There's a study that says 72% of developers view steam has a monopoly.

[PhaseJump]

I had a longer post written but considering Steam basically gets 100% immunity from the "corporations aren't your friend" argument in all cases, I'll just say this: Once Gabe croaks from his lifelong obesity induced high blood pressure and Steam is hoisted off (possibly by even his own son) to the private equity firm(s) that have had offers ready to go off even before the body is cold...

Then this statement will genuinely be the funniest fucking thing in gaming ever.

 

[Tetronomicon]

Fair. I just don't like (overwhelmingly) relying on a single source for something and hate how powerful network effects can be. It is what it is.

I also don't really want to get into a debate about this topic because I've already seen all the arguments and counter-arguments to know how it will go.

 

[iamthemilkman]

There are alternatives but no one wants to use them. Not even free weekly games can motivate people to leave Steam. It's #1 because it's the best at what it does.

Post automatically merged: Today at 3:27 PM

it is a monopoly and you have to play by its rules, by it's algorithm and by... less than welcoming community of review bombing manchildren. It is what it is, competitors get ridiculed or hated, GOG isn't exactly popular for modern games and Microsoft Store is equally a joke as Epic Games.

The only option for your game to be somewhat successful is Steam and that's a gamble either way.

Review bombing exists regardless of the platform. Happens on Steam, Xbox, Metacritic, etc. That's not a Steam thing, that's a human thing. I'm not bothered by it, though. Review bomb away. Who cares? That's what happens when you release something to the public. Criticism is fair game, whether you agree with the criticism or not. That's just how it goes.

 

[Ezri_Muldoon]

Once Gabe croaks from his lifelong obesity induced high blood pressure and Steam is hoisted off (possibly by even his own son) to the private equity firm(s) that have had offers ready to go off even before the body is cold...

It's lowkey sad that Steam is one of the rare remaining example of why private business can be a force for good (The CEO can just brute force policies that benefit his employees & consumer base) and we're all bracing for when Steam goes public and shareholders ruin the service.

Going public is an exorcism for the morality & soul of any company.

The hundreds of competing share holders won't care about you, public businesses always collapse into bureaucratic malice. Hi Amazon & its subsidiaries. We're a long way from the bookstore aren't we.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I mean they're literally owning the best digital storefront. GoG has the DRM-free aspect but that's still below them.

 

[Badseed Badseed]

That may be true, but think of all the small developers that would have no other way to get their game to a wide audience. What, are they going to use itch? I have no problem with Steam, they are a whloe lot less douchy than Nintendo, Playstation, Microsoft and leave Epic for the little kids playing Fortnite

 

[qw90700]

There are alternatives but no one wants to use them. Not even free weekly games can motivate people to leave Steam. It's #1 because it's the best at what it does.

The thing it is not realistic to expect people to use only one of them, but considering how lazy humankind is they populated Steam because it was the first of its kind and never left. People built their library, gamer friends and their customized profiles and shit so of course they won't leave Steam. At most they will use Steam with other alternatives but I don't ask other alternatives keep pushing double DRM and stupid exclusivity shit like Epic Games Store did. But then Steam is only the best just because it is the only useful one for the overall gamer experience. But from price point in outside of America and Europe building your PC game library from non-Steam platforms makes sense more like on Microsoft Store and Epic Games Store because for a long time Steam has enforced $ anymore for tons of countries instead of keep using their local currencies and these platforms still care to use local currency and they are aware of your local economy that Valve ignores. So Steam was best for them but not anymore, fatty Gabby can suck their dick instead lolol.