• Grimy@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Microsoft’s refund policy is top notch too and I see proton as leveraging open source to avoid dev costs.

    More importantly, everything steam does could be done with 5% instead of 30% and Gaben would still be filthy rich.

    Steam is as greedy as the other platforms and it’s us, the consumers, and the indie scene that suffer for it. Are you okay with your favorite indie studio closing and your favorite game not getting a sequel because Gaben wants 8000 million a year instead of 1000 million a year?

    There is most likely collusion and soft monopolies, these platforms are clearly not competing in good faith.

    • xthexder@l.sw0.com
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      4 months ago

      proton as leveraging open source to avoid dev costs

      As a developer, I have no problem with this. Why do work that doesn’t need to be done?

      • Grimy@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I don’t either, that is what open source is for afterall. I’m trying to point out that this decision wasn’t out of love for his customers but out of love for his bottom line. This let him compete with platforms with devices while having a seriously low entry cost compared to them. It’s just a smart business decision but people treat it as if it was charity.

    • KubeRoot@discuss.tchncs.de
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      4 months ago

      Hold up, how is proton leveraging open source to avoid dev costs? Are you referring to steam using and contributing to existing projects instead of reinventing the wheel? Or to game developers that use it as a reason for not making native Linux versions, which wouldn’t be Valve’s workforce in the first place?

      I can see how the things Valve does contribute to their business model - steam input giving their controller compatibility with games, proton letting them launch a Linux-based handheld, and the new recording feature probably there for the steam deck… But the thing is, Valve is still providing all those things to customers for no extra charge, and they keep adding new stuff.

      • Grimy@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        My point is that it isn’t charity. It’s just a smart business decision that reduces their cost greatly and let’s the community work for them for free. With all the licenses involved, I don’t even think they can even add a charge.

        If they could have built the same product but closed source, they would have.

        I love FOSS and in the end this benefits he community, I just don’t think that was the driving factor behind the decision and it doesn’t excuse them bleeding dry developers and colluding with other store fronts.