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Steam PC rentals?

G

geoffry

Senior member
From what I understand Steam has a pretty solid DRM system, correct me if I'm wrong.

What would stop them from offering PC game rentals that expire after say 4 or 5 days? I'm guessing most of the Steam users buy lots of their games already so it might decrease revs a bit but if you offer up some rentals people might like and then buy.

Its the same argument torrent peeps use "I want to try before I buy", but via Steam the game dev would atleast get a piece of revenue instead of nothing from a torrenter who decides to not buy.

Anyone see gaping holes in my logic? I know I would rent a few games beforehand on Steam to try them out.
 
Eh. Possible, I suppose. Worthwhile though? With a rental, the bandwidth cose is going to be the same as with a sale, but the revenue is not. Wonder if it would really be economical.
 
Originally posted by: PhatoseAlpha
Eh. Possible, I suppose. Worthwhile though? With a rental, the bandwidth cose is going to be the same as with a sale, but the revenue is not. Wonder if it would really be economical.
Click to expand...

That was my thinking too.

It costs them the same to rent or sell a game but get probably 1/10 the revs. My guess is thats the main reason they don't do it.
 
Originally posted by: PhatoseAlpha
Eh. Possible, I suppose. Worthwhile though? With a rental, the bandwidth cose is going to be the same as with a sale, but the revenue is not. Wonder if it would really be economical.
Click to expand...

yeah thats true, but they'll come up with something. maybe pay per level... so u download the first level..if u complete that. you are given the option to purchase the next level.. kinda do only download what u want. and break down the full value into portions, such as a $40.00 game into 10 levels at $4.00 a level.

in thinking... this would be an awesome idea.. it would allow people to pay and play at there own pace.. and people dont feel obligated to pay alll at once.

of course this sux when u consider it would only work on level based games...strictly solo play i guess. but u gotta start somewhere
 
Originally posted by: PhatoseAlpha
Eh. Possible, I suppose. Worthwhile though? With a rental, the bandwidth cose is going to be the same as with a sale, but the revenue is not. Wonder if it would really be economical.
Click to expand...

I doubt if the bandwidth costs to download the game would be more than a few pennies. They would still make a profit on the first rental. After that, you might rent it again, or buy the game if you really like it. How many times have you heard of some dufus that rents something so many time that they could have bought it three times over? Happens all the time.
 
It is possible. Since the latest DRM/SecuROM talk is geared towards "renting" rather than owning - why not offer a service where you pay a set amount for a block of time [ie: $10.00 for 24 hours of gametime that expires in 4-5 days]? You would have to be connected via STEAM which would then track your total game time - which would be a "use it or lose it" service [kinda like if you rented a movie and you didn't watch it].
 
the problem with bandwidth would be solved with the pay per level gaming... u only download what u wanna play... if u pay for 24hours..that means udownloaded the full game...
with PPL, u only download what your gonna play. thus saving everyone the trouble
 
"I'd buy that for a dollar"


It sounds like a good idea to me, especially the pay-per-level idea. Or they could go with the monthly-fee unlimited-rental model of GameTap. Then you could try a bunch of different games without paying for level 1 of each.
 
Originally posted by: PhatoseAlpha
Eh. Possible, I suppose. Worthwhile though? With a rental, the bandwidth cose is going to be the same as with a sale, but the revenue is not. Wonder if it would really be economical.
Click to expand...

With the evolution and eventual adoption of IPv6, which incorporates multicast, bandwidth will be a non-issue.
 
Percentage pay system. If you play the entire game you pay full price, if it sucks and you complete a level you only owe $5. Now that would be a good way to do it.
 
Originally posted by: 911paramedic
Percentage pay system. If you play the entire game you pay full price, if it sucks and you complete a level you only owe $5. Now that would be a good way to do it.
Click to expand...

lol , pretty much the same thing as pay per level. percentage could be for games that arent level based. maybe like an mmo..the more quests u do. the more stuff u uncover.
or sports games. the more games u play the more u pay towards the cost of the game
 
Originally posted by: 911paramedic
Percentage pay system. If you play the entire game you pay full price, if it sucks and you complete a level you only owe $5. Now that would be a good way to do it.
Click to expand...

What about a game from the Total War franchise? If I play it 150 times, do I own you $3750?
 
The idea is creative, but who is going to pay for the overhead on the processes involved in determining your percentage/level? I'd be willing to bet that Valve doesn't care much for this kind of model; they want you to pay full or not at all, for the same reason that the big 5 want you to buy the whole CD, not just single tracks. I do believe it is a creative idea, mostly because Steam seems to be the first platform where renting PC games is a possible option. Not necessary viable, but the fact that they control the CD key will allow them to be the first PC game rental store since Albertson's had a movie/game shop inside which rented games.
 
Originally posted by: dclapps
The idea is creative, but who is going to pay for the overhead on the processes involved in determining your percentage/level? I'd be willing to bet that Valve doesn't care much for this kind of model; they want you to pay full or not at all, for the same reason that the big 5 want you to buy the whole CD, not just single tracks. I do believe it is a creative idea, mostly because Steam seems to be the first platform where renting PC games is a possible option. Not necessary viable, but the fact that they control the CD key will allow them to be the first PC game rental store since Albertson's had a movie/game shop inside which rented games.
Click to expand...

yeah kinda like the sega channel, i dunno if it was local. back in the day our local cable company offered a way to play sega games over the coaxial. i never had it. but kinda sounds similar. they control the game as long as u pay the fee
 
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