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Am I the only person who thinks Valve will start selling apps/games now? (self.Steam)

submitted ago by sejine

I mean, think about it, this is probably Valve's big jump into the app store type of stuff, and god knows I'd rather buy games from them than Apple.

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[–]RedditCommentAccount 7 points8 points ago

That is what I thought when they first released the mobile apps.

But I don't know. The app market isn't exactly hurting for more app stores. They can't just run in like they did with steam and fill a hole the people didn't know they previously had. They'll have to force some space in that hole away from the already established. And at 99 cents, there isn't a whole lot of room for sales or profit. But I would guess the volume would make up for that.

For now: Probably not. Later? Maybe.

[–]enthreeoh 15 points16 points ago

"now"? Maybe in a few years. The only issue is, if they do sell apps then apple will boot them from the app store, and I could see google doing it too.

[–]Addequate 22 points23 points ago

Apple would not only kick them out of their iOS but burn their houses down. Google? Google gives zero fucks. They'd be cool with it.

[–]enthreeoh 2 points3 points ago

I'm not sure google would be ok with it. Amazon app store isn't available in the market and has to be sideloaded. If valve made a deal to share profits then I could see it.

[–]guyanonymous 1 point2 points ago

People would jailbreak their iphones, ipads, android devices, and anything else they owned to get their games through Steam instead of the apple store or even market....especially if steam does their usual sales out the ying yang thing....has updates and matchmaking that work, etc.

[–]enthreeoh 8 points9 points ago

You don't need to root (jailbreak) on android, just enable non-market apks in settings. Iphone would need jailbreak though, and relying on that doesn't make sense business wise.

[–]RalphMullin -1 points0 points ago

How many people still use the Iphone over Android nowadays? I knows the Iphone is still quite popular but it seems that there market share is dropping fast.

[–]Dizmn 4 points5 points ago

It's growing exponentially, actually.

[–]RalphMullin 1 point2 points ago

Fuck.

[–]Dizmn 0 points1 point ago

Oh, and 70% of all smartphone sales between AT&T and Verizon were iPhones.

[–]RalphMullin 3 points4 points ago

NO! THAT'S NOT TRUE! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!

[–]capzoots -3 points-2 points ago

The iPhone 4 is still better then any android on the market.

[–]bozleh 1 point2 points ago

Newest google phone has the 4 beat, and is at least on par with the 4S.

[–]Valkyrie2 -2 points-1 points ago

Here, here.

[–]rnicoll 2 points3 points ago

People actually willing to jailbreak their devices are rare. reddit users are not typical smartphone/tablet users.

Also; both Apple & Google already do impressive sales (for example the 10 apps for 10 cents sale that happened recently on the Android Marketplace), and I see no reason why Steam couldn't offer matchmaking, achievements, etc.

[–]derkrieger 0 points1 point ago

Is that because of google or is that amazons deal? Google allows several competing app stores to exist. If anything some phone companies like to lock any store that isn't one if their chosen few out.

[–]jvacek996 0 points1 point ago

I'm pretty sure they'll just kick out all the openfeint integrations and put their steam integrations instead. this will get them a share of the share what the devs would get, but stil..

[–]m-p-3 4 points5 points ago

If they do they'll probably get booted of the App Store and the Android Market, as it will directly cut sales from Apple and Google. It would be a problem for iOS users, but on Android they could just make the APK directly available from the Steam website for sideloading.

[–]DemanRisu 5 points6 points ago

Yeah, that's exactly it.

The issue with developing for Android, however, is platform fragmentation. Each handset has different hardware, meaning a game will work on one and not on the other.

[–]ExistentialEnso 1 point2 points ago

As an Android developer, the fragmentation problem really is over-stated, and it's not especially worse than development for PCs.

The vast, vast majority of devices operate similarly enough that, if you're a good developer who knows the ins and outs of the SDK, you can have >95% compatibility easily.

OS-wise, anything 2.0+ (Eclair) has basically everything SDK-wise you need for most games. Later versions have mostly added stuff more useful for non-game apps, such as new UI elements and support for interacting with some of the newer hardware being added (like NFC chips).

More graphics-intensive games don't work on older devices (due to simple lack of horsepower), but that's the same with the PC market too.

[–]Jukibom 1 point2 points ago

For high-end games using (as an example) the unity engine there's at least a pretty well-defined set of devices such games would work on. Would be cool to buy a PC indie title and have a free copy via android steam, with synced save data.

[–]Chachoregard 0 points1 point ago

Some carriers don't allow sideloading, though. They're that picky.

[–]maskoncrooked 1 point2 points ago

yeah I see it coming.

[–]jvacek996 1 point2 points ago

As i said a few times on a few places, i'm pretty sure they'll do something openfeint-y

[–]ExistentialEnso 0 points1 point ago

I hope so. As a developer and as a user, OpenFeint is kind of a nightmare. I'd love to use "Steamworks Mobile" instead.

[–]TheBakedPotato 0 points1 point ago

I can't really see it. Valve are pretty aware, they're likely to know that iTunes is impossible to topple at this point. Android maybe, but the games market on there isn't exactly overflowing with content.

[–]foaty 0 points1 point ago

Who said anything about toppling its more about getting a percent of the market I would think.

[–]TheBakedPotato 0 points1 point ago

You don't go into a game you know you can't win. Valve are a big company, not a plucky upstart. They (presumably) know better than to start a business that won't succeed against the competition.

[–]Dubya_Tea_Efff 0 points1 point ago

Simple solution to get around the Apple/Google store issues. Only allow purchase on the PC client and then they can be downloaded to the phones. Would that not work? Purchase isn't being made through the Steam app itself.

[–]Jaws0me 0 points1 point ago

No you aren't.

[–]einsosen 0 points1 point ago

Nope. You're not alone. I welcome my Android's new Gabe overlord to be honest. c:

[–]forever_colonge 0 points1 point ago

As smart phones get more powerful it would certainly be a smart move for valve.

I for one would love to see my copy of Flight Control HD transferable to my galaxy tab.

It will be difficult to do mostly because it bypasses google and apple's store front. However I'm not sure if they are legally able to have a monopoly on distribution services. It would be like having to go through a Microsoft store to buy everything on your Windows PC.

[–]ve2dmn 0 points1 point ago

Android: Yes

iOS: not really.

I'm hoping for Steam Cloud Sync with multi-platform games.

[–]Jamesified 0 points1 point ago

They could do something like game center, open feint, or the countless other things out there.. I see EA doing Origin with their IOS apps.

[–]Khyrdantai 0 points1 point ago

Why wouldn't they make apps, guys? They could just post them through the App Store or Android Market instead of their own App central. And the Steam app could just link up with said apps.

[–]bozleh 0 points1 point ago

Cos then apple is getting their 30% cut, not valve.

[–]montypytho17 1 point2 points ago

Half Life 3, coming to Android in 2014.

[–]zenstic 0 points1 point ago

you shut your dirty mouth.

ill shoot combine with a mouse and keyboard come hell or a portal storm.

[–]martylang 1 point2 points ago

Yes you are the only person in the world.

[–]Shade_of_Gray -2 points-1 points ago

Dear god, no.

[–]dzamir -3 points-2 points ago

Why all you think that Apple will boot Valve???

AppStore's policies for developers are more open then Xbox360 or PS3 policies, and Valve already sells games on these systems. Valve can even use Steam achievements or releases free DLCs for their games on the AppStore and Apple will not give a fuck.

I really can't see where the problem is.

[–]enthreeoh -1 points0 points ago

App store sells games, Apple gets a cut. If Valve sold games for iphone, through Steam via Apple's market, Apple wouldn't get a cut.

[–]dzamir -3 points-2 points ago

Does Valve sells Xbox games through Steam?

[–]enthreeoh 0 points1 point ago

No, not sure how that's relevant. Also I didn't downvote you.

[–]Kireas 0 points1 point ago

Apple don't allow competing Application Stores.

[–]dzamir 0 points1 point ago

No one is talking about competing stores, we are just talking about selling games on the platform, like Valve already does on the Xbox360 and the PS3.

[–]Kireas 0 points1 point ago

The developers themselves would be the ones to do that - and Valve don't sell on the 360 or the PS3, unless you count their own games (HL2, The Orange Box, Portal / Portal 2, L4D and L4D2).

So, they probably wouldn't sell games on the platform.

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