[james4k]

Steam's cut is 30%. However, for that 30% you get to update your game whenever you want, and virtually as often as you want. By that I mean they don't impose any direct limits on how often you update, but the general rule is no more than once a week aside from hotfixes and the like. I'm not aware of any digital marketplace that gives you this much control, especially as video game updates will often be hundreds of megabytes in size. Contrast this with Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade, which charges you $40k for each additional update after the first free update. [1]

Edit: It is worth nothing that if a user's game was activated with a retail key, Steam takes no cut. This means that you are effectively getting service for that user for free.

You also get Steam Cloud, which allows you to store your users' configuration and saved game files to be accessed anywhere, their peer-to-peer networking API which provides NAT punching. Then there's matchmaking, stats/achievements, Steam Community (their social network), and several other "Steamworks" features. [2]

Edit: Microtransactions is another big one, also known as in-app purchases. The online brochure for Steamworks is worth a read if you're interested in any of this: http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/index.php

I haven't read a lot about Windows 8's app store, especially concerning Xbox Live, but Steam still has a lot to offer to developers.

[1] http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/07/microsoft-comes-under-...

[2] https://partner.steamgames.com/documentation/api

[shock3naw]

Wow. $40,000 to push an update. Microsoft should put this into practice themselves and refund customers whenever Windows needs a patch.

[MattSayar]

I believe this approach raises the overall quality of games in the Marketplace. A developer on Xbox Live Marketplace will be less inclined to rush out a broken game and release updates every day until it works. If they have to pay $40k/update, they have an incentive to do it right the first time, with some leeway to fix unforeseen bugs (the free first update).

[Fargren]

That's not very good for small developers that may want to iterate over their games or provide extra content for their users. Developers who simply do not have the resources to test in a wide variety for hardware, or to get their game just perfect for the first update. And as a user, I love having access to games by these developers. Steam would lose a lot of value to me if it wasn't such a helpful platform for small devs.

And that's without even getting into updates that provide extra content. Steam's flagship game, Team Fortress 2, updates at least once a month with extra (free) content. That generates mayor amounts of good will towards the devs, and it would be completely unsustainable if the developers had to pay $40k to update, and another $40k to fix any bugs or imbalances in the update.

[dyselon]

MS has pretty strict size restrictions on title updates, since they have to fit in cache for users with no real hard drives. This means you're not going to deliver new content through patches anyway - you have to distribute it through DLC instead. This leads to about a million other problems, primarily when it comes to compatibility between players online who may or may not have the DLC, duplicating content since you're required to not have dependencies between your DLC, and the fact that MS frowns on free DLC.

[MattSayar]

I think small developers that use XNA and publish to the Indie section of the Marketplace don't have to worry about $40k patch fees.

[recoiledsnake]

>Developers who simply do not have the resources to test in a wide variety for hardware, or to get their game just perfect for the first update

We're talking about the XBox. There's only one hardware device to test against.

Also, the first update is free.

[Fargren]

I was arguing that this policy would be bad for Steam or other PC marketplace services. It's possible than on a closed system such as the XBox some of the disadvantages of this are alleviated or solved. I still think charging the dev for adding extra content for his game is a very bad idea, though. Team Fortress 2 for the XBox sucks for it, for example. Regular updates is a good model for the user, and it hurts the user to charge for content that would otherwise be free. Alas, I know that helps greatly reduce the number of bugs in the system.

[IsTom]

Or they can ignore patching bugs after the first few weeks. No additional content either.

[adrianN]

I'm pretty sure pushing an update to all Windows users costs way more in bandwidth alone.

[shock3naw]

Excellent point. I wonder what the actual cost is to push a Service Pack update to all users (those that update, at least).

[Xuzz]

Apple's app stores, on both iOS and Mac, both host games and allow unlimited free updates to them.

[cookiecaper]

But there's still a major chokepoint: Apple's review process. Does Steam have a similar review/approval loop? I would guess not, since they don't allow just anyone to start selling on Steam like the "mainstream" app stores do.

[james4k]

It used to be that Valve had to approve and push your update out for you, though they did this typically within the same day you sent it to them. Now, you press the big red button so to speak. This also means you can push out updates outside of Valve's business hours. Great for emergencies...

They also have branches, so that you can release betas for your users to opt-in and test.

[msh]

The windows app store gives unlimited free updates. It's only xbla for Xbox where they charge for updates.

[james4k]

Do you know if there is an approval process?

[msh]

No, but based on the windows phone store I guess that there will be.

[recoiledsnake]

>Steam's cut is 30%. However, for that 30% you get to update your game whenever you want, and virtually as often as you want. By that I mean they don't impose any direct limits on how often you update, but the general rule is no more than once a week aside from hotfixes and the like.

Is there any reference for that?

[james4k]

Officially, they are flexible on the actual rate, but I believe 30% is pretty standard.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0228/technology-gabe-newel...

Edit: Oh, and PC Gamer has a good bit about the update process.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/12/how-steam-is-about-to-chan...

[lifeformed]

I have a game on Steam; this information is not inaccurate. Although now there is a new system in place to allow for unlimited updates no matter how often.