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FSXA Add-on market on Steam - what's the deal?

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HornetJockey

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Hi everyone - new on here! :wave:

I've been dabbling with scenery development for a while, and looked into selling my products on Steam. I inquired on their site, and I was informed that I need permission from Dovetail to sell anything related to FSX on Steam. I'd understand if my product was for FSX:SE, but what about straight MS FSX or FSXA? Doesn't my FSX EULA expressly permit me to develop add-on content (with MS-provided SDK) and do whatever I want with it? What does Dovetail have to do with a copy of FSX:A that I bought years ago, even before FSX:SE came out?

Or, is it that Steam and Dovetail have an exclusivity agreement with respect to selling anything FSX related, even if it is not intended for FSX:SE? I suppose, if I seek and get DT permission, they will ask for their cut in sales as well?

Can anyone shed some insight onto this?

Steve
 
n4gix

n4gix

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That only applies if you wish to market/sell your product via their on-line store! You are free to sell through other distribution channels or even your own website without anyone's "permission." :cool:
 
H

HornetJockey

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Thanks Bill! To clarify, You are talking about Steam on-line store? Because DT has their own on-line store.

If that's the case... so - ANY FSX related product selling on Steam needs DT permission? or just FSX:SE?
 
n4gix

n4gix

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You only need "permission" to sell via DT's on-line store, but they (DT) will charge you a percentage in addition to Steam's percentage!

As far as I can determine, you could sell any non-FSX:SE product via Steam's store, but they will charge a percentage for the privilege.

Of course, any other distributor will also require a percentage from your sales. The only way to avoid paying anyone else a percentage is to sell via your own web-store.
 
H

HornetJockey

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n4gix said:
You only need "permission" to sell via DT's on-line store, but they (DT) will charge you a percentage in addition to Steam's percentage!
Click to expand...

Ok, still confused: :scratchch If I sell stuff on DT's own store (not Steam), why would Steam take a percentage? I understand if DT takes percentage, but why would Steam?

n4gix said:
As far as I can determine, you could sell any non-FSX:SE product via Steam's store, but they will charge a percentage for the privilege.
Click to expand...

Conversely: I am absolutely fine if Steam charges me percentage, but I am told by Steam that I need to ask DT's permission to sell non FSX:SE addons on Steam, and I am wondering why is that?

n4gix said:
Of course, any other distributor will also require a percentage from your sales. The only way to avoid paying anyone else a percentage is to sell via your own web-store.
Click to expand...

Oh, I am perfectly fine with that. I would like to sell stuff on Steam, and I have no objections if they skim a percentage because I believe they do a fine job of marketing and presenting content. But I am not fine with asking for DT's approval (and possibly additional percentage) when it comes to selling non-FSX:SE addons on Steam.
 
=rk=

=rk=

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HornetJockey said:
Conversely: I am absolutely fine if Steam charges me percentage, but I am told by Steam that I need to ask DT's permission to sell non FSX:SE addons on Steam, and I am wondering why is that?



Oh, I am perfectly fine with that. I would like to sell stuff on Steam, and I have no objections if they skim a percentage because I believe they do a fine job of marketing and presenting content. But I am not fine with asking for DT's approval (and possibly additional percentage) when it comes to selling non-FSX:SE addons on Steam.
Click to expand...
Well then you are SOL. These kind of exclusivity agreements are very common in my business, construction and you really have to see it from DT's point of view. You have to buy all related product from us or we pull out, open our own venue and directly compete. DT brings a ton of revenue, you could consider them a major player from Steam's perspective. Your FSX stuff can easily be ported to FSX:SE and it represents direct competition, there is no getting around that fact. If Steam were to not require of you DT signoff, that act would almost certainly constitute breach - no legal expert here.

The other side of it is you don't know what DT is going to say. If your software does not compete, why would they tax you and if it does, do you really expect otherwise? Don't think of the signoff as a sales vector, think of it as what it is, write DT.
 
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HolgerSandmann

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Hi there,

how would one even market a DLC on Steam for a product that Steam doesn't itself sell? Where and how would potential customers find it since there wouldn't be a DLC drop-down menu associated with FSX? Direct-search only means you'd only be able to reach people that already know what they are looking for.

The only FSX (not FSX-SE) add-on I can find on Steam is marketed as a game of its own and thus avoids the DLC label (and, possibly, DT's "net") even though it clearly requires FSX to be installed. Search for "FSX SpacePort".

Generally speaking, for FSX (Gold) I doubt that Steam would be a worthwhile platform in terms of maximizing exposure to potential customers. Even for FSX-SE DLC I'd think that the main flightsim payware vendors would see more people browsing their catalogs and garner sales than Steam, at least that's what my limited experience with sales via Steam suggests.

Cheers, Holger
 
n4gix

n4gix

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HornetJockey said:
Ok, still confused: :scratchch If I sell stuff on DT's own store (not Steam), why would Steam take a percentage? I understand if DT takes percentage, but why would Steam?
Click to expand...

That is simple to explain. Everything DT sells via their "store" is distributed via the Steam portal. Hence both DT and Steam get a 'cut' from your gross sales.

The main advantage of the Steam platform is that installation is "automatic," being handled by Steam's process, and is almost completely transparent to the end user.
 
caleb

caleb

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I'm pretty sure if you sell things on the steam store they can only be used for FSX-SE once people buy it because steam installs addons (they call it DLC) via their application directly into games that are also installed using the steam application (FSX-SE). So if someone buys it using steam they can't install it into MS FSX Boxed.
 
Heretic

Heretic

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caleb said:
I'm pretty sure if you sell things on the steam store they can only be used for FSX-SE once people buy it because steam installs addons (they call it DLC) via their application directly into games that are also installed using the steam application (FSX-SE). So if someone buys it using steam they can't install it into MS FSX Boxed.
Click to expand...

Yep. Steam DLC is only usable on applications published via Steam.
 
lionheart

lionheart

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And... You cannot sell addons for regular FSX or FSX Accelleration or Prepar3D V1 thru V4. Only for FSX SE, which DT have legally. So you have to work through DT for selling anything that loads into FSX SE.

I wanted to sell Prepar3D things in Steam. Couldnt do it. Steam would require LM to sell P3D thru Steam in order to have DLC there. I think its because they need to manage and oversee (guarantee) the products and installments into the sims.
 
H

HornetJockey

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Thanks everyone for the responses and your input. I am understanding this a bit better - basically, since Steam is not supporting FSX, it cannot support FSX-only DLC by the virtue of not being able to verify FSX installation/presence, and make sure DLC is secured to purchaser's account and not illegally distributed - Am I correct?

Steve
 
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