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Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney supports the $900 million lawsuit against Valve, arguing Steam is "the only major store still holding onto payment ties and 30% junk fee" [refer to in-app purchases] (finance.yahoo.com)
submitted 1 day ago by alessandro@lemmy.ca to c/pcgaming@lemmy.ca
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[-] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 day ago

By what definition is the 30% cut high? It's the same percentage for Apple, Google, and Steam. Brick and mortar is generally around 50%. Amazon is a large range, but 30% is roughly average or even low. eBay charges less, but doesn't do anything other than facilitate the transaction. Epic charges less to small developers, but that's also mostly marketing.

[-] alessandro@lemmy.ca 4 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

It's not about the "cut" you're thinking; it refer to in-app purchases.

Once you bought a game, Valve keep demand a 30% cuts on anything you sell once the customer launch your executable (.exe, binary file/game engine).

hypothetical scenario to help visualize (it won't go like that most of the time, but useful to understand the concept):

  • customer Install and Launch Steam
  • customer buy (Valve earn 30% cutshare) and install game on Steam
  • customer uninstall Steam, keep installed game
  • customer launch game (if is made in a way don't need Steam dependencies).
  • Anything sold while game engine is running must give 30%,of further earning, to Valve.
[-] lofuw@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 hours ago

If a developer doesn't like those terms, can't they just remove their game from Steam or never release it there to begin with?

If a user doesn't like those terms, they don't have to buy the game.

Developers and users are voting with their wallets every day and the votes say Steam is worth the cost.

this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
143 points (91.8% liked)

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