Yes! Isn’t a sale a sale, no matter how many there are, or where they come from? Especially for indie games. And I’ve seen a bunch that release on Steam to low sales because their niche game’s target audience is on Itch, not Steam.
https://itch.io/docs/creators/quality-guidelines#avoid-only-uploading-keys-or-li...
That's actually not really wanted on Itch. It is grounds for delisting and for refunds. Imagine what happens if you do not have a Steam account, and do not want or are not able to make one and accidentaly buy the game, because it is listed as a game. Itch is not a key shop.
