[jdiff]

It's been working out fine for the Steam Deck. Sure, you can install Windows and/or any other storefront, but you won't have the console-like experience that Valve's own software provides.

It's trivially easy to install pirated games on the Deck, without any cracking or modification of the system. You never have to make a single Steam purchase after buying the Deck, but Valve's betting that you will. And they're right, that's enough. Most people don't go redoing or even tweaking the software stack on their hardware, they just stick with what comes out of the box.

[smachiz]

I mean... working fine, in that the only people who buy them are pretty techy.

It's not so easy to get Win 10 working right, it requires a fair bit of effort, and the experience sucks.

I'm not so sure Steam would be super happy if Epic started distributing a new frontend and store through their marketplace. I'm quite sure they wouldn't let them.

[tpxl]

Steam sells games which require third-party launchers to work. For example: Red Dead Redemption 2 requires the Rockstar Launcher to work (many a negative steam review regarding this), and this launcher allows you to buy other Rockstar games (The GTA franchise, LA Noire and more).

So yeah, Steam definitely allows distribution of storefronts.

[rezonant]

I would be extremely surprised if Valve attempted to block Epic from doing that.

[smachiz]

Really? They specifically don't allow distribution of anything but games, which would preclude a storefront, presumably.

[int_19h]

Steam has an entire top-level category in the store for software.

https://store.steampowered.com/software

[rstat1]

They distribute games from both EA and Ubisoft that force you to use both companies launchers, that also just so happen to come with there own stores attached.

[_kbh_]

The steam deck is a way different value proposition compared to consoles though, console manufacturers take a loss for initial consoles sold until they can bring costs.

Whereas the steam deck has likely been sold as a profit from day one.

[8note]

This is why the steam deck is a good example? The console doesn't have to be sold at a loss in order to sell games.

It would be better overall for competition for the games to be decoupled from the console. Same as with phone apps

[brookst]

You’ve made a fair point and that’s a reasonable opinion, but do you think it should be outright illegal for console makers to use a business model of consoles at cost, profits made on a share of game sales?

Because that was Epic’s end game.

[smoldesu]

They can make them at-cost and then charge whatever they want on their store. They just also have to allow me to choose different stores, or install another OS on my console if the OEM goes against my wishes. If you don't think I deserve that right as the lawful proprietor of said hardware, then we may be at an impasse. It seems like perfectly fair game to me.

[_kbh_]

> They just also have to allow me to choose different stores, or install another OS on my console if the OEM goes against my wishes

Whose job would it be to maintain all of the compatibility layers for the custom hardware that consoles generally contain?.

Who pays for all the work to allow you to do whatever you want on your device?.

[_piif]

> Whose job would it be to maintain all of the compatibility layers for the custom hardware that consoles generally contain?.

The community's? I don't think anyone expects the vendor to officially support anything other than the OS it ships with. We just want the option to use our own software on the hardware we purchased.

> Who pays for all the work to allow you to do whatever you want on your device?.

Surely it's more work to go the extra mile to restrict access?

[smoldesu]

The Steam Deck probably doesn't have much wider margins than a Switch or a Playstation. It might be sold at a profit, but the base $400 model is a pretty ridiculous deal already. Gabe Newell was upfront about the pricing process being painful for the hardware. He he also said that piracy is a services problem though, and the Steam Deck proves that in spades - if the default experience is superior, why bother with the competitors? You don't need to lock out the user to make that point.

If anything, the iPhone is the odd one out for having hardware margins that don't suck.

[zirgs]

Nintendo also doesn't sell their consoles at a loss.