Amidst years of public confrontation between the two major digital distribution giants, Epic Games head Tim Sweeney has once again sharply criticized Valve and its Steam platform. The new round of discussion, dubbed a 'fresh round' in trade media, began with social media posts and quickly escalated into an exchange of statements regarding ecosystem openness and developer commissions.
The Spark on Social Media
The catalyst for this new round was a post by Kiaran Ritchie, a former lead animation programmer at Epic Games. Addressing his audience, he harshly criticized the 30% commission rate, calling the Steam social network the sole reason keeping developers locked inside the platform. This statement served as the trigger that prompted Sweeney to join in.
The 'Walled Garden' of Steamworks
Entering the discussion, the Epic Games chief stated that for years Valve has hindered the gaming industry's development by trapping creators within the 'walled garden' of Steamworks social features. According to him, this isolation prevents seamless communication between players and users on Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch consoles, as well as mobile devices and alternative PC storefronts.
Community Response: Steamworks Documentation
Sweeney's post was promptly hit with a Community Note linking to official Steamworks documentation. It points out that key Valve networking tools, including the Steam Datagram Relay protocol, can be freely used on third-party platforms provided the game is also released on Steam. This argument challenges the thesis of complete ecosystem isolation upon which the Epic CEO builds his critique.
Context and Significance for Developers
Thus, this new round of confrontation boils down to a fundamental question: is Steam an open infrastructure or a closed ecosystem? On one hand, Epic points to barriers hindering cross-platform player communication; on the other hand, Valve's documentation demonstrates mechanisms enabling networking tools to operate outside the platform itself. For studios, this dispute is practically significant, as decisions regarding tying social features to a specific platform directly impact their audience and reach.
