“I prefer the industry when you have two really strong competitors. You get better games, you get more games, and you get an industry riding a positive wave.”
“I prefer the industry when you have two really strong competitors. You get better games, you get more games, and you get an industry riding a positive wave.”
I mean, afaik Steam has never helped in the role of publisher.
Publishers might provide engine tools, development resources, coordination, or other forms of development assistance. Or, if they’re rich and brain damaged, they’ll just buy out functioning game studios and force them to make live service slop.
Valve publish their own games.
Publishers are not responsible for any of what you mentioned.
The explosion of indie games because of how easily Steam allows a budding developer to publish their game says otherwise. The ease of self-publication through Steam was one of the first major benefits of the platform. Not to mention all the stuff Steamworks provides in modern times.
They publish their own games, so in that sense it’s true. I don’t think they’ve ever published a 3rd party game though.
Also, aren’t publishers mainly for marketing and that? Usually people are happiest when the publisher doesn’t involve itself in the development. That’s what the developers are for, after all.