43 replies to this topic

[Mechwho]

I was wondering why Mech Warrior Online isn`t on steam yet ?

This game has alot of potention imo, its tatical and well balanced, (at least from what i`ve seen so far) and it has a good variety for its mechs and customization, though I would like to make my own mech if i had the chance.

Is there any announcements I may have missed ? Im quite new to this game and community any info would be appriciated.

Edited by Muria, 05 October 2014 - 08:24 AM.

[Chavette]

Steam takes a cut. They don't want to give steam a cut.

Its only worth it for them if they get big enough of a fresh player base that it makes it worth for them to lose out on their money.

They aren't sure if thats the case, so they haven't gone through.

Edited by Chavette, 05 October 2014 - 08:27 AM.

[Scratx]

Not sure why, though considering Steam will want their cut I imagine it is not a no-brainer decision.

[627]

You can see active players counter on steam

Edited by 627, 05 October 2014 - 08:30 AM.

[Mothykins]

I'm seeing quite a few pot-shots. Here's the reasons, other than the 'cut.'

• CW isn't out.
  
• The game needs optimizations
  
• The current playerbase is somewhat unhappy with how things are
  
• The game needs to also look better.

Releasing on Steam is pretty much a "Second launch" and they need to be ready for it. They need the game to be polished, have all the major game modes out, look at least as nice as its competitors, run way smoother and they need us, the current player base, to be pretty happy with how the game is playing.

If these are not done, they waste the opportunity, gain no new players, and lose the chance to do so forever. So you're gonna have to wait.

[Tkhaw]

MWO needs more time to be presentable to the main audience

Aspects such as CW, maps and balancing are still needed to be work upon.

[mike29tw]

Also I imagine PGI's server will have a hard time coping with the massive influx of new users if the release MWO on steam.

[Mechwho]

Cavale, on 05 October 2014 - 08:39 AM, said:

I'm seeing quite a few pot-shots. Here's the reasons, other than the 'cut.'

• CW isn't out.
  
• The game needs optimizations
  
• The current playerbase is somewhat unhappy with how things are
  
• The game needs to also look better.

Releasing on Steam is pretty much a "Second launch" and they need to be ready for it. They need the game to be polished, have all the major game modes out, look at least as nice as its competitors, run way smoother and they need us, the current player base, to be pretty happy with how the game is playing.


If these are not done, they waste the opportunity, gain no new players, and lose the chance to do so forever. So you're gonna have to wait.

This defnetly make sense, im a warframe founder and player and they didn`t lunched warframe on steam till a year ago (if memeory serves me right) and they`ve made sure the game was enjoyable and polished enough for it to go right for em economicly.

[Malcolm Vordermark]

They've stated that they want CW to be out before they go looking for new players.

[Destructicus]

MWO ON STEAM?!?!?!?
WE HAVE CERTAINLY NEVER DISCUSSED THIS

Sarcasm aside it's been discussed and the reasons have been stated time and time again.
It'd be easier to search 'Steam' in the forums than to clog it up with something everybody has already discussed.

[Farix]

Steam users fairly or unfairly weight that Metacritc score. Since MWO's score is currently sitting at 68 do the the premature launch, its not going to receive much attention if it ever gets on Steam. On top of that, the New User Experience (NUE) is absolutely terrible, and there shouldn't be a seriously promoted until after that is addressed.

[Farix]

627, on 05 October 2014 - 08:30 AM, said:

You can see active players counter on steam

Those counters are only those using the Steam client. Those who directly downloaded the client, like most of us, will not be included in those numbers.

[That Guy]

Russ addressed this in the first town hall a month ago. they are focusing on the core player audience, and will evaluate a steam launch next year. and to add to this, the steam community is absolutely terrible. i can live with out-them for a while longer yet

[Budor]

Once CW is in they will take a thorough look at steam was said in one of the town halls or vlogs.

[Victor Morson]

PGI's Answer: They don't think Steam "should take a cut" out of the profits.

My Answer: Because they are making a huge, huge mistake. Like everything else wrong with the pricing structure [Which may in fact be a big part of why it's not on Steam - maximum priced item limits], it's better to go for Volume and not a handful of Whales.

If you put a new MW game on Steam (you'd be shocked how many people never even heard of MW:O) the amount of people they'd influx would more than make up for lost profits, I'm convinced entirely.

Frankly the best thance MW:O has is to finish CW, fix the major problems, then Steam re-launch. Maybe even give it a new subtitle. MechWarrior: Phase 2, in short, with a better name. You'd pick up a lot of new blood - a lot - and turn this game around considerably.

It'd also get people back who walked away because if they see it pop up on Steam they might go "Oh, let me check that out and see how it is now," with two clicks.

So there you have. I think not having a Steam version of this game is a rather massive mistake. Other F2P games as small or smaller than PGI have made huge profits this way.

[LT. HARDCASE]

I wouldn't be so quick to give up 33% of my revenue either.

[Rhent]

Steam is a publisher and it would take 33% of game sales on it's platform. How would Piranha negotiate to pay them a cut? Do all players give Steam 33% of bought MC sales? How long is a Steam forwarded player going to donate that 33% to Steam, is it for 1 year of download, 2 years of download or forever?

Can you say not financially worth it.

[Kassatsu]

#1 reason is how god awful this game is for new players, especially ones not familiar with heat mechanics (and even then, it's still bad) from past mechwarrior games.

Let's not forget the quite lengthy grind to get ANYTHING without throwing a decent chunk of money at it, random net code issues, random fps issues, random crashes...

Not to mention that there is no way in hell the current servers could handle the massive rush from showing up on steam's front page. They can barely even handle the current player count, which is presumably quite low given that they're so scared of telling us how many players are online.

Or, you know, like every other major design decision, not being on steam is just another in a long running list of huge mistakes.

Edited by Kassatsu, 05 October 2014 - 02:20 PM.

[Victor Morson]

Rhent, on 05 October 2014 - 02:12 PM, said:

Steam is a publisher and it would take 33% of game sales on it's platform. How would Piranha negotiate to pay them a cut? Do all players give Steam 33% of bought MC sales? How long is a Steam forwarded player going to donate that 33% to Steam, is it for 1 year of download, 2 years of download or forever?

Can you say not financially worth it.

First off, the 33% they keep throwing out is very hyperbolic. They are pretty flexible.

But let's assume it's true. Here's the problem. How much advertising have you seen for MW:O? Have you ever seen ads for MW:O? I saw an icon in uTorrent once. That's it.

Putting MW:O on Steam insures that you will get a massive influx in players. Given the current playerbase, that could easily be ten times the number of players currently in the game, or more.

So for the death grip on 33% (which sounds like a huge figure) - only applicable to people using the Steam client I should note - they are losing out on many, many times over that. Quick example:

[ EXAMPLE NUMBERS ]

Say 1,000 people are playing a game, and paying $100 each. That's $100,000. Do you want to give up $33,000? NO!

Now say if you move that example to a huge built-in ad base and easy installation, inviting lots of people in, many of which might stick.. So now this is:

You have 10,000 paying people playing a game, still paying $100 each. That's $1,000,000.So now you're talking with parting with $330,000 to Steam. That sounds horrible right?

Except now, the developer would have made $670,000 instead of $67,000. That is a big damn leap.

This is why Valve is successful and why the often quoted "You have to give some to get some" statement applies to business. Gripping to that tiny amount like a dog with a bone out of greed prevents you from seeing the big picture.

It's also the same reason that things like camos and cockpit items are too high. The whales buy them sure, but if they were cheaper, way more people would - and you end up making far more money in the end.

All this really comes down to is a lot of people are really clueless about how to price digital goods and/or are following the wrong model, like early World Of Tanks, while resisting run away successes that have proven what I'm saying over and over again.

The greedier you get the less money you get. It's bitter irony.

TL/DR: Would Steam increase the paying player base any more than 33%? If yes, then it will make a bigger profit doing so. If it even brought the numbers up 34%, it's already paid for itself with a bonus, and anything on that is just gravy.

Edited by Victor Morson, 05 October 2014 - 02:24 PM.

[ApolloKaras]

Victor Morson, on 05 October 2014 - 02:19 PM, said:

First off, the 33% they keep throwing out is very hyperbolic. They are pretty flexible.

But let's assume it's true. Here's the problem. How much advertising have you seen for MW:O? Have you ever seen ads for MW:O? I saw an icon in uTorrent once. That's it.

Putting MW:O on Steam insures that you will get a massive influx in players. Given the current playerbase, that could easily be ten times the number of players currently in the game, or more.

So for the death grip on 33% (which sounds like a huge figure) - only applicable to people using the Steam client I should note - they are losing out on many, many times over that. Quick example:

[ EXAMPLE NUMBERS ]

Say 1,000 people are playing a game, and paying $100 each. That's $100,000. Do you want to give up $33,000? NO!

Now say if you move that example to a huge built-in ad base and easy installation, inviting lots of people in, many of which might stick.. So now this is:

You have 10,000 paying people playing a game, still paying $100 each. That's $1,000,000.So now you're talking with parting with $330,000 to Steam. That sounds horrible right?

Except now, the developer would have made $670,000 instead of $67,000. That is a big damn leap.

This is why Valve is successful and why the often quoted "You have to give some to get some" statement applies to business. Gripping to that tiny amount like a dog with a bone out of greed prevents you from seeing the big picture.

It's also the same reason that things like camos and cockpit items are too high. The whales buy them sure, but if they were cheaper, way more people would - and you end up making far more money in the end.

All this really comes down to is a lot of people are really clueless about how to price digital goods and/or are following the wrong model, like early World Of Tanks, while resisting run away successes that have proven what I'm saying over and over again.

The greedier you get the less money you get. It's bitter irony.

How about we wait for PGI to sort out post IGP before we start nailing them for not joining steam. I'm pretty sure it was IGP that wouldn't want to push the game to steam. Right now - Its PGI. If I buy a pack for 240 bucks I want PGI to get 240 not 160. Also seeing how volatile the steam community can be I don't truly see a real reason...