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Amazon are also rumoured to be working on a Steam competitor, called "Vapor"
Oh great, yet another launcher.
I'm not worried. They literally titled it "Vaporware". If that doesn't show how insanely out of touch they are then nothing will.
Dozens of companies have tried to make storefronts and launchers to claw back some market share but none have come close to feature parity with Steam.
The main problem is that its not enough to be competitive with Steam at this point... you need to put out something so good that it give people enough of a reason to leave the comfort of Steam... you need Steam and then another layer of goodness on top of Steam.
This is the same issue that a lot of MMOs had when trying to become a WoW killer. You not only needed to have pretty much everything Blizzard put into the game, but more on top because otherwise why would anyone bother to leave the comforts of Azeroth to play something that is maybe marginally better, or a possibly worse experience?
Yeah... A new store would need to have a handful of killer apps and significant feature superiority over Steam, all on release, just to have a chance at being a successful competitor. And it would probably need to maintain that momentum for a decent amount of time, and it would probably also need a fuckup on Valve's part.
Freakin EA didn't achieve it, freakin Sony didn't bother trying it, Epic dropped a fuckton of cash just to barely move the needle. I can't imagine what it would take.
Well, maybe? A Steam competitor could try what Epic did and offer better deals. This time to publishers and players if they actually want customers. Or they could try to offer things Steam doesn't. Or they could just try for parity and see if it works? We haven't seen a platform with parity yet so maybe people would want a new option?
But if Amazon does it, it will be a rushed out steaming pile with half the features and twice the price, as is their custom.
The thing is Amazon dosent exatcly need to be competetive.heck they could make it basicaly a Amazon prime semi-exclusive platform for games basicaly competing with xbox game pass instead of steam or with both of them at once
Could they be any less original?
Their competitor to Steam is just… another word for Steam.
My guess it's just an internal name to boost morale, inside joke sort of thing. Many software projects do that. Would be funny if that was the name though
Don't worry, they havent made a game worth playing yet.
They already have one where the put most of the prime games called "Amazon Games App". So if "Vapor" is something new it is more of another another launcher.
If they however just update the game app to also be a store front, it be fine I guess. I'm not thrilled about everyone needing there own launcher, but Amazon already has one, so can't really blame them for spicing it up a bit, to be at they other launchers level.
Amazon already tried, with a Twitch branded game launcher and included game licenses for that platform in Amazon Prime.
Obligatory xkcd
The only way they can actually disrupt gaming is by putting out something people want. Once upon a time, Microsoft and Sony seemed like “Bizarrely unfamiliar foreign invaders of gaming” but slowly settled into understanding what their customers wanted.
As the article points out, tone-deaf or imperfect offerings have really bounced off. Heck, this is an age where many of Sony and Microsoft’s signature ventures have failed.
Gamers don't know what they want half the time. On one hand, posts like these seem to elicit the idea that gamers are united against predatory, bad publisher fuckery. But we aren't. Activision Blizzard still make the most money in the entire industry shitting out garbage. People line up in droves to play the latest Assassins Creed. And mobile games have never been more popular. Many people play games simply because it's in front of their face, not because they understand the nuances of game design or have any investment in the industry itself.
No they don't. Apple far and away makes the most money in gaming - by an order of magnitude.
That's simply not true.
Apple made 18 billion dollars off gaming in 2021
Yet Sony made over 20 billion dollars from gaming
And Microsoft isn't too far behind either of them. Apple makes a lot of money for sure, but it's not the most, and it's definitely not orders of magnitude more.
Another article mentioned that this guy is now working for Tencent (announced in 2022). Before becoming yet another Galactus in the industry, Tencent is originally an online service provider and (mostly) an ad company.
What about barbarians trying to ruin the glorious video game empire now?
Funny how this small detail doesn't show up in that article, where he's only "ex-Sony boss".
Tencent has been around for a decade, that's past being "at the gate"
I left the living room window open for 5 minutes for fresh air.. Fucken ten cent was sat on the sofa enjoying my coffee, petting my fucken dogs be time I came back.
Google, Apple, Amazon, Netflix as we all know have only been around a few days.
In gaming? Netflix is definitely at the gate with the current options they have. Apple as well with their Arcade service. Google and Amazon keep coming back but never stay long, I'm not even sure they should be in the conversation.
Tencent has been in gaming for a long time now, they've owned Riot since 2011. They've had their hand in other gaming companies many times since then. They're well past the gate, it's not even in their rear view anymore.
Like anyone is worried about more Google gaming. It's like an idiot tax on people who are too dumb to have learned not to trust them.
Honestly I really like Play Pass on android. Mostly because it's only 3usd here thanks to regional pricing and there's a lot of great value! My issue is that Google generally sucks at keeping things going so I'd never invest anything beyond that with them.
My Steam account from 2006 is still going, all of the games work, it's mostly the same platform but better. I don't think Google can match that.
This. Valve is doing a lot of good. People can claim they are doing a lot of bad as well but I can't mention many companies with purity from top to bottom.
I did some of my gaming for like 2 years for basically free thanks to Google's refund, and got free gaming hardware (controllers)... call me an idiot or call me a genius, but, that was a heck of a deal. I'd do it again.
Anyone else just getting to a point where, given the writing on the wall, they feel gaming sort of already peaked? Amazon gaming? Netflix gaming? Apple? Yeah. No thanks. None of those companies are game companies. All of their offerings are going to be excessively monetized. All of it is going to be about data gathering instead of engaging fun games. It's going to be AI driven. Yuck. Good thing I still have Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 3 to play.
People have been saying that gaming is dying and that its reached its peak for like... decades now. With the advent of game creation being more accessible and more available than ever (still), gaming isn't going to die.
The same thing was said about Microsoft when they released the Xbox as well when it was first announced
If the gaming industry is Rome, I'm Team Odoacer.
Still waiting for Amazon to release a game that doesn't give me Fire Phone flashbacks
Gatekeeper reports, Outsiders are scary and different
Who do you want shaping your console gaming experience? Sony or Amazon?
“Or”? I’d rather have the consoles makers and game developers working independently so that we don’t have to wait twenty years for Crash Bandicoot to become available on Nintendo. Fuck Amazon but Sony isn’t looking out for the gamer when they make Spider-Man a PS exclusive.
i imagine Netflix games would end in a cliffhanger then cancelled before a sequel, google games will track your usage for personalized ads, apple games will eventually require accessories & dongles, amazon will slowly buy smaller studios & become the next EA