Steam is so far ahead of everyone that its almost frustrating and puzzling to see nobody attempting to copy what they have done and improve their own digital game platforms at all. The gap is widening with the recent revamping of the soundtrack feature being one of the latest key examples.
In case you are out of the loop, Valve have recently changed the soundtrack feature drastically, turning soundtrack from just a mere DLC into a proper application type.
steamcommunity.com
For starter, they ain't sold as a DLC anymore, which means players do not have to purchase or download the based game to purchase the soundtrack. Game developers can sell their soundtracks even if the game isn't releasing on Steam (so theoretically Nintendo and Sony can release soundtracks to their 1st party games if they want). The developer can also provide more than 1 file format type for the soundtrack (eg high quality audio depot like FLAC or raw WAV), as well as association such as album art. Also, new interface for soundtracks, and the tracks are stored locally onto your PC. And many more you can read in the link above.
What further sets them apart is that the soundtrack page has proper formatting for the track listing, showing the individual titles and runtime, a credits section and even multiple tabs for multiple 'discs'. Developers can provide more details with ease about the soundtrack for the consumers. Many developers have put up soundtracks for sales, and here are some examples:
store.steampowered.com
store.steampowered.com
store.steampowered.com
And then there's a selection. Right now there are over 900+ soundtracks from various games on Steam. On the closest competitor (PS Store) there are slightly less than 150 soundtracks.
And nearly every other gaming platforms doesn't offer gaming soundtrack for sale. While Steam is already in the second lap, they haven't even start moving their feet.
All these improvement provides many benefits: allow developers to have one more ways of generating revenue, fans to give more support to their favorite developers, game music lovers to buy and enjoy the soundtracks even better, the audio talents have more recognition, more organized way of having more details of the soundtrack before buying etc.
Its by no mean perfect and there's room for improvement (eg allow users to listen to them on mobile, buying individual tracks) but at this point, its likely we see Steam implementing these improvements than its competitors doing any catch up. Hopefully they will do the same for art book feature next.
In case you are out of the loop, Valve have recently changed the soundtrack feature drastically, turning soundtrack from just a mere DLC into a proper application type.
Steam :: Steamworks Development :: Steam Soundtrack Updates
Today we're enabling new functionality to better support gaming soundtracks on Steam. This new functionality can broadly be broken into two categories: fixing customer experience issues with the current "soundtrack-sold-as-DLC" model, and completely new features. Fixing Existing Issues Up until...
For starter, they ain't sold as a DLC anymore, which means players do not have to purchase or download the based game to purchase the soundtrack. Game developers can sell their soundtracks even if the game isn't releasing on Steam (so theoretically Nintendo and Sony can release soundtracks to their 1st party games if they want). The developer can also provide more than 1 file format type for the soundtrack (eg high quality audio depot like FLAC or raw WAV), as well as association such as album art. Also, new interface for soundtracks, and the tracks are stored locally onto your PC. And many more you can read in the link above.
What further sets them apart is that the soundtrack page has proper formatting for the track listing, showing the individual titles and runtime, a credits section and even multiple tabs for multiple 'discs'. Developers can provide more details with ease about the soundtrack for the consumers. Many developers have put up soundtracks for sales, and here are some examples:
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove Soundtrack Collection on Steam
Music is a big part of Shovel Knight! From the heroic Shovel of Hope to the somber Specter of Torment. Jake Kaufman used hobbyist tools to write the soundtrack, resulting in 5 hours of music that can be played on a real NES/Famicom console! Joining him is the legendary Manami Matsumae!
Resident Evil 7 biohazard Original Soundtrack on Steam
Resident Evil 7: biohazard Original Soundtrack contains 81 bone-chilling tracks including the extended version of Go Tell Aunt Rhody.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy - Turnabout Tunes on Steam
A must-have for any Ace Attorney fan, this 24-track compilation features 14 in-game tracks, 8 orchestral, piano, and jazz arrangements, and sees the debut of 2 new vocal tracks: "Turnabout Sisters - Seaside Swing" and "Eternal Victory - Endings and Beginnings".
And then there's a selection. Right now there are over 900+ soundtracks from various games on Steam. On the closest competitor (PS Store) there are slightly less than 150 soundtracks.
And nearly every other gaming platforms doesn't offer gaming soundtrack for sale. While Steam is already in the second lap, they haven't even start moving their feet.
All these improvement provides many benefits: allow developers to have one more ways of generating revenue, fans to give more support to their favorite developers, game music lovers to buy and enjoy the soundtracks even better, the audio talents have more recognition, more organized way of having more details of the soundtrack before buying etc.
Its by no mean perfect and there's room for improvement (eg allow users to listen to them on mobile, buying individual tracks) but at this point, its likely we see Steam implementing these improvements than its competitors doing any catch up. Hopefully they will do the same for art book feature next.
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