Play Before You Pay: Steam Allows 90-Minute Gameplay Before Purchasing a Game

[Imouto]

Steam is a monopoly! Why are they doing such monopolistic stuff?

On a more relaxed note, you'd be hard pressed to have the control of a playable character in The Last of Us: Part One.

 

[dyonoctis]

Just so you know, I played the pirated version of elden ring when it came and finished after hundreds of hours then to support the devs I bought the steam version, I played on steam too but my purchased was to support it because if it was not then I would have kept the pirated version and not bought it. The truth is many devs want to make bad quick games and want idiots to buy it. I really want to play resident evil 4 remake but for that price is stupid, will never pay 60 usd for it because is a rip off. If they decide to lower the price 50% off then by all means I will buy if not then no, this is not about money, is about what you think they deserve.

I've never understood how a dev who can nothing else but to follow the orders of the management is the evil guy. A lot of people are coming into that industry with dreams, dreams of making something fun, that people will enjoy, win awards, only to be crushed by the corporate spirit of the higher up, and potentially get death threat from disappointed gamers.

When things get sour in a game studio, it's not unheard of for talented devs to quit because they value their mental health more than working at a shit company. There are many reports of Blizzard losing great people because they had enough of the management.

If anything, those 90min are now a great way to reduce the influx of money that a badly managed game will get. It's often enough to see if there's a myriad of technical issues, or if the game just feels bad. 24H will heavily punish linear games or casual games from less scrupulous people

 

[Deleted member 230939]

It's a step in the right direction.

 

[brutlern]

What I don't get is why there are people voting with "No". What downside is there to trying a game for free before having to buy? Seriously, I'm trying really hard here to find any, and I mean any, downside which would make you vote "No"?

Now, most would say 90 minutes is not nearly enough, and I agree, 30 minutes just tweaking settings, 15 minutes cutscenes, and 20 minutes tutorial and your done. But it's still better than having to pay for it, it's still better than nothing, there still isn't a downside. So why vote "No" ?

 

[windwhirl]

What I don't get is why there are people voting with "No". What downside is there to trying a game for free before having to buy? Seriously, I'm strying really hard here to find any, and I mean any, downside which would make you vote "No"?

My guess is that people didn't read the news and just thought they were reducing the 2 hour refund time window to 1 and 1/2 hour

 

[Deleted member 230939]

What I don't get is why there are people voting with "No". What downside is there to trying a game for free before having to buy? Seriously, I'm strying really hard here to find any, and I mean any, downside which would make you vote "No"?

It's a money and status thing.

If a person can afford and pays, then a person plays 90 mins and covers most of the game, they feel that 90 mins free would be giving the other person something they don't have. Yes even when they too could have used the free 90mins too.

Ego and narcissism, never underestimate how many people are this petty.


The Steam forums are littered with literal idiots to begin with also, most of the so called player base are not old enough to have fully developed prefrontal cortex yet.

The moderators are also power trippers who don't understand what arbitrary rules mean so they can be enforced even against innocent people.

Best to just take it as you can.

 

[ZoneDymo]

I wonder if some sad person is going to abuse it, switching accounts until they finish the game.

I know at that point pirating would by far be the better option but still, it could probably be done.

that would be so incredibly convoluted and how would that even work? every account would start at the beginning of the game...

 

[AsRock]

90 minutes is not good enough, 24 hours is all right.

Well it should be enough time to see if the game runs ok or not or if the keys can be configured how you would like.

 

[windwhirl]

that would be so incredibly convoluted and how would that even work? every account would start at the beginning of the game...

Not really. Saves aren't tied to an account. They could be if the devs bothered to, but they're not most of the time.

 

[A&P211]

I wonder if some sad person is going to abuse it, switching accounts until they finish the game.

I know at that point pirating would by far be the better option but still, it could probably be done.

If you switch accounts you will only start from the beginning.

 

[Panyamin]

Nice feature!

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Steam is a monopoly! Why are they doing such monopolistic stuff?

On a more relaxed note, you'd be hard pressed to have the control of a playable character in The Last of Us: Part One.

How is Steam being monopolistic by offering gamers the opportunity to play a game for 90 minutes before deciding if they want to pay for the game or not? With the still going trend of AAA games being absolute shitshows at launch, while commanding a $70 price to boot, this new policy from Steam is a great thing.

Kinda reminds me of when you could go to your local video store and rent video games for a few days - if me or my dad liked the game(s) we rented, we'd usually end up purchasing them at Toys R Us.

 

[Imouto]

How is Steam being monopolistic by offering gamers the opportunity to play a game for 90 minutes before deciding if they want to pay for the game or not? With the still going trend of AAA games being absolute shitshows at launch, while commanding a $70 price to boot, this new policy from Steam is a great thing.

Kinda reminds me of when you could go to your local video store and rent video games for a few days - if me or my dad liked the game(s) we rented, we'd usually end up purchasing them at Toys R Us.

It was sarcasm.

 

[windwhirl]

It was sarcasm.

Use tone indicators because we have seen so many strange takes that we don't know what's sarcasm and what isn't anymore.

 

[pexxie]

But it would be so much better if companies made single-level demos. I remember back when nearly every game used to have those.

Yes! That's how I ended up buying Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, back before I had broadband and subscriptions, after thoroughly abusing the demo level and wanting more. It came on a DVD with a gaming magazine.
Although, that's when my exchange rate meant a new AAA game cost about the same as a week's worth of food. Now it's the same as 2.5-3 weeks' worth of food, even though the $ price hasn't really changed. Essentially it's an import, which for some countries makes the $ price too unbearable. I'm really grateful for subscriptions.

 

[Denver]

All game stores should take down games that are not playable... The point is if a company can't sell a broken car why should game companies sell broken games?

 

[64K]

All game stores should take down games that are not playable... The point is if a company can't sell a broken car why should game companies sell broken games?

Sometimes they do. For example Sony took down Cyberpunk 2077 for a while from their store until patches rolled out. CB 2077 was a damn turd on consoles on release.

 

[mechtech]

If the game is worth they will pay even if they already are done with it. Those 24 hours are worth just a day and if you want to play again, you will need to pay. Last 100 games That I played I dont remember one single game that I played and lasted less than 24 hours and I was done with it, those 24 hours would not be good for games that you can finish in 2 hours and offer nothing after that. You can check my steam library if you want, most games I bought lasted more than 100 hours at least, some are 1k hours or more. 24 hours free for AAA games is a must. 90 minutes is not good enough to see if a game is worth my money or not. My point is devs will focus on the 90 minutes and forget the rest of the game hehe because if they make a game good enough for 90 minutes they are sure you will pay for it ehhe, 24 hours is hard to cheat on. Actually in my opinion, all games should be free and if you like the work they did and want to support it, then you pay.

LOL

hey let me drive that escalade for a decade and if I like it i'll pay.

 

[Outback Bronze]

Hmm so 90 mins of gameplay.

Let me guess, you start playing (presumedly at the start of the game) then you get to the point where it gets interesting and then you get cut off. What do you do??

At the start of most games, this is where all the game play and story lines start getting interesting so great sales pitch if you ask me.

 

[Deleted member 230939]

Hmm so 90 mins of gameplay.

Let me guess, you start playing (presumedly at the start of the game) then you get to the point where it gets interesting and then you get cut off. What do you do??

At the start of most games, this is where all the game play and story lines start getting interesting so great sales pitch if you ask me.

You make a new steam account, start the game up and immediately close it so it creates the config files, then replace the save file from the other account into this account and make sure ID's match.
Maybe 10 mins of work for another free 90 mins.

A person dedicated enough only needs about 8 email addresses linked to unique accounts and will switch between them to finsh a game to completion.
To avoid not being able to play the game fully within 8 accounts they simply find out the average play time for a game and decide.

A song I love.

Truth is all decisions have a shadow side, good vs bad, whilst Ilike this system, if you are a moral person (Made up to only serve the self), the opposite exists (To serve the self), you need to accept it.
A human limitation, we are not intelligent enough to overcome.

 

[Bomby569]

the internets talk about tricks to play over that, even with denuvo, it's a bit convoluted and i never tried it but people swear by it

 

[64K]

Hmm so 90 mins of gameplay.

Let me guess, you start playing (presumedly at the start of the game) then you get to the point where it gets interesting and then you get cut off. What do you do??

At the start of most games, this is where all the game play and story lines start getting interesting so great sales pitch if you ask me.

There's always a sales gimmick in gaming. On the other hand you start a game and realize 90 minutes down the road that it is a soulless, boring train wreck in slow motion and don't bother with buying it. I'm looking at you Fallout 76.

and no, I didn't buy that turd.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Could save me a few quid, and cant be bad really IMHO.

 

[mechtech]

MS should do this with windows, office, etc.

 

[caroline!]

All game stores should take down games that are not playable... The point is if a company can't sell a broken car why should game companies sell broken games?

Breaking: uplay shut down due to lack of games

And a company can sell a broken car, ever heard of Renault? free 60 min trial then breaks down lol