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Why Steam’s Item Stores Are Just Bull S#*T

Why Steam’s Item Stores Are Just Bull S#*T

Valve’s digital distribution client, Steam, is in a constant state of flux. It’s always evolving with new ideas. Years ago, we’d never have expected casual games or movies to be sold on the site. Or for there to be a Greenlight process to allow people some say in games that come to the storefront. The latest idea, however, is more of a flop than a hit. Steam has introduced Item Stores.

Did that name puzzle you for a second? Allow me to explain. You know how some games on Steam have Community Markets where players are able to sell items they’ve acquired in-game to other players? Companies get a cut of the sale, most of the money goes to the seller, and the buyer immediately gets an item they want. The Item Store is that, only the game’s developer is the one selling all of the items.

Does that doesn’t sound familiar to you? It should, because it’s basically another method of selling people DLC. Which Steam already allows. If you visit the product page of a title that has add-ons, people can immediately buy things like expansions, costumes, weapons, and other assets. The Item Store is an additional transaction where the developer is immediately able to get money from the consumer for items they could already be selling directly.

I’m not saying microtransactions are wrong. Sometimes they’re cheap, but they can be handled right. This isn’t about that. Rather, it’s about Item Stores being an unnecessary extra step to get items that could have been acquired through an existing measure. By putting this additional option in, there’s more distracting clutter.

And that distraction could end up hurting people who do enjoy and frequent the Community Market. Sometimes, people make extra money for Steam products by selling things they earn in-game. These could be trading cards or items acquired from random drop boxes. It’s not a huge amount, but sometimes you need that extra dollar or two to fund a frivilous expenditure.

Why Steam’s Item Stores Are Just Bull S#*T

The Item Stores could end up cutting into that. Instead of browsing the Community Market to see what’s up for offer, a person could immediately go to an Item Store, grab something from there, and alter the economy that’s sprung up around supplemental, in-game acquisitions. They might mistakenly assume the Item Store will always be cheaper and miss better deals from fellow gamers.

I guess I’m saying that Steam’s Item Stores are rather silly. It feels like a feature that didn’t need to be added or implemented into the client. If developers are making quality add-ons, then customers probably take the time to buy the DLC already. This extra option is extraneous and feels like a means of shoehorning in something that titles don’t really need.

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