Tim Bender, CEO of publisher Hooded Horse, wrote on LinkedIn this week that no platform matches Steam’s discovery system and that a bigger problem for makers is building games at budgets they cannot reasonably recoup. Bender pointed to Steam’s homepage mix of top sellers and tag-driven recommendations, the category pages, and the “recommended based on the games you play” section as examples of how the store connects players with small indies as well as bigger hits. He wrote that these mechanisms are designed to help players find games that fit their interests.
Bender said the answer is not to blame storefront discovery. Instead he argued developers and their backers must set budgets that match a game’s likely audience. “In the end, if we want stability we have to make sure a given game’s budget is such that ‘success’ in the sense of costs being covered and the team continuing on to the next game is achieved with moderate sales based on a cautious estimation of its likely reach with players,” he wrote. He added that this means, bluntly, that “some games should not be made, at least at their planned budgets.”
He also criticized publisher recoup terms that leave developers with little upside, saying publishers should not take 100 percent of revenue under deals that guarantee the publisher breaks even while the developer carries the downside. Bender recommended diversified publisher portfolios so hits can cover losses, and large corporate owners should be prepared to absorb some risk rather than closing studios when numbers dip. Hooded Horse publishes Manor Lords and worked on Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, and Bender framed his comments from the viewpoint of a mid-size publisher navigating those economics.
For context on store policy debates that affect how games appear to players, see this piece on how storefront tagging is being discussed in the industry: Tim Sweeney on AI tags. Follow Console & PC Gaming for updates more gaming updates on X, Bluesky, YouTube, or Instagram.
