That's not what the conversation was about. It was about whether the business model is actually viable.

If the business of that section is turning a profit it lends more support as opposed to being seen as a side project that doesn't need to turn a profit. Which is why I included GOG into the mix, since Microsoft and Epic are huge companies with alternative revenue streams.

Happy Finals is stilling living on despite worries over the player count over the seasons. Playbase numbers have been very consistent though so hopefully more seasons to come.

Should be happy to have less things trying to convince you to spend money. Being able to enjoy a few games is an absolute financial win.

Loss leaders that lead to buying other things that lead to overall profitability for that section of the business.

This entire division is operating at a loss. Point isn't that it is unusual or underhanded. It's that because of the way the division is currently run it is not a business model to point to as being sustainable.

Does there ever need to be a reason to pivot a discussion into one that includes delicious kebabs?

When I see sales of Playstation games on PC the numbers are very underwhelming compared to other big third party titles. In contrast helldivers 2 got insane numbers when it launched simultaneously.

I don't think launch hype sales can be overlooked and how much may potentially be lost. If people are willing to wait then by the time game is available hype is less and it's more likely for people to move on or wait for even steeper sales.

They give out free samples though once a week to try to get people to buy their food. People prefer the other kebab store down the block though when it comes to spending on meals.

There was the whole pc games are dead claims even when steam started becoming bigger.

I just don't see this utopia you believe it would be without steam. I just see me having a console and not bothering with a pc due to lack of games.

Epic is running a loss leader at this point so it's not an business model to point to, since it's subsidized by unreal and fortnite.

Microsoft on Xbox is taking a 30% cut so it wouldn't be farfetched to assume cut is more a strategy to try to expand market share and are willing to increase down the line if they got market share. And Microsoft is Microsoft so has lot of other profitable divisions to be able to run things at a loss.

One actually better to point to might be GOG which is also taking 30%, but in 2021 had a 1 million dollar loss. https://www.pcgamer.com/gog-looks-like-its-in-a-much-healthier-spot-after-a-hairy-2021/

Which raises the question. What is actually sustainable? Especially the lower cut offered have other much more profitable divisions that are covering potential losses and not being the main source of revenue.

Sorry but companies were trying DRM even before them using stuff like rotating paper wheels before DRM tech improved. Sony even installed root kits for music CDs. Denuvo was created because it was believed DRM options weren't strong enough and some companies use additional DRM on top of denuvo.

Kebab store if they were epic like in their strategy would not be throwing a fit, but making exclusivity deals with suppliers so that their competitors in the area lose access to them. So trying to increase consumers having to go to their kebab store to get specific meals due to inability of other stores to offer it or not retain the same quality anymore. Also look into regulations to try and prevent potential competitors from opening up next to them or at least delay when they can open.

One of the annoying thing about epic exclusives is that the focus is on steam, but GOG is affected too and loses out on games too until the deal expires.