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Comment by unityByFreedom | Hacker News Reader

> Games are sellable desktop software and they're doing just fine.

Popular ones require an internet connection, and license authentication piggybacks on that. Blizzard and the original WoW's were among the first to do this successfully and the trend continues. Prior to that, people would either crack software and/or refuse remote connections for games that didn't require internet in order to avoid paying for and licensing them.

> What people want is fair prices and easy availability

And developers and investors want to be able to securely sell software. Apple's store provides ease of use along with a secure platform that users trust.

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Games have used a form of content protection since the 80s. It's not a new thing. We traded code wheels to CD keys to online activation. Most games actually DON'T require an active internet connection, they require an online activation at install and then they can be played offline. With digital downloads it's basically moot and games can still be pirated anyways. Some big titles like the Witcher 3 are actually entirely DRM free.

Steam is a marketplace that gives developers and investors a place to securely sell software and is easy for consumers to use and have fair prices. And it doesn't require users to give up all control of their PC to the manufacturer. Nor do all purchases have to flow through Valve.

And Steam as a game store predates the App Store by a few years too.

That wasn’t true for iTunes where copying MP3s was trivial. Of course theirs still piracy, but why did the DRM-free Witcher 3 make millions of dollars? Your argument just doesn’t hold up with real life data.

SaaS and subscriptions are more prevalent and successful than software that does not require a remote connection. When client software sells well it's an exception.

Music was completely different. The RIAA was suing pirates for thousands of dollars, and Apple provided both a store and great hardware for their product. People cheered them on for finally convincing the music industry to make content digitally available. It turns out all people wanted was easy access. And now for things that could be desktop software, we have subscriptions, memberships, etc.

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