This might be dumb, and someone's probably already working on this but it's late and this is just a bugbear I have to get out of my head so I can sleep.

This is a basic outline of the concept of an open‐source federated gaming platform—a decentralized alternative to traditional centralised platforms like Steam.

Fediverse Gaming: Decentralizing Game Distribution, Advertising, and Community Engagement

Abstract

Centralized gaming platforms like Valve's Steam, Blizzard's Battle.Net, Epic Game Store and even GOG ensure that there must always be a singular power who gets rich not from making games but by controlling and exploiting the market. Fediverse Gaming proposes an open-source, federated platform that empowers developers and publishers to host their own game distribution and community hubs. By leveraging the ActivityPub protocol, the open-source platform enables independent instances for selling games, game items, and hosting communities while addressing longstanding concerns over high platform fees, exorbitant advertising costs, and expensive featured placements. In addition, users can post buyer reviews that are shared across instances, fostering transparent and organic community feedback. This decentralization liberates developers from the high fees imposed by centralized platforms, cutting out wasteful middle-men and redefining how games reach their audiences.

1. Introduction

Centralized gaming platforms like Steam have long controlled not only game distribution but also the economic dynamics that shape a game’s visibility and profitability. Developers and publishers must contend with steep platform fees, as well as additional costs for advertising and securing featured placements. Fediverse Gaming aims to disrupt this model by decentralizing game hosting, sales, and community management—offering a transparent, cost-effective alternative that in combination with user communities and reviews build trust and drive organic discovery.

2. Background and Motivation

2.1 Current Centralized Model

• High Platform Fees: Centralized platforms impose substantial fees on game sales, often taking a significant percentage of revenue. This not only affects margins for developers and publishers but also creates a financial barrier to entry for smaller or independent creators.
• Advertising and Featured Fees: Beyond the basic platform fees, developers face additional costs to secure prominent advertising space or to be featured on the platform. These extra charges often skew market exposure in favor of those who can afford high promotional fees.
• Monetization Constraints: The combination of high platform fees and costly promotional expenses means that a significant portion of a game’s revenue is siphoned off by intermediaries, reducing the profitability for creators.

2.2 The Promise of Federation

• Decentralization of Control: A federated model distributes hosting and community management across independent instances, enabling developers to regain control over how their games are promoted and monetized.
• ActivityPub Integration: Leveraging ActivityPub allows for seamless communication between instances. This not only facilitates federated community interactions but also powers a dedicated system for sharing buyer reviews across the network.
• Empowering Stakeholders: By hosting their own instances, developers and publishers can bypass the high fees imposed by centralized platforms, tailor their advertising strategies, and engage directly with their audience.

3. Problem Statement

Developers and publishers face significant hurdles in the current ecosystem:

• Exorbitant Platform Fees: Centralized platforms take a large cut of revenue, leaving less profit for developers and publishers.
• High Advertising Costs: Securing advertising space and featured placements requires additional fees that further erode revenue.
• Fragmented Feedback Channels: Buyer reviews are often siloed within proprietary systems, limiting transparent, cross-community feedback and organic discovery.

4. Proposed Solution: Fediverse Gaming

Fediverse Gaming is designed as an open-source, decentralized platform addressing these challenges through the following core components:

• Federated Instances: Each developer or publisher can deploy an independent node that hosts games, game items, and community features. This autonomy allows for direct control over both distribution and promotion.
• Transparent Fee Structures: By eliminating the middleman, the platform minimizes platform fees and allows developers to set their own pricing and advertising strategies without hidden costs.
• ActivityPub Integration: Facilitates cross-instance communication for community interactions and powers a federated review system, ensuring that buyer reviews are shared network-wide.
• Integrated Storefront: A modular marketplace that manages game listings, secure transactions, and transparent advertising placements—all without the heavy fees of centralized systems.
• Cloud Save Services: A decentralized cloud save solution ensures that player progress is securely stored and accessible across federated servers.
• Review Aggregation Module: Enables buyers to post game reviews locally which are then disseminated across the network, enhancing community trust and aiding organic game discovery.
• Developer/Publisher Dashboard: Provides tools for uploading games, managing advertising space (including options for featured placements), tracking sales, and monitoring promotional performance.

5. System Architecture and Technical Design

5.1 Core Components

• Instance Server: Serves as the backbone for each federated node, managing user authentication, content management, and inter-instance communication.
• Storefront Module: Handles game listings, Lago transactions, and advertising placements, allowing developers to manage fees transparently.
• ActivityPub Integration Layer: Ensures seamless interaction between nodes, enabling community engagement and the sharing of buyer reviews.
• Review Aggregation Module: Collects and distributes buyer reviews from local instances across the entire network, promoting transparency.
• Cloud Save Infrastructure: Uses distributed storage solutions to secure player data across federated servers.
• Developer/Publisher Dashboard: Offers a centralized interface for managing game content, advertising space, fee structures, sales analytics, and community feedback.

5.2 Federation Protocol and Security

• Interoperability: Utilizing ActivityPub guarantees that users across different instances can interact, follow updates, and participate in community discussions, including sharing reviews.
• Security Measures: Regular open-source audits, decentralized identity management, and robust encryption protocols will be implemented to secure data and transactions.
• Scalability: The architecture is designed for horizontal scaling, ensuring that each instance can handle increased loads as the network grows.

6. Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Specifications

To validate the concept and enable iterative development, the MVP should include:

• Federated Instance Deployment: A basic server setup with user registration, profile management, and instance configuration.
• Core ActivityPub Functionality: Fundamental integration to support cross-instance interactions, including posting, commenting, and federated sharing of buyer reviews.
• Digital Storefront: A minimal e-commerce system supporting game listings, transaction processing, and transparent advertising management.
• Cloud Saves: Initial integration of cloud storage to securely backup player progress.
• Developer/Publisher Dashboard: Tools for uploading games, managing advertising and featured placements, tracking sales, and monitoring fee structures.
• Review Aggregation Module: A system enabling buyers to submit game reviews locally, which are then federated across instances via ActivityPub.
• Documentation and API Endpoints: Comprehensive documentation and APIs to facilitate third-party integrations and future expansion.

7. Benefits to Developers and Publishers

7.1 Cost Efficiency and Fee Transparency

• No More Platform Fees: By eliminating centralized intermediaries, developers retain a larger share of their revenue, avoiding the high cuts imposed by traditional platforms.
• Reduced Advertising Costs: Developers can manage their own advertising and featured placements, setting transparent and competitive pricing models without hidden fees.
• Direct Financial Control: Independent instance hosting allows for complete oversight of fee structures, reducing dependence on opaque centralized policies.

7.2 Enhanced Community Feedback

• Federated Game Reviews: A network-wide review system provides comprehensive, transparent feedback from buyers, improving trust and aiding organic discovery.
• Direct Audience Engagement: Developers can interact directly with their users, gaining real-time insights and feedback without intermediaries.

7.3 Innovation and Flexibility

• Modular Architecture: The platform’s design supports the seamless integration of new features—ranging from advanced advertising analytics to enhanced review moderation tools.
• Interoperability: Federation across the network encourages collaboration, cross-promotion, and community growth among independent developers and publishers.

8. Development Roadmap and Future Work

Phase 1: Planning and Prototyping

• Finalize the architecture design with an emphasis on transparent fee management, advertising integration, and review federation.
• Develop initial prototypes for federated instance deployment and ActivityPub integration, including a basic review aggregation module.
• Engage early adopters to gather feedback on fee structures, advertising models, and review functionalities.

Phase 2: MVP Development

• Build core modules: instance server, storefront, review aggregation, cloud save integration, and developer dashboard.
• Conduct testing focusing on cost transparency, transaction handling, and review dissemination.
• Publish initial documentation and developer APIs for community contributions.

Phase 3: Beta Release

• Launch a public beta with select developers and publishers.
• Monitor performance and gather feedback on costs, advertising effectiveness, and review functionalities.
• Refine core features based on user input and performance analytics.

Phase 4: Full Launch and Expansion

• Officially release the platform with comprehensive documentation, support channels, and community forums.
• Explore advanced features such as multi-currency support, patch support, speed improvements, game lists such as best reviewed, top sellers, and new and upcoming lists, and add more sophisticated review moderation.
• Foster a community-driven ecosystem for ongoing innovation and continuous improvements in decentralized game hosting.

9. Challenges and Mitigation Strategies

• Technical Complexity: Integrating a robust federated system with transparent fee management, e-commerce, and review sharing requires thorough planning and extensive testing.
  Mitigation: Utilize modular design principles and proven protocols like ActivityPub and Lago to ensure smooth operations across instances.
• Adoption Barriers: Convincing developers to transition from established, centralized fee structures may be challenging.
  Mitigation: Highlight the financial and operational benefits, such as lower hosting fees and reduced advertising costs, while demonstrating the value of direct community engagement. This may be appealing to indie developers burned in the recent mass layoffs by the monopolies.
• Consistency in Review Aggregation: Ensuring that game reviews are accurately shared and moderated across decentralized nodes can be complex.
  Mitigation: Develop robust algorithms and community guidelines for review aggregation and moderation, with input from early adopters.

10. Conclusion

By decentralizing game hosting, advertising, and review aggregation, the platform empowers developers and publishers to regain control over their financial outcomes and promotional strategies. With transparent fee structures that alleviate high platform and advertising costs, coupled with a federated review system that amplifies buyer feedback, Fediverse Gaming paves the way for a more equitable, innovative, and community-driven marketplace. Stakeholders are invited to collaborate in shaping this next-generation ecosystem for independent game distribution and promotion.

This outlines the vision, design, MVP specifications, and strategic benefits of Fediverse Gaming—positioning it as a compelling alternative for developers and publishers seeking greater financial control, reduced fees, and enhanced community engagement in the competitive gaming ecosystem.