Steam as a platform for Visual Novels

Off-Topic
#1

So I just got off a discussion with a personal friend and how he decided to pirate Nekopara simply because the Steam version didn’t have erotic content, and buying it outside of steam was too much of a hassle. Arguing about the merit of H-scenes in VNs has its little own place here: Key Scenario Writers discussion. Instead, I’d like to talk about Steam as a platform for Visual Novels.

Long story short, what do you guys think about visual novels and having them be on steam? Is it for the better? Is it something that you would rather not go through but do it anyway for the sake of getting a VN? Does it detriment the quality of VNs because of said platform?

Sekai Project seems to be the one pushing most of their releases on Steam, with Mangagamer slowly transitioning with their all ages releases. It is, for lack of better words, the platform for the future of VN localization. As such, I think it does deserve discussion.

Personally, I don’t really care about Steam. If I wanted a specific VN, I would get it regardless of platform (which I have already done in the past). For some people, that doesn’t really seem like the case (as was the case with my friend).

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#2

I don’t use Steam, but I can see the practicality of it. Because of the cost of physical copies and corporate funding, visual novels would actually fit well in the digital gaming community. They would be inexpensive and easy to find, and they would help the genre to gain some steam in the West. (No pun intended.)

I don’t care about Steam either, but I can’t deny it would help make visual novels more popular. Besides, if I wanted CLANNAD or Planetarian, I would feel better about getting a physical copy instead and getting it patched. But that would be an argument for another thread.

#3

I don’t get why people hate Steam so much. In the years I’ve used it, it’s probably the most user-friendly gaming platform I’ve ever come across.

But what makes Steam so significant is that is encompasses probably 90% of the PC gaming market in the west right now. It’s largely responsible for the big indie boom that’s happened over the last few years that’s seen unheard of niche games get their fame and riches from that exposure on Steam’s store.

If you want to see visual novels see success in the west, Steam is the only way to do it, no question. It’s a very good thing for the industry.

8 Likes
#4

I think this is less a question of physical copies vs digital copies via Steam because, let’s face it, translated Visual Novels have rarely if ever gotten physical releases. JAST, MangaGamer, and most of the other VN translation companies have released their games, for the most part, as digital releases. Physical releases exist, but are severely limited.

As such, this is more of a digital non-steam vs digital steam debate.

#5

Like I said…

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#6

I’d get something regardless of if it’s on Steam or not, but I do enjoy things being on Steam. It’s a nice way of storing and streamlining your games so you don’t need to have them spread across disks and various online retailers. Personally, I get most of my games digital nowadays, so the lack of a physical copy wouldn’t bother me (got one for Clannad anyways, though). People are especially inclined to try new games if they are on sale on Steam, even if some other online retailer might have the same sale.

I totally agree with @Aspirety in that Steam is the largest, most public market to appeal to. There’s not really anywhere else to target if visual novels truly want to get off the ground overseas. I think it’s great that we’ll have a chance of getting even more amazing visual novels coming to Steam and being seen by a wider audience.

Making posts on my phone is annoying. I feel like I keep talking in circles.

3 Likes
#7

Oops, my bad xP

#8

I appreciate visual novels being brought to Steam. It’s widely accessible and most PC gamers have it. Hopefully this will make them a wee bit more popular over here.

#9

Steam being used for visual novels is definitely a good thing. We’re seeing much more exposure for the titles, with Youtubers and the like jumping on board (though not something I enjoy, it is healthy for the VN market), VNs are becoming more easily available and cheaper, and the use of Steam itself is very convenient, since titles can sit among the rest of my entertainment library that I am already very familiar with. I have not used a platform other than Steam for localised VNs (independent releases aside), but that could be (and is probably likely) due to the lack of exposure from other platforms.

The lack of mature content isn’t something that bothers me too much (and certainly the audience for such titles is very small in the west compared to the audience for all-ages content), and really if you’re looking for something like that then you probably already know where to look.

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#10

I’m pretty sure most of the complaining about VNs on Steam has everything to do H-content. There was that whole situation/“scandal” thing with If My Heart Had Wings; from what I’ve heard, the whole selling point of Nekopara is the H, so removing it makes it seem kinda stupid; and I’m sure tons of people won’t want to buy an “all-ages” version of Grisaia. People who want H are going to complain when they can’t have H.

But Steam has a very good reason to refuse all sexual content: they want everyone to be able to buy their games. And it works 100% perfectly with stuff like planetarian because, like @LinkThinks said, it just makes everything so darn easy and convenient to buy and store the games. And as @Aspirety, it makes it so darn easy and convenient for companies to sell to as large an audience as possible.

2 Likes
#11

I think steam is a great way to sell visual novels and bring it out for the PC games market to see. Steam in particular has a great way of letting you talk and share things with people interested in the same game with its community hub and discussions/reviews board for every individual game. The social aspects and convenience of steam I think are its strong points. Not having H-scenes in steam sold visual novels isn’t too much of a drama, fans usually find a way around it through modding/patching. Though with this much of publicity you can expect any amount of negativity from people of all corners of gaming (:kudshock: when I see someone review vote down Planetarian on Steam).

Without Steam’s discussions board I probably wouldn’t have found Kazamatsuri.org

6 Likes
#12

Well, Steam pretty much just makes things easier for publishers to release their things, since it’s pretty well known and most people do have a steam account.

I, myself think it’s okay to have all ages VNs on there and I wouldnt mind having 18+ ones there too, if it makes it easier, but well, steam is kinda not that okay with it, which makes me tend to go more with the non steam releases, like I did for nekopara and I will probably also do for Grisaia.

tl;dr It’s nice to have Steam, since it’s a well known plattform for all kinds of games including Visual Novels.

#13

I have no problem with Steam getting VN’s in fact I’m a fan of it for a couple of reasons. First off it solves a very critical distribution problem. Thinking from a company standpoint the problem with trying to market a VN in the west is how do you get it the most exposure to the most people. Steam is the perfect solution for that problem the VNs get on Steam and all of a sudden a ton of gamers who may have never even heard of VNs have them right in front of their face when they open the steam store. (I personally know this works because a friend of mine called me yesterday and griped about the amount of “weeb” games that have been popping up on Steam.)

And I really don’t mind that Steam only allows All Ages versions since that’s normally the versions I go for anyway so it works out for me but I do understand that some people would have a problem with it.But I think as long as their are alternatives the increased exposure which leads to increased sales numbers which hopefully leads to an increased number of VN’s getting moved over will offset that.

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#14

I love it! It’a a great idea. I’ve been using steam for years and never had a single problem. I think it’s great because if VNs get put on steam, I can actually buy them instead of pirating them because they’re easily accessable. I bought planetarian on steam and was SO HAPPY because it happened to be on sale! Plus having them on Steam means they might gain more popularity in the West and I’d really like to see VNs get more popular over here!

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#15

I am very certain that I would never even have heard of VNs if not for Steam, even though I have been a gamer albeit not a hardcore one for around 20 years, mainly playing strategy or RPGs. VNs were simply not on my radar at all until I tried one just because it was free on Steam - and that led to Clannad on the PC and Steins;Gate on PS3. And speaking of PS3 / PS4 there isn’t even a category of the PSN store for VNs so the few that are on that platform are hard to just stumble across. If you don’t frequent particular stores or fansites or follow news & review gamer sites it’s easy for those like me to be utterly oblivious to the genre.

I now know there are a few UK sources that do sell the hard copies although they seem to be very pricey compared to digital download. I surely wouldn’t even bother trying to get hard to find games on import then patch for English or through “less than strictly legal” means. I can live without the expurgated adult scenes.

So I am a VN fan thanks to Steam and I’m sure I’m not the only one…

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#16

Wait do people have any problems on Steam that isn’t about the H content? o.O

Well in any case they make VNs so accessible in my place, and in such a good price too. I can’t complain about it at all.

#17

Internet reliant drm, clunky must-install software, no quality control, bad customer support, annoying Steam Guard logins, you lose all your games if your account gets compromised or banned, and they have an insane monopoly on the market.

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#18

Now that is a major pain but it’s not just a Steam issue. I’ve bought hard copy of PC games (Atari games most notably!) where it has to connect to the internet for DRM and it’s been royally buggered up with large numbers of legit players prevented from using the game because of technical issues.

#19

If it wasn’t for Steam I’d probably still be playing torrented copies, honestly. It’s made VNs accessible.

3 Likes
#20

lets see I can order from a place like amiami, wait a long time for it to come and spend more money, Or less money with a platform that has sales that go crazy low and you instantly have access to it when you buy it.

I do like having physical copies of games, but it costs more for basically just a box with maybe a small book. All of the games I bought physical and imported I have to buy on steam anyways again, due to the steam releases. so basically it is steam or nothing. There just aren’t that many other places.

Almost all the drm free things I get nowadays are from humble bundle, but part of it is the devs don’t want drm free because it makes it easier to just give it away.

I would still be buying vns just not as many due to price and ease of access. I think patches are odd because you just get them for free, and buy a bunch of stuff you can’t even understand… and if the game is old it might be tricky to find for a fair price, unlike going to steam store and waiting for a sale. Steam is better than the old method for sure, for both parties (buyer and seller)

oh yeah the drm sucks for steam compared to the cd version; because playing little busters with the cd in your drive is much better lol. :deino: