Actually i think it is like this:
No securom = no publisher = no money = no game
Sorry to counter-act you on this but this is becoming less and less true day by day and here's why:
NPD was once a reliable source of sales of all gaming consoles and has been falsely (or rather, ignorantly) reporting for 2 straight years that PC Gaming has been dying due to it's lack of sales. These sales however also completely and utterly failed to show Steam, Impulse, GOG, and etc. sales figures as well as Amazon. Only NOW are they actually figuring in the sales figures from these and at least estimating from Steam. Steam is owned by Valve, Valve isn't publicly traded hence has no obligation to show these sales figures, however, they do show how many people are playing what game and hence it's very possible to gather sales figure estimates from that. Furthermore, B&M (Brick & Mortar) places are pulling back sales of PC Games altogether (an inside source of Gamestop, whom is also a subsidiary of EB Games has confirmed this.)
My point is this: Publishers are no longer needed for PC game sales. I'm pulling this number out of my rear but I want to say that over 70% of game sales are on online distribution methods now instead of B&M. It's THESE online distribution methods that are acting as a publisher for a much smaller share of the profits. Last I checked I believe from an article that Tripwire Interactive (Zombie Driver, Killing Floor, The Ball, etc.) stated that only 15% of their sales were going to Steam, and I've heard elsewhere on forums that this amount goes up to 25%. I have no idea what a publisher yanks from each sale but I'd have to assume that it's much higher.
I do admit I'm a fledgling to the whole market but I also have a fresh pair of eyes to the whole thing and publishers seem to have nothing more to add to PC Gaming. Rather, they detract. I will ALSO admit that I am in the states where the worst bandwidth caps we have to deal with are about 100 or so gigs from Comcast, it might be different in Germany or where this company is located and THAT might be case enough. Please feel free to prove me wrong but the smallish indie company I'm starting is taking a very strict anti-publisher stance only because of the recent digital distribution methods.
