Likelihood of GW2 coming to Steam

I ask because GW2 is one of my favorite games and the only MMO I play today. Every time I play a new LWS, I buy $20-$50 worth of gems to say, "thank you, Arenanet." I'd love to see the game continue to thrive. I think bringing it to Steam would see more people playing. Steam's amazing search algorithm and recommendation engine helps people interested in games like GW2 find them. Perhaps GW2 could launch on Steam for the Cantha expansion! :)

Okay, I'm ready for the flood of "anti" comments. <3

I'm guessing the marketing professionals don't find it a good ROI, since it's been suggested for many, many years.Probably the costs, and such.

Slim to none.

They could come out swinging and add "Coming Soon to Steam" in the Cantha expansion trailer. Not only is the expansion building up hype among the existing player base, but now the entire 100 million monthly active user base on Steam can get excited too. It seems like whatever costs could be associated with being on Steam, the sheer numbers alone would easily make up for it.

@"Korval.3751" said:They could come out swinging and add "Coming Soon to Steam" in the Cantha expansion trailer. Not only is the expansion building up hype among the existing player base, but now the entire 100 million monthly active user base on Steam can get excited too. It seems like whatever costs could be associated with being on Steam, the sheer numbers alone would easily make up for it.

Yea Im sure the 30% cut in gem revenue will be a drop in the bucket.

@"Korval.3751" said:They could come out swinging and add "Coming Soon to Steam" in the Cantha expansion trailer. Not only is the expansion building up hype among the existing player base, but now the entire 100 million monthly active user base on Steam can get excited too. It seems like whatever costs could be associated with being on Steam, the sheer numbers alone would easily make up for it.

My understanding is that steam would take a percentage of the gem store as well as a percentage of sales, thus it's too big a hit even if a lot of people do sign on.

@Linken.6345 said:

@"Korval.3751" said:They could come out swinging and add "Coming Soon to Steam" in the Cantha expansion trailer. Not only is the expansion building up hype among the existing player base, but now the entire 100 million monthly active user base on Steam can get excited too. It seems like whatever costs could be associated with being on Steam, the sheer numbers alone would easily make up for it.

and

@Vayne.8563 said:

@"Korval.3751" said:They could come out swinging and add "Coming Soon to Steam" in the Cantha expansion trailer. Not only is the expansion building up hype among the existing player base, but now the entire 100 million monthly active user base on Steam can get excited too. It seems like whatever costs could be associated with being on Steam, the sheer numbers alone would easily make up for it.

That doesn't have to be the case, Steam gets a cut from in-game purchases only when they are made through Steam itself. Even if Steam cuts apply to gem sales from inside the game, which shouldn't be the case anyway, Steam doesn't have a say on the gem store, Arenanet could side-step this by allowing players to buy gems directly from their own website, bypassing Steam entirely. Steam has no authority on gem sales from an external website and doesn't take a cut. For example, they could add gem sales here: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/shop/ together with the rest of the merchandise. Steam will cut nothing because it has no authority there.

Also, Steam doesn't affect game sales either, unless the game is bought from the Steam store. This means every game sale on Steam will be a NEW account, so any concern over Anet losing 30% of money they wouldn't be making in the first place, is rather pointless.

@maddoctor.2738 said:

@Linken.6345 said:

@"Korval.3751" said:They could come out swinging and add "Coming Soon to Steam" in the Cantha expansion trailer. Not only is the expansion building up hype among the existing player base, but now the entire 100 million monthly active user base on Steam can get excited too. It seems like whatever costs could be associated with being on Steam, the sheer numbers alone would easily make up for it.

@Vayne.8563 said:

@"Korval.3751" said:They could come out swinging and add "Coming Soon to Steam" in the Cantha expansion trailer. Not only is the expansion building up hype among the existing player base, but now the entire 100 million monthly active user base on Steam can get excited too. It seems like whatever costs could be associated with being on Steam, the sheer numbers alone would easily make up for it.

I'm not sure if there are any other ways to do it but in Elder Scrolls Online if you bought the game through Steam you have to buy currency and other purchases through Steam. Even though crowns (aka gems) are sold on their website they're only available to people who bought the game independent of Steam.

Having said that the other problem is that it's misleading to imply that 100 million Steam accounts = 100 million potential new GW2 players. I have a Steam account and I'm sure many other people here do, but we're not going to buy GW2 again just because it's on Steam. Several of my real-life friends recently started playing GW2 and they all use Steam but were aware of GW2 and able to find and buy it without it being on there. Similarly there will be lots of people who use Steam who have already decided they don't want to play GW2 because it's not the right game for them and selling it through a different store is not going to change that.

The potential new playerbase is not all Steam users, it's the fraction of Steam users who have not yet been exposed to any other form of GW2 advertising or promotion and are currently unaware it exists (or don't know enough about it to make a decision) and who would play GW2 if they knew about it. (I'm not under any illusion that everyone would love this game if only they knew about it, lots of the things we like about GW2 are exactly the reasons other people don't like it, e.g. lack of a gear treadmill or open-world PvP.)

Now maybe that means the potential for it to bring in new players is small enough that the lost revenue from those players is irrelevant overall, but that seems like a pretty poor trade-off to me. I'm sure Anet are aware that selling the game through Steam is an option, and if they thought it would bring in enough revenue to be worth the complications they'd do it, but apparently they don't think that's the case.

@"Danikat.8537" said:I'm not sure if there are any other ways to do it but in Elder Scrolls Online if you bought the game through Steam you have to buy currency and other purchases through Steam. Even though crowns (aka gems) are sold on their website they're only available to people who bought the game independent of Steam.

I'm not sure why they did it that way in Elder Scrolls Online, maybe they have a separate/different agreement. In Warframe for example you can buy their platinum (gems) currency on their website without Steam having to do anything with it. Different agreements with Steam I guess. Still, both posters I quoted assumed that Steam would take a percentage of revenue, which isn't true even for Elder Scrolls Online. Steam will only take a cut from the revenue if you buy the game (or in-game currency) from Steam. I can buy whatever I want from the Guild Wars 1 store (which is on Steam by the way) and Steam doesn't take anything from the transaction. There is this misinformation going around that when a game goes on Steam suddenly their revenue will drop. It won't, going on Steam won't have any kind of effect on revenue from current ways to sell the game or it's currency. Steam only affects sales done through Steam.

Having said that the other problem is that it's misleading to imply that 100 million Steam accounts = 100 million potential new GW2 players.

I never implied anything like that though.

Now maybe that means the potential for it to bring in new players is small enough that the lost revenue from those players is irrelevant overall, but that seems like a pretty poor trade-off to me. I'm sure Anet are aware that selling the game through Steam is an option, and if they thought it would bring in enough revenue to be worth the complications they'd do it, but apparently they don't think that's the case.

There is NO LOST revenue if they sell the game through Steam. Currently the game isn't on Steam, so the revenue through Steam is 0. If they offer the game on Steam their revenue will potentially become something greater than 0, if Steam takes 30% off of it is completely irrelevant, because there is no revenue to begin with without that 30% cut. The only way for the Steam "cut" to affect the revenue of Anet negatively is if the players that will buy the game through Steam, would buy it outside Steam if given the choice, but then again why haven't they already?

Going on Steam is an admission of self marketing not working. Plus it has the potential to ruin a game and developer's reputation (see review bombing), imagine if the game was on Steam when the Mount License fiasco started, or the more recent rollback issues. Going on Steam offers more publicity, more exposure, but also requires a lot more communication, to diffuse bad situations and promote good ones. I'm not saying it's anything "Easy" or free money, but regarding revenue it kind of is, the question is whether that extra income is worth the other drawbacks of going on Steam.

The comment about 100 million steam accounts was in response to @Korval.3751 who did say that. Maybe I should have split the comments out to make it clearer instead of writing one response to the entire discussion.

Similarly 'lost revenue' clearly wasn't precise enough, but is not entirely inaccurate. I'm not saying Anet will lose money which is currently coming in, but they will not make as much profit from players buying the game through Steam as they would if those same people bought it through any other method. That needs to be weighed up against the chances that those players will not buy GW2 unless it's sold through Steam. If Anet thinks they can successfully market to the same audience, drawing in the same players, and then get 100% of the profit from their purchases they're going to do that rather than market to them through Steam and only get 70% of the profit.

@Danikat.8537 said:I'm not sure if there are any other ways to do it but in Elder Scrolls Online if you bought the game through Steam you have to buy currency and other purchases through Steam. Even though crowns (aka gems) are sold on their website they're only available to people who bought the game independent of Steam.I play Secret World: Legends through Steam and it's the same thing there with regards to in-game currency and other DLC. Has to be purchased through Steam.

@kharmin.7683 said:

@Danikat.8537 said:I'm not sure if there are any other ways to do it but in Elder Scrolls Online if you bought the game through Steam you

have to

buy currency and other purchases through Steam. Even though crowns (aka gems) are sold on their website they're only available to people who bought the game independent of Steam.I play Secret World: Legends through Steam and it's the same thing there with regards to in-game currency and other DLC. Has to be purchased through Steam.

At least that hame has two players then if u play it as well ?

@Randulf.7614 said:

@kharmin.7683 said:

@Danikat.8537 said:I'm not sure if there are any other ways to do it but in Elder Scrolls Online if you bought the game through Steam you

have to

buy currency and other purchases through Steam. Even though crowns (aka gems) are sold on their website they're only available to people who bought the game independent of Steam.I play Secret World: Legends through Steam and it's the same thing there with regards to in-game currency and other DLC. Has to be purchased through Steam.

Yeah, I know right? It's another F2P game for me though. And, believe it or not, I have seen a few other players running around. But not nearly the population of other games, for sure.

@"Korval.3751" said:Okay, I'm ready for the flood of "anti" comments. <3

As you can see in the thread, it's not that the community thinks "steam=bad" or "no new things pls!", there are, most of the times, good reasons why something is or is not part of the game.

Here's what I found regarding Steam and revenue:

Prior to October 2018, Valve received revenue share of a flat 30% from all direct Steam sales and transactions. After that date however, Valve updated their policies that cut theirs to 25% once revenue for a game surpasses US$10 million, and further to 20% at US$50 million. The policy change was seen by journalists as trying to entice larger developers to stay with Steam rather than other digital storefronts like Origin or Uplay, while the decision was also met with backlash from indie and other small game developers, as their revenue split remained unchanged.

-Wikipedia

@"Danikat.8537" said:Similarly 'lost revenue' clearly wasn't precise enough, but is not entirely inaccurate. I'm not saying Anet will lose money which is currently coming in, but they will not make as much profit from players buying the game through Steam as they would if those same people bought it through any other method. That needs to be weighed up against the chances that those players will not buy GW2 unless it's sold through Steam. If Anet thinks they can successfully market to the same audience, drawing in the same players, and then get 100% of the profit from their purchases they're going to do that rather than market to them through Steam and only get 70% of the profit.

They are not making any profit from those players because those players haven't bought the game and won't buy it. If Anet thinks they can successfully market this game to the same audience as Steam does then they sure aren't doing anything to "prove" it. Maybe when they actually aggressively market the game anywhere it might be true but currently, the chances of a player playing Guild Wars 2 based on Anet marketing is minimal compared to extra exposure from Steam. Notice I say "playing", not "buying". Which is why I believe revenue and marketing have a much lower impact on whether to bring the game on Steam or not.

In my case I believe the game isn't (and shouldn't) come on Steam due to the conversion rate, a "problem" that Anet never fixed over the years. If the game goes on Steam, the free version will attract many players, and not many of those will convert and pay. Meaning the extra exposure and publicity will cause an extra strain on the servers, without bringing in enough revenue. When the game went Free to Play in October 2015 it attracted a few million accounts, Steam would likely attract even more. The question is how many will convert and buy the game. Which, in the case of going free back then, was minimal.

@"Korval.3751" said:I ask because GW2 is one of my favorite games and the only MMO I play today. Every time I play a new LWS, I buy $20-$50 worth of gems to say, "thank you, Arenanet." I'd love to see the game continue to thrive. I think bringing it to Steam would see more people playing. Steam's amazing search algorithm and recommendation engine helps people interested in games like GW2 find them. Perhaps GW2 could launch on Steam for the Cantha expansion! :)

Okay, I'm ready for the flood of "anti" comments. <3

The only anti you get from me is that it's been discussed many many times and there are threads that clearly suggest it will never happen and why. No need to start a new topic. "Search" ty.

@maddoctor.2738 said:

@"Danikat.8537" said:I'm not sure if there are any other ways to do it but in Elder Scrolls Online if you bought the game through Steam you

have to

buy currency and other purchases through Steam. Even though crowns (aka gems) are sold on their website they're only available to people who bought the game independent of Steam.

Having said that the other problem is that it's misleading to imply that 100 million Steam accounts = 100 million potential new GW2 players.

Now maybe that means the potential for it to bring in new players is small enough that the lost revenue from those players is irrelevant overall, but that seems like a pretty poor trade-off to me. I'm sure Anet are aware that selling the game through Steam is an option, and if they thought it would bring in enough revenue to be worth the complications they'd do it, but apparently they don't think that's the case.

They have to pay Valve to be on the platform, therefore their revenue will drop, regardless. I have a Steam account, Steam hasn't been installed on my computer for over a year, closer to two years, so citing how many people have Steam accounts is irrelevant.

@robertthebard.8150 said:They have to pay Valve to be on the platform, therefore their revenue will drop, regardless.

100 dollars. It must be insufferable for Arenanet

@maddoctor.2738 said:

@robertthebard.8150 said:They have to pay Valve to be on the platform, therefore their revenue will drop, regardless.

So here I am, hosting my game, not having to pay anyone to do it, why would I want to spend a dollar on someone else hosting it? Business 101: Keep your overhead as low as possible, so you're not eating into your profits.

They are working on gamepad support for GW2 and when it's finished they will probably release GW2 on Steam and also next gen consoles.

@Zoid.2568 said:They are working on gamepad support for GW2 and when it's finished they will probably release GW2 on Steam and also next gen consoles.

I cannot wait for controller support, in my opinion fast paced games like guild wars 2 are to much ony my hands, even If I did not have carpel tunnel.

@Ryou.2398 said:

@Zoid.2568 said:They are working on gamepad support for GW2 and when it's finished they will probably release GW2 on Steam and also next gen consoles.

It will be difficult to play endgame content with a controller because a controller can't be used as fast as mouse and keyboard. It's the same thing in ESO, very difficult to be good with controller in endgame content when you have to lightweave and cancel animations.

@Zoid.2568 said:

@Ryou.2398 said:

@Zoid.2568 said:They are working on gamepad support for GW2 and when it's finished they will probably release GW2 on Steam and also next gen consoles.

Casual content though, it's easymode with a controller.

@Zoid.2568 said:

@Ryou.2398 said:

@Zoid.2568 said:They are working on gamepad support for GW2 and when it's finished they will probably release GW2 on Steam and also next gen consoles.

Thats ok I am getting better equipment anyways for gaming well trying to.