Comment Re:Well, not 'free'. (Score 1) 74
If you use Source 2 for 'free', the only way to sell it is through Steam, which gets *30-40%* royalties. Source 2 isn't free, it's a hook to try to get more lock-in to keep Steam as the premiere distribution platform.
it's not royalties. Just like how selling in Google Play or Apple App Store doesn't charge 30% royalties. It's a flat charge for selling through the store where the provider (Google, Apple, etc) provide all the necessary payment, storage, download and other facilities for you. Some, like Apple, do way more so at the end of the day you get a cheque and a tax form, while others (Google) make you do most of the hard work.
But they basically provide a bunch of services for that 30% of the purchase price. Being able to track your purchases is fairly important so you can re-download your purchase over and over again (too many digital download sites give you 30 day links and charge you another $10 if you want to extend it to a year), plus all the payment integration.
Steam is the first app store to come to market. They generally charge around market rates.
Source is an incentive to use that app store. To say to use it costs you 30% royalties does a disservice because it isn't accurate - if you want to sell on steam, you still give up that 30% or so.