but also trying to replicate everything steam does is a giant undertaking
I don’t even use that many features of steam, so I don’t think replicating them all is required. Probably starting at the top few and prioritising by usage/request would be enough. Attracting devs and the up-front costs for not just dev but infra is probably the most prohibitive thing.
You might not use that many features, but you can’t know what other users and developers might need. For some, the built in multiplayer and voice system might be a make or break feature, and for others it might be remote play together.
With how many users, developers, and features there are, it’s not enough to start replicating a couple features and promising more later. When is the last time you bought into a promise and weren’t disappointed? If you want to be serious competition, you better give it your all.
I can’t know, of course, but it is possible to start in one area to an MVP to a good chunk of people and add features by requested priority. Trying to do all of it all at once so feels like the wrong approach (with 20 years of software engineering and some project management experience)
I don’t even use that many features of steam, so I don’t think replicating them all is required. Probably starting at the top few and prioritising by usage/request would be enough. Attracting devs and the up-front costs for not just dev but infra is probably the most prohibitive thing.
You might not use that many features, but you can’t know what other users and developers might need. For some, the built in multiplayer and voice system might be a make or break feature, and for others it might be remote play together.
With how many users, developers, and features there are, it’s not enough to start replicating a couple features and promising more later. When is the last time you bought into a promise and weren’t disappointed? If you want to be serious competition, you better give it your all.
I can’t know, of course, but it is possible to start in one area to an MVP to a good chunk of people and add features by requested priority. Trying to do all of it all at once so feels like the wrong approach (with 20 years of software engineering and some project management experience)