In my opinion when I buy a game on Steam then Steam is the first party launcher for me.
Doesn’t matter if the game is developed/published by EA, Rockstar, Ubisoft, or whatever.
I’m paying money to Steam, I’m getting game files from Steam, that makes it first party launcher.
Other companies are taking advantage of their role as developer/publisher to insert their own launcher to force me to create an account on their service.
But on Reddit (🤮) I see people calling Steam as third party launcher.
Am I wrong or redditors are wrong?
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You are wrong. The company that makes the game is the first party. You are the second party. If the launcher wasn’t made by the first party, then it is run by a third party.
Damn, now I need to write my own launcher, just to have the unique second party launcher
Huh. I guess you could consider GeForce Now a second party launcher.
So valve games are first party if played on steam hehe
I would disagree. I think Steam’s definition is reasonable. The launcher you are intentionally using (i.e. you bought the game there and initially launched it from there) is the first party. Any other launchers are third party.
Now, if you’re looking at the game’s product page on the publisher’s website, that changes things. In that case, I’d say they’re justified in saying something like “available on these third-party launchers: Steam, GOG.”
This guy parties.
Please see my other comment.
I’m talking purely from consumer POV.
I also don’t want a popup asking for a Tidal account when I’m on Spotify trying to listen to Jay-Z’s music.
You asked if you were wrong about what is a third party launcher, and they are pointing out that you were.
Your point of view does not matter when it comes to the definition of ‘first party’, ‘third party’, etc, because that is not how those words are defined.
Whether or not you like games insisting on you using the game developer or publisher’s launcher is separate question from what is or is not a first vs third party launcher.
Think of it this way. You’re free to call all creatures that live underwater “birds”, but no matter how many good reasons you have for doing that, or how much sense it makes to you, the rest of the world is going to assume that “birds” means flying feathered creatures. Unless you can convince the entire English speaking world that they are wrong and you are right, you’re just going to create confusion in others and yourself by refusing to use the terms as most people understand them.
Just checked.
Now what? 🤔
Remember the example I said about the birds? This is essentially you saying, “But what about the Flying Fish? That proves that birds swim and fish fly.”
Like I said, you have every right to keep saying it wrong. It’s your choice.
“Third party” in the general sense, means “Someone that isn’t you or me”
So, when Steam says third party, they refer to companies that aren’t Steam. When other companies say it, they refer to any other company, including Steam. It’s context sensitive.
And when I say third party as Steam customer, I am referring to other launchers, even if they made the game I bought. Or is context not important here?
Are you asking because you still don’t understand why you’re wrong, or because you’re trying to convince the world that everyone else is wrong?
If you’re having trouble grasping the concept, it’s probably because you keep referring to different, very specific examples as contradictions to other very specific examples.
If you just want me to say you’re right and everyone else should change their definitions to match yours, then you do you, and best of luck with that.
Other companies are taking advantage of their role as developer/publisher to insert their own launcher to force me to create an account on their service
Friend, no one is forcing you do anything. Steam isn’t being “taken advantage of.” That’s how Steam sells you the game, and if Valve didn’t like it, they wouldn’t list the game in the first place.
You don’t like it? Don’t make an account, refund the game.
steam is a third party launcher, unless youre playing a. valve published game.
steam launching a paradox game first launches the paradox launcher.
Steam is the third party launcher. Paradox is the first party launcher.
This post, man.
OP: “Am I wrong or is Reddit?”
Everyone: “You are wrong”
OP: “NO U”
Even on Steam pages of games like NFS and Assassin’s Creed it says ‘requires 3rd party account’ so I’m pretty sure I’m right. 😎
Literally only you thinks so. Everyone else thinks you’re an idiot.
Only me and Steam’s legal team 😎
Everyone else can go fuck themselves.
What, then, is a third party launcher to you? How many launchers do you know of that allow you to launch games that you bought somewhere else? I can think of only that one Linux launcher I can’t remember the name of. Maybe you would count GOG Galaxy, because you can add non GOG games to it, but I’m like 85% sure you can do the same thing on Steam.
I think that Steam IS a third-party launcher. It started as a first-party launcher for valve games. Nowadays, though, they (the third party) allow you (the first party) to buy and launch games from unrelated publisher and developers (the second parties).
How many launchers do you know of that allow you to launch games that you bought somewhere else?
Oh, plenty. Lutris, Heroic, even Steam.
What, then, is a third party launcher to you?
A launcher which is forced upon users after the transaction.
That’s not where I paid for the game. That’s not where I got the game files. It just popped up, asking for an account when I launched the game.
From customer’s point of view, I did my whole transaction on steam. Why should I care who published the game?
Unlike movies or music streaming, digital game distribution is complicated with a lot of moving parts so I understand many people have different opinions about it.
For example: If I bought a bundle on Fanatical then it is a first party seller and steam is a first party launcher (assuming those are steam keys). Otherwise steam is both a first party seller and launcher since that is where I buy games.
Even if it is NFS (published by EA which has their Origin store) I don’t care about that. I’m paying for a steam key. There shouldn’t be Origin launcher popping up when I click play.
If you bought a game at a brick and mortar store but had to sign into an account from the developer after installing, is that now a third party launcher? After all, it has nothing to do with where you purchased your game.
No. I clearly mentioned this scenario in another comment. If the game needs activation on Steam then it is the first party. If it needs activation on UPlay, then that is first party.
Well, I was hoping pointing out something inconsistent with what you said would help, but it did not. To be blunt about your original question, you’re wrong. The developer is always the first party. They may have their own launcher or use a third party launcher like Steam, Origin, Epic, etc. It’s nicer for the consumer when they use a third party launcher because then you can just launch right into the game.
Inconsistent? Most PC games in physical shops are just keys that you need to redeem somewhere.
The developer is always the first party.
Not from customer’s point of view.
From a customer’s point of view everything is third party because they didn’t make shit.
That’s a perspective to have, but I’m telling you that’s not how most people are going to use the term. That’s why I made the analogy to retail stores. Back when buying a PC game at a store gave you the actual game, no one considered the store the first party. You’re just using them to buy what you want. The first party is what you actually purchase. The store my also make their own stuff. That’s extremely common these days, I’m talking places like Home Depot and Walmart, not Gamestop.
Moving to digital made have made the dynamics a bit different, but first and foremost, you’re still buying stuff from a store. And many of these stores also make their own stuff: Valve, Epic, EA, etc.
First Party title is the one who develops it. The Second Party is the Publisher/Distributor of the product. The First party can choose to Self Publish/Distribute, but that would make them still a First Party. The majority of professionally made games are Published or Distributed by third parties, often for partial or complete funding of the game while in development. The Third Party is the one who you typically buy a game from. But not only ones that you buy a game from. The other form of ‘parties’ comes from not the business side of things but from the consumer side. The deal is between you and who you buy the game from. That could be the developer but more typically is from a digital store like Steam, Epic, GOG, and so on. In that case Steam would be the First Party and you would be the Second Party and if you installed something like Playnite that would be a Third Party Launcher. Then further on you have the “Game Keys” route where the parties change again.
The whole thing is that the “First Party” and so on comes from contract law in businesses that bled into common usage especially with how common First, Second, Third Person was with video game characters point of view, although it is entirely different. Who is First or Third party is entirely based upon point of view and relativity which is why they actually spell out which is which and what they mean by it in the beginning of legal documents.
You’ve added a lot of false assumptions to make this overly complicated and wrong.
I’ve posted another comment explaining my opinion from consumer POV.
