Some of the trends I am most excited about in gaming are digital distribution, free-to-play model games, and models where the public are the gate-keepers. I love the direction of things such as Steam and Kongregate. Kongregate to me is a shining example of a new way for game authors to monetize their efforts where there previously was no easy avenue to do so. Steam, catering to larger more traditional games - is less open, but has the same philosophy of bringing developers one step closer to their audience, as well as a neater way to manage a collection of executeable games. So there is Kongregate on the small end of the spectrum, serving up free, fast, flash games - and there is Steam on the opposite end, serving up commercial larger scale executeable games.
The question I am posing is: is there room in the middle? What if there was a steam-like service that had a large collection of free to play executeable games? Like Kongregate, all these games would be free to play, but there would be ads displayed somewhere in the process, with the authors of all these games getting a majority cut of the revenue. Brainstorming, here are some bullet points that this distribution method would feature:
- One application for all features: As with Steam, all applications and other functionality are launched through one app.
- free to play: free, free, free. No (financial) barrier to entry.
- as few gate-keepers as possible: like Kongregate, almost any game is accepted into the system and the system is entirely transparent.
- democratized content: the community decides what games are showcased through the system
- easy to use: browse, click, download, play, all stored in one place (like Steam).
All these things have been done and are being done currently, in different places and in different pieces. What this platform's goal would be is to take all the free indie downloadable games that are sitting in their own small dusty neglected corners of the internet, and creating an opportunity for authors to monetize them, while at the same time and perhaps more importantly display them somewhere they can get many eyeballs at once, all the while fostering a community around them all.
What do you think? Is there any demand for something like this? Is this already being done as described? Is it even technologically possible given the wide gamut of dependencies and such needed for downloadable games?