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Comment by Factorium | Hacker News Reader

Can this legal precedent also be applied to Steam?

It's hard to draw parallels to Steam, because this case was about iPhone + App Store, not just the App Store itself.

If you don't want to pay Steam's cut, or follow their restrictions you have plenty of other options. You are not restricted in the sense you are with iPhone + App Store.

> Notably, the judge rejected both parties’ definition of the marketplace at issue in the case. “The relevant market here is digital mobile gaming transactions, not gaming generally and not Apple’s own internal operating systems related to the App Store,” Gonzalez-Rogers wrote.

I guess the question is does Mobile gaming cover handheld game device like Switch? If so, it may impact Steam Deck as well.

Looks like the Steam Deck will let you install windows on it as well as access other game stores.

https://www.polygon.com/22579033/valve-steam-deck-handheld-e...

This has more interesting implications for Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft consoles.

Steam doesn't prevent games from linking to alternative payment processors in-app.

It most certainly does! All payments must be within the Steam ecosystem when you are distributing a Steam app.

Valve even prevents developers from linking to their own website, if said website includes ways to buy content independent of Steam payment.

No it doesn't.

See Rimworld. https://store.steampowered.com/app/294100/RimWorld/

Sidebar has link to visit the website. https://rimworldgame.com/ You can buy directly with Credit Card or Paypal.

Fantasy Ground is the same way: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1196310/Fantasy_Grounds_U...

Warframe, one of the most active userbase game on Steam, literally has a dedicated page just to purchase a platinum coin in their own website [1]

[1]:https://www.warframe.com/buyplatinum

Steam does have rules about it, but they are not strictly enforced. If your game have it's own backend / website then you can freely bill people there after you onboarded them via Steam.

IAPs are different: here Valve actually require you to process payments through steam when game is running via Steam. But even in this case a lot of games can be launched independently after installation through Steam.

Also on top of this Valve already decreased it's comission from 30% for large publishers.

Or, more interestingly, game consoles...

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