Turmoils in Publishing w/Vimi! - An VNture Podcast

[@NoahsArchive357]

Really interesting to hear so much about what goes into getting visual novels published! There's so much I never even considered, and imagine my shock when I learned it wasn't as simple as hitting one "publish" button and letting the universe take care of the rest... 😯😯

[@VNturePodcast]

I try not to be too hard on Steam. They do a lot of good, and it's easy to get carried away without counting your blessings for such a robust video game storefront. But seriously, if a dev ever gets on their bad side, it's like Steam writes you off without a care.

[@nickienator]

This was a very level-headed look at the VN publishing issues, especially Vimi had some really solid reasons for why Steam does what it sometimes does. Great episode.

[@VNturePodcast]

Yep, Vimi is always a treat to have around! (Gonna shill his created VNs too!)

[@__m.r.]

It really does show how passionate Vimi is about topics related to dev side of things.

[@lunameower]

This episode has probably been the most informative in the entire podcast so far. I've watched a few of Vimi's videos before, but I didn't know he was this knowledgeable about marketing, distribution and publishing lol As a VN fan, I'm pretty annoyed at Steam, but I guess they have really good reasons for rejecting certain titles (even if it seems baseless). They obviously don't want to get into trouble, but as a consumer you probably just look at it as them rejecting titles for no reason

[@VNturePodcast]

Vimi's always a treat to talk to! For the topic, a large aspect of VN inconsistency is thinking from Steam's point of view -- are they really gonna tightrope the line of legal/illegal for one tiny product that probably won't make them money? For the devs trying to make a living, a rejection is a slap in the face. So there's several values at play here. Thank goodness we have alternate storefronts to provide options for the VN scene.

[@__m.r.]

Well we can be angry/annoyed at Steam and at the same time acknowledge that there might be reasons behind their actions.

[@lunameower]

@@__m.r. Yup, it totally makes sense... but I personally don't agree on some of the laws. I separate fiction and reality, but I guess I can aknowledge the reasoning behind those laws

[@Some_Guy_87]

I was half-expecting a big "Damn you, Steam! (ง'̀-'́)ง", but this was surprisingly understanding of their practices :D. A title called "Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect" always comes to mind for me, which for some odd reason was refused by Steam, but even made it to the Nintendo store of all places. I guess for small devs it really comes down to sheer luck of what gets stuck in the automated systems and what kind of employee happens to deal with your case and what kind of day they have. Interesting episode!

[@VNturePodcast]

Crime Opera got rejected? I looked it over and that seems ridiculous. It's a shame that a huge revenue source like Steam can get blocked out for no real reason, or at least a reason not properly explained to the devs counting on this. One thing I will rant about Steam is their transparency. Too often we hear stories of devs told they are rejected and cannot appeal. Oftentimes, at least highlighting the reason can lead to better projects in the future, or heck, even fixing the current title to make it comply with Steam's storefront. But instead Value doesn't seem to care. At least, that's the impression they give off.

[@Some_Guy_87]

@@VNturePodcast They claimed it involves adult content with minors, the dev assumed they came up with this because it's flagged to have adult content (parents going at it in a scene, though afaik even that without nudity since it's in the Nintendo store :D) while the protagonists are still children. Basically no way to appeal and get a response from Steam afterwards, so as a small dev you are at their mercy and once you fall off the roster you are screwed, no matter how unfair the decision was. So afaik there is always a reason at least, but that doesn't help much if it's unwarranted and they just refuse to reply afterwards...

[@__m.r.]

@@Some_Guy_87 Damn, that is just disappointing. As much as Vimi suggested for the steam to be "plan B" in eyes of developers, for some of them steam might actually be "plan survive". At AX, JAST USA people ranted hard on how Steam pretty much gives no second chances, barely having an appeal process at all.