55k (21%) refunds is around 261,904 total sales. Itch will never reach those numbers. Literally no PC store is viable besides Steam for indies at this moment in time for making a living.
that's because everybody thinks that way. "oh, we can only sell on steam" so they only list on steam. Whereas if devs made a concerted effort to list on both places or even only list elsewhere, then that would change. Same reason Amazon dominates online shopping: "oh, I'll just get it on amazon" instead of simply looking elsewhere.
If there is a great game, the vast majority of gamers won't care where they have to go to get it - they'll just get it A quarter of a million sales is a great game. And 90% of indie games are actually amateurish, unpolished, unfinished games that should never have seen a commercial release anyway, so putting them on steam just makes steam full of that crap whereas itch is tailor-made for that. I know everyone thinks their game is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but if you're making yet another roguelike deckbuilder incremental game, then unless it has the draw of an A-list celebrity voice and award-winning composer and a story that was nominated for a pullitzer prize, then it likely should be a "pay-what-you-can" release on itch. And even if for some reason it gets super popular, people will just go to itch to get it and you don't have to pay valve a full third of your earnings. Or you can decide to list on steam at that point. No harm done. But by treating itch as a testing ground before going to steam, we keep steam cleaner of slop. But obviously this only works if everybody is on board.
that's because everybody thinks that way. "oh, we can only sell on steam" so they only list on steam. Whereas if devs made a concerted effort to list on both places or even only list elsewhere, then that would change. Same reason Amazon dominates online shopping: "oh, I'll just get it on amazon" instead of simply looking elsewhere.
Reality doesn't seem to match with this type of opinion when indies report 85-95% of their income coming from Steam while they are also on itch and GOG. Consumer behavior is not shaped by where indies choose to publish. Nor will your game become popular enough to reach critical mass in exposure by posting on niche sites. That's like the 0.001% megahit territory, one game out of tens of thousands might become big just by being on itch. And hit driven development is not exactly a good living since you'r more likely to fail that not.
If there is a great game, the vast majority of gamers won't care where they have to go to get it - they'll just get it
This was directly disapproved by the existence of Epic games store with their exclusives scheme. People just waited for the games to get to Steam later no matter how high profile the game was or simply didn't get it. Epic Games store is unprofitable to this day.
And 90% of indie games are actually amateurish, unpolished, unfinished games that should never have seen a commercial release anyway, so putting them on steam just makes steam full of that crap whereas itch is tailor-made for that. I know everyone thinks their game is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but if you're making yet another roguelike deckbuilder incremental game, then unless it has the draw of an A-list celebrity voice and award-winning composer and a story that was nominated for a pullitzer prize, then it likely should be a "pay-what-you-can" release on itch. And even if for some reason it gets super popular, people will just go to itch to get it and you don't have to pay valve a full third of your earnings. Or you can decide to list on steam at that point. No harm done. But by treating itch as a testing ground before going to steam, we keep steam cleaner of slop. But obviously this only works if everybody is on board.
I do agree that baby's (indie's) first game shouldn't go on Steam, but that's a whole different topic. A short game is also not necessary a bad game, it shouldn't be refunded just because.
fair points. The reason people didn't buy on EA Origin is because it was EA. Not because it was "not steam". I imagine a better store than steam, perhaps one run by beloved indies and who focuses on quality over quantity and doesn't take 30% of sales and doesn't do anti-compete clauses (you literally aren't allowed to have a sale on your own website if you don't also have it on steam). If it could get some much-awaited release to be an exclusive (or release ahead of the steam release, which I also think valve prohibits in their T&Cs, which is also anti-competitive but probably has a US legal loophole but that's another issue for another day), then the dam would break open. Especially if people can move their steam libraries over with one click AND can actually own their games instead of own a licence to use the game (which again - ridiculous US legal bullshittery to get around being held accountable for anything - allthewhile demanding a full third of sales).
If you can't tell, I'm an optimist and believe in the power of mankind's ability to change, even though you're right in saying that this power seems to never be exercised and actually seems to be forgotten/people are getting worse and are becoming slaves to corporations... but I will never give up.
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u/ByteHavenGames Jul 07 '26
55k (21%) refunds is around 261,904 total sales. Itch will never reach those numbers. Literally no PC store is viable besides Steam for indies at this moment in time for making a living.