Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/4703/minecraft-creator-explains-games-absence-on-steam

In a recent entry on his blog, Markus “notch” Persson explained why Minecraft has yet to appear on Valve’s Steam platform, citing an “ inherent incompatibility” between his company Mojang’s goals and Valve’s.

“Being on Steam limits a lot of what we’re allowed to do with the game, and how we’re allowed to talk to our users,” Persson said.  “We (probably?) wouldn’t be able to, say, sell capes or have a map market place on minecraft.net that works with Steam customers in a way that keeps Valve happy.”

Minecraft’s thrived in part due to the direct access players have to Persson’s development whims, such as the creation of the creepy-looking Endermen (seen above) scheduled for the next update. Putting a barrier like Steam, no matter how “awesome” Persson thinks it is, disrupts that process and could potentially split the userbase.

Persson isn’t ruling Steam out entirely, however. “We are talking to Valve about this,” he said. The sheer enormity of Steam makes this optimism practical business sense. It’s the same reason EA won’t swear off Steam entirely, even after all of the fighting over Battlefield 3. When people enter a store every time they launch a game, it behooves you to have your product in that store.

Source: Notch

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