Steam changes their Revenue Sharing model to give high earners a larger cut

At the start of this month, Valve updated their Steam Distribution Agreement with several significant changes, changing the agreement’s language to address Europe’s GDPR laws while changing their revenue-sharing system, which has revealed how revenue Valve generates from gaming using its storefront. 

For starters, we have Valve’s basic rate, which grants them 30% of all earning that a game generates under $10 million, which includes game DLC, Community Marketplace fees, in-game sales and the sales of games themselves. Games that earn over $10 million on Steam will then have their revenue share adjusted to a 75%:25% split and then an 80%:20% split after $50 million. This change affects revenue earned after October 1st 2018. 

This model benefits developers that sell games in high volumes, mostly applying to AAA games on the platform. This structure is likely designed to keep large publishers on the platform, as Valve’s large cut of sales was a huge contributing factor in the creation of rival storefronts like EA’s Origin, Bethesda’s Bethesda.net and Ubisoft’s Uplay. 

Moving forward, Valve has expressed a desire to support new currencies and improve their server/bandwidth infrastructure, hoping to make the store more accessible in a larger number of markets. In recent weeks Valve has added support for the Australian Dollar to Steam. 
  

  

Other changes to the agreement will allow Steam partners to report sales data and “share sales data about their game as they see fit”. Developers have been requesting this change for several years. 

The main change in Steam’s Distribution Agreement is Valve’s new revenue share tiers, which are designed to keep large publishers/developers on the platform, lowering their cut of highly successful game sales to help prevent more developers from creating rival storefronts or abandoning Steam altogether. 

You can join the discussion on Valve’s new Steam Revenue Sharing model on the OC3D Forums.