well, this is my question.
I move more and more things to GoG.
Is there a reason why most games are released on Steam besides the sheer market dominance Steam has?
I really buy most games these days on GoG, not Steam.
Thanks
This is kind of an odd question to post on a website that's neither Steam or GoG. Are you asking why game platforms outside of Steam aren't as popular? Or just GoG specifically? If you're asking about GoG specifically you could post that question on the GoG website and you'd likely get more relevant answers
It's not cool to ask in a store why people don't prefer to use another one. Still, I'll answer some basic things that you seem to not know and that make a lot of difference when choosing a store to sell games.
On Steam you pay 100 dollars and you can publish a game, you can use the Steam API and unless the player cracks the game, they can't play it without using the account where they bought it.
Steam has many more users than the other stores and therefore, it is usually the store where you will have the most sales.
On GOG, you can't publish whatever you want, you must send them your game and they evaluate if they are interested in selling your product or not. Your game must be DRM free.
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If you speak as a consumer, better buy on Itch.
It happened to me also, I also wanted to sell a game on GOG, I sent the game, they replied two weeks later that they would look for a team to evaluate it, and after that I received practically nothing.
My understanding is that if there are games that don't meet their quality standards, they reserve the right to abstain.
This is of course not good. Maybe that explains it then.
These days, i fear that i can't keep up with all the new rules and offerings. (aka Last Steam License).
So, yes. its great that itch actually lets you sell your creation on their website. It probably hasn't the reach as the giant Steam.
I for one, only heart about itch by accident. It was unknown to me before.
So you ask, why games on Itch have links to their Steam appearance, but you do not see games here that link to their GoG appearance?
I am not sure. My guess is, that you would need a finished game to realease it on GoG. The games you see on Itch that push their Steam are usually in the making. They try to get known, they try to self publish and try to get an audience. And steam does have early access. Though, GoG also has early access - but far less reach.
There are games that are on all three. Backpack Hero for example. They do have a link to the wishlist us on Steam. But I see no GoG link.
The last game i bought on here was Fear and Hunger.
I think i should be more grateful that devs offer their full version on itch.
For years, i ignored the platform and thought, weird. But the more i browse, try out games, i find it a quest of sorts with some very unique games that wouldn't be anywhere else.
I know very little about why this or that platform is better.
As far as i am concerned, i would be willing to pay the dev here and download it.
It struck me just as odd to see Steam (wish list) on here. My perspective is purely that of a consumer rather than a developer.
There is a thing on Steam, if a developer has a development version of a game and is not yet released on Steam, it helps, if people "wishlist" it there. That is why the developers advertise that Steamlink.
Also, there is shop integration. You can buy a game here on Itch and if everything is configured and the developer wishes to do so, the buyer will get a Steam key. This makes less sense for GoG, as games on GoG have no DRM, as most likely the Itch version also has not. Also, I presume the revenue share on GoG is worse than on Itch. While on Steam it might be similar, but you can't beat the reach Steam offers. I have seen games that are on Steam and on Itch and the Steam version has over 5k reviews, while the Itch version has 5.
The Steam platform does offer benefits when playing games with other people. There is no such thing as a friend list on Itch or capabilities to play a game together. Itch is a download store, not a platform to play games together with your friends.
I'll tell ya why people don't trust steam. DRMs plus they still sell games on there that's don't really run on windows 10-11. There is also terrible support. Windows 8 support dropped on their launcher. Windows 8 is from what 2013?? They dropped support for Mac os Mojave in February 2024. An operating system from 2018. I'd be pretty pissed if I'd paid for games only to get a few years out of them. The gen Z kids don't know any better so they just go along with it. I only found out what steam was during COVID. I've spoken the numerous people around the 30-40 age group and they refuse to buy into this online DRM type of stuff. I'd say the days of these big Ubisoft/Steam type subscriptions are probably past their prime. GoG has no DRMs people trust it so they use it. It's a much better business model.