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| Microsoft is reducing sales of Windows games |
Microsoft is changing the world of PC gaming today by drastically reducing its revenue from games across Windows.
Since August 1, the software giant has cut its stake from 30% to just 12%, apparently to compete with Steam and lure developers and studios to bring more PC games to its store.
The company said, “Game developers are at the heart of providing high-quality games to gamers and we hope they thrive on our platform. By passing on the obvious benefits without reservation, developers can make more games available to more players, and this can lead to greater commercial success.
These changes only affect PC games, not Xbox games in the Microsoft Store.
Although Microsoft has yet to explain why it hasn't cut the 30% cut required to sell Xbox games, it's likely because the platform business model is completely different from the PC model.
Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all support the hardware so anyone can use the platform and make marketing offers to reduce software sales by 30%.
Microsoft's new computer initiative is of great importance. This matches the revenue distribution that Epic Games provides to PC game developers as Valve faces increasing pressure to downgrade the Steam store.
Valve still makes 30% of sales in the Steam business, which drops to 25% when sales reach $ 10 million and then drops to 20% after each sale hits $ 50 million.
Despite the sharp drop in sales, Steam still has market share among developers, but few believe the 30% fee is fair.
A recent survey of 3,000 game industry professionals found that most game developers don't believe Steam can win 30%, and Microsoft's move has increased the pressure on Valve.
Microsoft and Epic Games have worked hard to get game developers to list the games on their stores to compete with Steam.
Epic Games has tried to make exclusive offers to lure developers. However, most of Microsoft's attempts have been due to game developers needing to use UWP and the existing Windows Store apps.
Microsoft started supporting traditional Win32 games on its store a couple of years ago, but that change alone didn't help the Windows Store compete with Steam.
A 12% discount could encourage more developers to list their games on the Microsoft Store, especially if the company can improve the end-user experience.