Back in the day, it was hard to get games on Steam, so devs often started on itchio before moving to Steam. Unfortunately, now many devs skip itchio entirely, possibly fearing it might hurt their game's success.
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(1/2) For myself, I still very much release my games on itchio, but I sometimes will wait a bit until after the Steam release to do so. Not for concern for sales, but simply since it's easier to release bug fix patches for Steam users than itchio users, so often will wait until feels most notable
(2/2) bugs are fixed and so I don't have to go through extra steps to release a bug fixes on multiple platforms at once, and where on itchio not everyone will for sure download the bug fixed version if already downloaded a previous version.
We think there are other effects that make publishing games on itchio worthwhile besides just how many copies where sold on itchio. So we're looking for evidence to help developers who are on the fence about deciding where to publish.
I feel like I’m still new to Itchio, but to me, you’re the best alternative store. There are reasons people look for alternatives to Google Play, App Store or even Steam.
I've done the OPPOSITE several times. Ynglet was an example of this where first I bought it on Steam, and after a few minutes remembered itch, requested a refund and bought it on there. Itch will never be in competition with steam, but I'm certain their are ways to make it an invaluable complement
As someone with 1 game on steam and 30ish on itch I'll say that being able to group with other devs to do game bundles for charity or just jolly cooperation is very nice.
The jams and general camaraderie is nice too. I've found more friends, fans, patrons, and collaborators through itch by far!
Also payouts! If you have $90 that steam owes you they won't give it to you until you pass $100. I was in a bind a few years ago where things would have been very bad if I couldn't get my $80 paid out to me on time. Itch helped me out when they could have ignored me!
Oh and I haaaaate engaging with the steam backend which is way too overdeveloped. Pushing an update as a solo dev is a nightmare. Itch is just an upload, like you just upload it. It's tight!
Even though I've only used https://itch.io for demos or free rpg maker style games, it does feel like more of a personal/unique experience than steam. Love looking at the games download pages and seeing how the devs designed it.
in my experience games in itch don't get updated as frequently as in steam. I buy in itch when they also include a steam key. But I have bought from itch when I want to support the devs
I prefer buying games on itchio because even if the updates are slower, I know the devs will get a bigger cut and because I want to EASILY own an offline copy of the game.
As an indie game dev myself I don't know if I have to decide to be honest. I would want my game to be on as many platforms as possible so that people can decide which place they like the best to buy and play their games. I'll publish all my games on Itch eventually, and some of them on Steam as well
We launched our preview demo on itchio and couldnt be happier. Got a bunch of people playtesting that has helped us immensely. Not to mention a couple wishlists over on steam too!
We're planning on releasing a longer demo on itchio so we'll always come back!
I'll be real with you. I have bought games on Steam I've found on Itch. I have also bought games on both. Some on Itch only. It's essentially an even split. I follow a lot of certain devs wherever they release specifically to support them if I can. On PC I only use Steam, Itch and GoG
Itch is an important platform. Steam is the big time, GoG has some exclusives but Itch is super necessary as an entry level for developers. It's also a great way to discover games with a good store front. I've also gotten a few bundles from Itch to support various causes 😊
A bit of feedback I see some people complaining about though I'd the constant thumbs up or thumbs down of adult titles. Just embrace it. If those sort of games are on Nintendo now, you might as well 🤷
For me as a consumer it is mostly about being able to easily install and play Indie games on my Steam Deck. There are third party tools to install from GoG and Itch but those are not well integrated. If itch had a more handheld friendly distribution, I would buy a lot more there.
The main advantage for me is that steam games auto-update and sync savefiles across computers. Still not super sure how to update any of the games I got via itch.
genuinely I find the entire process of looking at things on itch and how devs can all do things to make their games pages look pretty/in theme and not just the steam digital/grey boxing, is nice, also find your tags overall better to use to navigate when people properly use them 1/2
2/2 also being able to just follow a dev on there is super nice because then I can just pop on the site, check for updates or news, and pop off faster than like, going to steam and then into wishlist and then to the games steam page :>
If that's part of people's decision making process then that's entirely perception. Basically zero indie games make use of Steam DRM features, it is not something Steam just does for you.
Googled it. What you say doesn't seem to be true. Steam offers DRM. It is probably even activated automatically. It says that it is not particularly good copy protection and only prevents simple copying to another PC. But that's enough for a small game.
From experience it's more that once you integrate features like leaderboards or networking from Steam, the game won't work elsewhere without maintaining a separate version (which I do for itch) - so not DRM specifically, but it might as well be 🤔
I've seen games ship a DRM free build everywhere that has steam integration. It loads the steam_api.dll but just declines to exit or restart if steam isn't available. It does funny things if you own the game on Steam, but playing a copy you got from GOG or humble.
I know that it isn't activated automatically because I have used Steam's storefront tools! You have to go out of your way to use the Steam API to integrate it into the executable, otherwise Steam does literally nothing to stop you just copying the install folder somewhere else!
Without knowing the numbers on the backend, https://itch.io gives off the vibe that it takes a smaller cut from game devs and is more approachable for the common folk. I never go to Steam if I found something on itch first.
I feel (granted i very rarely use itch) that Itch is better for indie devs to begin on but as your games get more traction its better to move to steam, as its more streamlined and achievements, servers, etc are easier to obtain I think
So, yes, I have looked for a Steam purchase page for a lot of the games I ended up buying, but with Steam now being required to tell us that we only purchased a license to play our games instead of owning them, I think I'm going to look for https://itch.io releases instead.
If I may throw in my 2 cents. I tend to favor Steam in general when buying games on PC, because that's where most, if not all, my games are located. Not only that, but I also have a fear of buying games on other platforms on PC, that they might go away one day and I lose everything on that platform.
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Just my notes on how I go about it.
Also i think Itch is better for early access than Steam.
The jams and general camaraderie is nice too. I've found more friends, fans, patrons, and collaborators through itch by far!
We're planning on releasing a longer demo on itchio so we'll always come back!
I check Itch, GoG, and Zoom-Platform FIRST before buying games from Steam
Which is what the question was about.
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Steam has recently had to admit that they don't sell games but licenses.
On the other hand, any games you download from itch or GoG are yours forever.