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[64bitmodels]

Key stores are cool, buying games for cheaper prices from sites like CDkeys is always a great boon. I'm talking about launchers here.

Epic games is a shit launcher that buys up shittons of exclusive deals, gives out free games, and has fucking FORTNITE on it, yet it still doesn't fucking come anywhere close to steam in userbase, due to the underbaked interface, bad business practices, and overall just being a waste of space
EA app is so fucking terrible it doesn't even work with its own games (BF1 didn't work at launch, and i had to do hours of troubleshooting just to get the game to run on Origin which is also a terrible launcher)
Xbox app is good for gamepass but shite for everything else, the apps themselves aren't even in EXE (this is wrong) and it's overall barebones, slow and unresponsive at times. I've only got it for Minecraft and GP.
Rockstar Launcher literally requires a fucking internet connection to function, I had to downgrade GTA4 in order to be able to play it at all times. It is USELESS, you can't even buy games on it.

All of these launchers have only accomplished one thing, creating an extra barrier between me and my games. Nuisance at best, and genuine hinderance at worst.

If PC had only one launcher, with all games from all other launchers going to it and it only, with 0 DRM, that would be a massive benefit. No other company has demonstrated a good ability to make storefronts and launchers as Valve has. And if anything, that's one reason to go console over PC, none of this launcher shit. The more closed ecosystem forces companies to specifically use Sony's/MS's software which work good enough anyways. This 'competition' hasn't made anything better for PC gamers, it's only become a detriment and a pain in the ass.

Better yet, maybe we should bring physical PC games back and let everyone install everything with no DRM. DRM doesn't do much to prevent piracy anyways, everything gets cracked in the end. Despite that steam games still fly off the damn charts and into space.

 

[mansoor1980]

epic thinks that steam has a sort of monopoly on the desktop space , so they are trying to compete
but i agree with you a closed eco system with one launcher would be dope
but everyone wants a piece of that pie

 

[64bitmodels]

epic thinks that steam has a sort of monopoly on the desktop space , so they are trying to compete
but i agree with you a closed eco system with one launcher would be dope

all i can say is that this is the one 'monopoly' i'd never break up, gaben has a better pulse on what gamers want than most of those other companies making their terrible launchers

 

[bender]

Real PC gamers use GoG without their launcher.

 

[Pagusas]

What makes the PC a great platform is its open nature where anyone can do what they want. If you have a problem with that, maybe consider buying a console? You seem to want a single solution system and to have Steam and CDRed have the whole PC business exclusively.

My ideal? Game software becomes launcher agnostic, and Steam and the rest have to compete purely on features and quality to get business. Steam itself is a piece of shit piece of software, the store is horrendous and it’s one ugly sob (though I do like the Steam Deck Os, and glad it’s usable on windows).

 

[brian0057]

They do have a right to exist.
They just don't have the right to suck as much ass as they do.

 

[LordCBH]

They do have a right to exist.
They just don't have the right to suck as much ass as they do.

Agreed. Epic has no features. UPlay is just ass. EA has two launchers for some goddamn reason, but if you try to open the EA launcher but forget to close Origin, it just bitches at you. I’m hesitant to uninstall Origin since the EA app says beta last I saw, but it’s fucking frustrating.

What’s even worse is when a game on steam opens another launcher. Mafia opens a 2k launcher for some godforsaken reason. Total war games open a launcher. CDPR games open a fucking launcher now. When I click play I want to play the game, not open a second launcher. Why is that so hard? Launcher within a launcher is like some Xzibit pimp my ride bullshit. “Yo dawg, heard you like launchers….”

 

[Trazyn the Infinite]

Real PC gamers use GoG without their launcher.

Real PC Gamers only use GoG and without a launcher.

Fuck DRM.

 

[Kacho]

I’d say the Blizz launcher deserves to exist because it offers something of value, depending on your taste. WoW, Diablo 2&3 still have some pull.

But I agree. The PC space would be much more wholesome with only Steam and GOG.

 

[Kamina]

Launchers in general have no right to exist.
Give me a desktop app per game that boots me directly into it and screw launchers.

 

[64bitmodels]

What makes the PC a great platform is its open nature where anyone can do what they want. If you have a problem with that, maybe consider buying a console? You seem to want a single solution system and to have Steam and CDRed the whole PC business exclusively.

I mean initially it seems like a good idea, but when everyone else is genuinely this incompetent and doesn't know what people want from a launcher it starts putting into question if everyone should really have the privilege of making one. these are clearly just hacked together pieces of shit made so they could skirt the 30% fee (which is pointless anyways, since most of the time these pieces of shit are installed from steam)

and this is coming from a guy who plays games from EXEs, games unavailable on any launcher. I love the open nature of PC, it's very liberating, but i hate all the stupid fucking launchers that try to get in the way of that seamless, no restrictions experience. That's the thing, all these launchers make my choices worse. I want to have the choice of not having to install anything besides steam. It's an open platform yet all of these stupid launchers attempt to box me in and put me out of my comfort zone

My ideal? Game software becomes launcher agnostic, and Steam and the rest have to compete purely on features and quality to get business.

in your ideal steam would still be the king since literally 0 other launchers have the feature set and integration steam has. It'd definitely still be what the majority use and frankly i don't think i'd ever see that change.

 

[bender]

Real PC Gamers only use GoG and without a launcher.

Fuck DRM.

Run, they are coming.

 

[64bitmodels]

Real PC Gamers only use GoG and without a launcher.

Fuck DRM.

even realer PC gamers just get a PC with a disk drive and buy all their games physically

 

[Trazyn the Infinite]

even realer PC gamers just get a PC with a disk drive and buy all their games physically

We used to be able to do just that! But noooo. Now we have to be stuck with Digital :'(

Run, they are coming.

 

[Rest]

There should be no launchers. My launcher is Windows, I don't need a second pointless middleman program to play games. I should be able to install them and play them with no extra bullshit.

 

[Husky]

even realer PC gamers just get a PC with a disk drive and buy all their games physically

Did that when I got my first PC game, this game that blew my mind called Skyrim. The disc had me download some client I'd never heard of, "Steam." Then I bought another game on disc, a Fallout: New Vegas, and it was redeemable on Steam too. My 3rd-5th PC games (FO3, Oblivion, Morrowind) I just bought directly through Steam.

 

[64bitmodels]

They do have a right to exist.
They just don't have the right to suck as much ass as they do.

they suck ass because they exist. Andrew Wilson can't create good PC launchers. Neither can Tim Sweeney. They shouldn't make any, but they do anyways- in the process making PC gaming worse than it really needs to be

 

[a multicultural team of v]

linux from command line only

you will play tux racer and you will like it

 

[64bitmodels]

you will play tux racer and you will like it

srb2kart is a better freeware racer

 

[Bonfires Down]

Well they do exist so whatcha gonna do about it?

 

[Goalus]

PC launchers who don't include an Xbox version for a bought game have no right to exist.

Steam has only accomplished one thing, creating an extra barrier between me and my games. Nuisance at best, and genuine hinderance at worst. Luckily more and more games appear in the MS Store nowadays thanks to Game Pass.

 

[The Book Reader]

That’s like saying only republicans and democrats have a right to exist.

Seriously though, I remember when steam came out. Counter Strike worked just fine before you had to install the steam launcher. It might seem crazy for you gen zoomers but a game does not need a launcher.

 

[64bitmodels]

Steam has only accomplished one thing, creating an extra barrier between me and my games. Nuisance at best, and genuine hinderance at worst. Luckily more and more games appear in the MS Store nowadays thanks to Game Pass.

damn if you like game pass and xbox so much why dont you marry it

 

[Magic Carpet]

damn if you like game pass and xbox so much why dont you marry it

I'm sleeping with your wife Steam behind your back.

 

[Shubh_C63]

They have every right to exist.

Now imagine monopoly of steam in PC space and leadership at Steam dies and turns into EA enjoying that monopoly. You gonna like that forced walled garden future ?

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Thought this was a bait thread....at first. Then I read the OP and agreed with all of it

 

[begotten]

On a side note, as someone who has been using UE for years I can't imagine people actually main the launcher as their central gaming hub.

Big fail by Epic for pushing it so hard.

 

[Buggy Loop]

 

[Topher]

That was damn near on cue.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I'm old school. No launchers should exist period. Shortcuts to .exe's is all anyone ever needed.

 

[Griffon]

itch.io is pretty good tho.

 

[64bitmodels]

itch.io is pretty good tho.

thats a website and i think i could do well using that

 

[TheDreadLord]

Even with Steam we’d be better off without it. Launchers are just an extra layer between you and the game. At least, it could be optional.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Epic is the best store. It’s games are free haha

 

[JayK47]

You forgot Ubisoft Connect. And I mostly agree. If it were not for the free games on Epic, why even bother?

 

[jakinov]

Most launchers work just fine most of the time. Epic launcher does lack in feature but they at least were adding them at a fast rate and have the minimum features you need to be viable.

The benefit of multiple launchers is competition gold for devs and good for gamers. Monopolies are usually always more convenient but you don’t want that. Would be easy if you could buy everything at Amazon or Walmart. Could watch everything on Netflix. But you want competition to make sure the pricing is competitive (relatively low) and that they are trying to be better.

Not sure why you care about the format of Windows games.

Valve has been doing a pretty mediocre job with their launcher. They’ve just benefited from time, brand loyalty and weak competition. They’ve done very little to make their launcher have the best UX and be versatile in a timely manner.

In regards to DRM, as long as it makes it not easy for a random person to just intuitively copy a game to a USB, email, Dropbox, etc. DRM has its purpose.
Obscuring or slowing things down has a benefit you don’t need to be 100% protected for it to be useful.

 

[Fess]

all i can say is that this is the one 'monopoly' i'd never break up, gaben has a better pulse on what gamers want than most of those other companies making their terrible launchers

And when Gabe retire? The ownership will change, lots of things can change after that. I’m thinking we should enjoy what we have because there is nothing that says it’ll last. The other launchers are making sure that Valve don’t get greedy and increase their cut and game prices. And in the scenario where a future owner is bad we should be thankful that there are other launchers around if it’s time to jump ship.
But yeah, at this point Steam is best no doubt.

 

[Graciaus]

Well they do exist so whatcha gonna do about it?

Ignore them and they all come back to Steam.

 

[Boaty McBoatface]

Anyone who sucks the cock of gaben and his shitty drm is an idiot that doesn't understand 'rights' and the open nature of computing.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

God forbid you have multiple companies competing for your business.

This is why as an Xbox gamer I never want MS to win, I want them hungry. Last time MS was on top we got Kinect and the Xbone.

 

[Orta]

I bought Need for Speed Rivals last Friday through Steam. Downloaded it, I wasn't aware I needed Origin so installed it and created an account.

Opened it via Steam, Origin opened and crashed. Again and again. Uninstalled, reinstalled, didn't crash but kept getting missing .dll errors via Origin. Uninstalled the game, repaired or verified it through Origin, crashed and errors this time.

An absolute fucking joke. In the twenty odd years I've been using Steam I don't believe I've ever had a crash.

Refunded and deleted Origin.

 

[Paasei]

Ideal world would be no launchers at all. Just keep Steam as a marketplace, but not a required tool to play your games.

But the ideal world doesn’t exist, so in that regard I would say what I always say: Do not buy games on Steam (or any other launcher) that also need to their own. Like Ubisoft and EA. Then you would need two launcher instead of the one you bought it on/for.
And always pick GoG over anything else, simple because it isn’t then required to boot your game.

 

[acm2000]

The whole point of PC is that it's an open platform, when you only have 1 store front that's when prices spiral out of control.

 

[Bernkastel]

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/valves-gambling-problem-people-make-games.1645247/

linux from command line only

you will play tux racer and you will like it

Ironic that the savior of Linux gaming is a closed source DRM service that will lock them to proprietary store front. Richard Stallman is probably rolling in his bed right now. Then again people hail ProtonMail, DuckDuckGo and Brave Browser as "privacy focused".

 

[V1LÆM]

i disagree. steam is great but i don't want to be forced to use it. if anyone has a right to have an exclusive store on Windows then it's Microsoft. It's silly that Valve should have Steam as main client on PC. yeah i know it's "the best" but this is Microsoft's platform. if you want to suck up to Gaben and use Steam then i guess go buy a Steam Deck or wait for SteamOS images to replace Windows.

I used to hate having multiple launchers on PC but now i don't even have the energy to care. it is what it is. i have Steam, Epic, Blizzard, GOG, Riot, EA clients installed and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. In fact it's actually a good thing because I can get some good deals and don't need to be tied down to what ever Valve are charging. Also, if it wasn't for Epic i wouldn't have a fuck load of free games to play! I actually use Epic way more than Steam these days.

look at consoles and smartphones (not so much Android) where you're forced to pay what Sony/Microsoft/Apple want. if those 3 were forced to let you buy games from other stores that would be great. I don't know...maybe some people just like bending over to major corporations.

 

[GymWolf]

Yeah it would be more comfy to have all games in one places but i'm not overly disturbed like some nutjo...master race dudes.

 

[Rendered Tangent]

I'm relatively new to pc gaming, and it's eco system, but to me the fact it has so many options and platforms is a bonus.

More choice is always a good thing and invariably fosters competition.

Personally, I will usually buy games on Steam and will use the Microsoft store for Game Pass because I have to.

That said, if a game comes out that I really want and it is an Epic Games exclusive and I have to buy it on the Epic store then I will.

Just how I bought Diablo 3 on Blizzard Battle Net, or Ghost Recon Wildlands and the Division 2 on the Ubisoft store.

Is it more convenient having everything in one place, yes, perhaps.

Does that end up as a monopoly and produce complacency?

Sometimes, yes.

If you know people have no choice but to use your platform then you are less likely to innovate because you don't have to.

A platform with rival services means they have to go the extra mile to get your attention.

 

[Denton]

Even with Steam we’d be better off without it. Launchers are just an extra layer between you and the game. At least, it could be optional.

That is just pure BS. Steam has way too many useful features that would be annoying as fuck to be without, as we used to be.
Hell the reason Steam exists is because Valve hated how every time they released an update for counterstrike, it took a week before everyone could play because people had to download patches manually from websites like fileplanet and did that slowly.

The moment I used Steam to connect to a friend's multiplayer game just by clicking on his name and then "join in game" I knew Steam was brilliant.

 

[Drew1440]

PC is an open platform, therefore any publisher has a right to use their own launcher if they wish. If that's a problem then its probably best to use a console instead, where the experience is much more simplified and locked down.

 

[nemiroff]

It can exist but Epic should fuck off with the exclusivity bullshit.