Robben_DuMarsch wrote:Microsoft, EA, others are moving to subscription models for their game catalogs.
Although I acknowledge the counter argument that these are large providers giving value access to a large variety of games, and that they are also sophisticated enough to have localized pricing.
I highlighted the big thing with these services. Sony paved the way with it with SOE (though the games overall weren't as popular--you only had EQ2, Planetfall 2, and later DC Universe) and Playstation Plus. Others are following up with the same type of services. Anyone remember a couple of the older subscription services that were basically the same thing from 10-15 years ago but died because ... whatever reasons? (It wasn't due to financial viability. I believe it was more lack of expected volume in relation to certain fixed costs that should have made the service viable at a specific threshold.)
Robben_DuMarsch wrote:Steam as a distribution platform is probably going to have to happen eventually, regardless.
Activision has used Steam as a digital distribution platform for about a decade now, but recently they've started using their partnership with Blizzard and expanding Activision games such as Destiny 2 and the new CoD game through Battle.net. Most of the EA games for PC aren't available through Steam. No, it doesn't have to happen. There's a lot of games out there that don't use Steam. Some publishers use their own distribution platform (Stardock, Trion, NCSoft) as well as their own. Some use alternate distributors like GOG.com and don't even publish to Steam.
Steam is great if you have a game that is showing overall popularity as an easy way to distribute and spread news. If you have a niche game... it's a buzzkiller.