Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic ““Steam Game Pass”?”.
Hello dll as a business: why wouldn’t steam create steam plus gaming service? Is it just small potatoes compared to their 30 % or too complicated for such a large platform? I hope they never do. I think the licensing is extremely complicated if it was only for valve games yeah, it would be no problem for them to just have a a valve subscription to their games. In fact, I don’t know I I. I suspect that Hardware as a subscription is going to become even more prevalent. I mean there’s that TV, that’s free as long as you look at ads or whatever like I, I mean in a way. You know, financing is just Hardware as a as a subscription. It’S not like they can’t repo it. If you fail to pay for it, it’s just it’s it’s a it’s a rent to own, whereas at some point I could totally see a steam deck for steam. Deck is $ 10 a month.
It’S not $ 400. It’S $ 10 a month and they just assume that over be more expensive than that you know or whatever it is, but I think I think you kind of get my point right. Like the the the point is that as long as it’s first party, nothing would prevent valve from doing things. However, it is that they want to do it um, but when it comes to third party games, I mean they can’t even they can’t even manage to get guys like uh.
You know EA to not require you to also install origin on your stupid computer, let alone agreeing to um. You know participate in this in in this. You know, games P Game Pass competitor or whatever it is um. I I think it’s. I would actually be kind of into it to be honest with you yeah. What, if I just I I’d like to see valve, innovate, I’d like to see how is that Innovation whoa whoa whoa? Well, it’s not Innovation.
If they just do what everyone else is doing, so that’s why I was going to suggest a way that maybe they could innovate so here’s something that would be kind of cool like if I could buy uh a steam pass subscription and it entitles me to you Know x, amount of dollar value of games in my library at any given time, but I could return games and take them out kind of like a library system or something something like that. I don’t know: that’s just that’s completely off the top of my head, but I could see something like that being an innovation. Yes, because you could go back and rebor a game at your discretion if it’s still there so you’re kind of you’re kind of creating. No well, I would expect valve to innovate that too, so I could curate my own Library, potentially that’d, be kind of neat.
If I wanted to keep something instead of it just being like Netflix, where that show just like disappears, and you can’t watch it anymore, I could decide you know what yeah I want to. I want to just keep. I want to keep my old.
You know steam plus Library, I don’t want any of the new stuff and I can just like keep it forever, keep it in perpetuity or I could be like. Oh yeah, you know what no I I want to try something new and I just like return. One of my games, like oh yeah, okay, like I and my family share group, can’t play return that game. What if it’s been removed off of steam? You wouldn’t be able to get it again. That’S what I was saying.
Maybe there was a miscommunication, that’s what I meant. Oh okay, sure I just mean I. I could see there being room to innovate in that space um and if there was anyone who was going to do it in a not anti-consumer way, maybe it would be Val. I hope they don’t do it because I don’t think there is one and maybe that’s the not anti-consumer Innovation we need is valve just not doing it, but I would be total like if, if, if inside a valve, they were like hey. Let’S like try to thought experiment this thing and figured if there is a way, that’s totally cool with that. Sometimes you got to you know peer Into Darkness, um.
I don’t think there is a way if they prove me wrong great, but I I don’t. I don’t think there’s a way because, because of all the things that I’ve talked about on R show before of like, if you, if you end up going subscription Services, there’s there’s literally actors and and directors and stuff talking about this publicly right now. But with everything being Subscription Service uh, the only things that get made are safe, uh, there’s, no all that type of stuff. All right, Mr subscription services are evil.
What’S that I didn’t say: subscription Services were evil. Oh okay, okay, ni little hot dog hamburger. You got going on what, if they did, this did what what, if everything that you got through your subscription service, you had like you can download these videos. Can you let me finish? Okay, it’s a terrible comparison.
Just clean your is dog. Your comparison is dog. I got some paper towels over, so my point is my point: is what if it worked like that? What if, whenever something is in your library, you could you you, you got it permanently and it was more like a uh Ju Just Hold On. Oh my gosh.
This is one of those things where it’s like. All I’m saying is consider a possibility. I just I don’t like if, if, if it’s going that far, then you have it you own it. So then, like what H, how is how is valve going to get any Developers was What About Steam plus they didn’t say it had to be exactly the way it is now. So I’m saying no, no! I get that. I just don’t think what you’re talking about is even possible well hold on.
Can I finish talking about it sure? So what if it was like float plane where, through the subscription, you are getting new content, so it’s kind of it’s almost more like a uh. It’S almost more like what what are they called those uh, those mail subscriptions, something boxes, yeah uh. I know what you’re talking about help me help me chat, uh, something boxes. It’S not! No, not loot boxes, not loot, crates. No, it’s a thing. L crate was a brand crack boxes, oh my God subscription boxes sure subscription boxes, mystery boxes.
I don’t know, I thought there was another name. The point is but like subscription boxes, so developers would sign up. So you get new things valve curates. The new games that you’re going to try with their subscription service you own the games, afterward, you can go back and you can reopen that crate anytime. You feel like it just like on float plane, you can, when you are subscribed, you can download any video.
We have no cap, you can download the entire back catalog of anything. You want exclusives different channels, all the infrastructure people listening right now are going like, oh goodness and yeah it. It sucks on our end, but but you, but you can do that and then the only difference once you cancel your subscription. Is you just don’t get you don’t get the new content and you can’t come download it again. I mean that’s something that I could see. Being a not evil, you know, Innovation that that valve could that valve could imp they could even have they could even have gambling mechanics some of them. So maybe you get two games out of out of there. There’S eight and you’ll get one will be a random one, but you can pick one of them or something like that. Like I’m just saying, let’s be open-minded, I just think that’s a completely different thing now, you’ve gone so far away that it’s just humble bundles subscription version um, which is like fine hold on well hold on. What was the question, though uh something something steam plus gaming service? I mean yeah.
I just the original question is open enough, that this is legit, I’m not saying that sure yeah sure I just I just mean I think, there’s ways to do subscription gaming and have it not be totally toxic. I think that is not totally toxic. I just also think that that sort of doesn’t matter like I I don’t think that would actually catch on um could there might be ways to do it? Maybe maybe I think a lot of them will have the same problems as as standard subscription stuff.
Like I said, though, like if Val, if valve, wanted to sit in a room and try to figure this out and they did find out a way, then that’s great. I just I struggle to see how it can be really possible because in this version like yeah, maybe they do. Maybe it is very similar to what you’re saying. Maybe it’s a monthly thing that you get just like with those old subscription boxes that were popular for a while. Maybe it’s a monthly thing you log into steam on the first, and you have a new thing that you click on and it’s like: hey you have! These new games – uh, maybe they’re even partially curated, because they know some of your interest based on games, you’ve played and stuff. So maybe they’ll go like.
Oh, we noticed last month you played a games that are a bunch of games that are like that are like this. We thought you might want to try these things. You played slay the Spire, maybe you’ll enjoy across the Obelisk, something like that um. We included that in the thing that could be kind of cool, I don’t think that would take off as much as an all access pass. Yeah, apparently PSN plus does something kind of like this as well. So anyway, I do think to your question, though uh it would be pretty small potatoes for valve compared to the kind of money that they print on um an annual basis just taking 30 % of every game that sells on Steam so and not just game sales.
Right um, so it’s a cool idea, but I I I doubt that it has any kind of serious momentum over there, at least for the time being. I think you’re also going to run into a problem where it’s going to be a lot of the same games. A lot of the same developers and probably older games unless valve, starts pumping tons of money into the creation of them, at which point they might want some amount of um creative controller input. And then we start running into the same problem with gaming subscription Services, where the uh company that runs the subscription service ends up uh pushing in for Creative control because they want things that are going to guaranteed win, which is like a huge problem. .