Serif, you have a cross-platform solution: Steam

[mrcloaked]

Dear Serif,

 

Please, put your users first and consider list your software on the cross-platform Steam store.

 

You say it's "out of your control" that you cannot provide licenses for Windows because you use the Mac App Store, so the next logical question is: why are you limiting yourself to the Mac App Store? The Mac App Store is not the only game in town, and in many cases (especially for games) it's quite foolish to purchase from there unless you like being locked into an ecosystem, where purchases are lost at the switch of a platform.

 

Steam has already solved this problem with the cross-platform option Steam Play, and it's available for sellers of software too. Many creative applications are already listed on the Steam store and the Affinity suite would fit right in. Sure, the Steam store has the stigma of being for gamers and game developers, and may not be the exact pro audience you're trying to cater to, but that will only change through action. Plus it's only an option in addition to places like the Mac App Store and Windows Store.

 

The only reason I can think of being against this is privately hoping to make purchasers buy the application twice. Since I'm guessing you aren't the type of company to behave that way, I really hope you'll earnestly consider putting your software up on Steam. It would be a huge win for consumers who use Boot Camp, people who are thinking of making a future switch to Surface (as many seem to be lately), and folk who just value their software.

[TonyB]

The issue is complex with many issues to consider. One of the big issues is there is no way for us to give the people who have already purchased the Mac version a Windows licence. There are many other problems but it's beyond the scope of this post.

 

We are introducing volume licence programme early next year and that should give us more flexibility.

[000]

Considering the price, I don't mind (actually didn't mind, I already bought the Windows version for my other computer) , paying twice to use it on OSX and Windows -- afterall the Windows version is a separate product, made by a seperate group of people, and they've done a great job and deserve a warm dinner once in a while too.

 

If Affinity did come for a price of 200-400 Pounds (which is, what other companies in this league are charging, just look at the prices of Adobe for a year or a new version of Corel Draw), I would sing a different song -- however, if you use the software for personal things, a one-off payment of 40£ should be affordable, if you use it professionally and make money with it you can write it off taxes and will probably also earn the cost back in an hours work.

 

It's a great software for a grwat price and I don't think people should expect to get even more.

 

Steam is, by the way, not a good idea in my opinion - Steam is a games store and I haven't seen any non-game software on it that falls in the category of semipro or pro software. Going there would send a VERY wrong message in regard of the target audience and basically would prevent the Affinity line being taken serious in the graphics design market.

[OlaHaldor]

I don't see why Steam isn't a good idea. Affinity Designer would fit in very well, and cover a huge gap that's not present: software to design UI, icons, loading screens, god only knows what.. 

 

I first got Affinity Designer to test if it was something I would be able to handle, seeing as I don't like or know how to handle Adobe Illustrator. Affinity Designer on the other hand is way easier and intuitive to get into. I like it a lot. That says something.

 

At work I'd really love to have Affinity Designer for small things like creating symbols for stencils, alphas or projection paint a complete logo with color on to a 3D model. It's not for games, but for CG movies. But the studio have a very strict admin access policy; I have to contact a system administrator to log in and install the software for me. Guess what happens if the software is updated.. I need to ping the same admin to log on to the computer again!

 

We have access to Steam so we can log in on our own accounts, thus we don't need admin logins to install software through Steam. So I have things like Marmoset Toolbag, Substance Painter and a few others I use almost every day.

 

Ease of access (behind a login) is quite OK for me, and I'd be happy to pay for another license to get it on Steam if that's what it takes.

[mrcloaked]

Not to mention the visibility that Affinity will get just from being on the Steam store. Let's be honest, neither the Mac App Store or Windows Store are very hugely successful storefronts, and I doubt very seriously people browse and shop these stores on a regular basis. The percentage of traffic to these stores is a pittance in comparison. It might be worth the (probably very slight) credibility hit to be listed on the Steam store just for the insane volume of people that will become aware of Affinity (none of my friends who are in the market for this software knew about it).

 

Anyways, pros who don't use Steam don't need to know about it and can continue using the avenues they are used to. Which usually isn't the inflexible MAS, it's independent licensing when available.

[SrPx]

A lot of us (I'm a customer,avid beta tester and community helper) would really dislike to get steam installed just for this. Or have the whatever the resources it takes for being TSR. None of the friends that I have as illustrators and designers are fond of using Steam...And they're all pros...(they live of making pixels and vectors since a while...)

 

And yep agreeing on that Steam is automatically associated to games, and that would make think a large portion of the potential audience that these are kind of toys, not serious apps. I know is not like that, but I fear is what a lot of folks would think.

 

I'm afraid if steam were to be used, it would get the danger of ending up only distributed by there, that'd be a shame. Seriously, I don't feel any serious app needs a global shop market. Not the MS one, neither Steam. People really interested in having a solid graphic design pair of applications do google for it, and are constantly up to date of graphic news, are already in CG or design specialized newsletters, visit dedicated design portals, read specialized articles, etc, etc. I am that sort of person, and I was aware of Affinity and Serif since a very, very long time.

[OlaHaldor]

Just because it (hopefully) appears on Steam does not mean it can't be sold and supported elsewhere. A lot of other apps and games do this already.

 

For me it would mean a lot to bring the software with me whenever I go out on a job for others on their equipment. If they don' thave the tool I need, I install Steam and there it is. No fuzz with licenses that needs to be removed after I'm done. I just gotta log out of my user of Steam. Even if I forget to log out, you can't be logged on more than one computer anyway.