Yeah but why do they have that market share? It’s not forcefully. They aren’t buying up competitors. They don’t own all the publishers and can dictate who sells their games.
People choose Steam. Why? Because Ubisoft Connect it horrendous to navigate. Because EA App is slow and, when it launched (as Origin), left a bad taste in people’s mouths because it bordered on spyware. Epic Launcher is kinda getting better but when it launched it was extremely bare bones, it didn’t even have a cart to buy multiple products at once, you had to buy things individually, which is absolutely ridiculous for an ONLINE STORE .
This so-called monopoly is not a product of predatory methods, quite the opposite. Valve may be a corporation but they constantly set standards in favor of the consumer:
Generous refund policy
Unparalleled customer support, as opposed to their competitors basically giving the finger to users asking for help.
Actively working towards wider support and accessibility, i.e. SteamOS, Steam Deck, and their runnable-verification markings.
Just recently announced the “real requirements” stats from players sharing a games’ performance on their actual hardware rather than the developers Recommended Requirements which we all know are complete bullshit. They are literally forcing developers to stop cranking out half-assed games with non-existant optimization for $70.
Definition of Monopoly according to Merriam-Webster:
exclusive ownership through legal privilege, command of supply, or concerted action.
specifically : exclusive control of a particular market that is marked by the power to control prices and exclude competition
None of this applies to Valve/Steam, all they’re guilty of is setting policies in favor of the consumer. People tend to choose the consumer-friendly seller.
Added it after a lawsuit regarding steam not wanting to properly process refunds. Epic has it better automated and GOG processes refunds regardless of your hours if you have technical difficulties, so in my eyes Steam is in the last place.
Unparalleled customer support
Steam support is commonly regarded as non-existing. The only times I needed it, I got automated replies and my issue was not solved.
Actively working towards wider support and accessibility, i.e. SteamOS, Steam Deck, and their runnable-verification markings.
Making your product accessible is just business. I don’t really use any of that stuff since I’m only on PC.
Definition of Monopoly according to Merriam-Webster:
This is one of those words where definitions vary, but generally if a company has such a large market share/power that they can dictate prices and set rules that affect other platforms/competition, then that’s monopoly/near monopolies. Valve Corporation does this.
all they’re guilty of is setting policies in favor of the consumer.
Riiight, because ripping off gamers and devs with 30% cut (a cut that stayed from physical discs and times when 100gb HDD costed 5000eur) is so in favor of the users. The whole gambling thing and mystery boxes was also done to promote ethics to children, right?
My guy.
I deliberately left out GOG in my comment because they fill a different niche in the market, DRM-free and generally older games. The bureaucracy of refunds is probably alot less complicated.
You’re probably the first person I’ve heard say Steam has bad customer support.
They are not making “their product accessible”, they are making other people’s games accessible by providing an open OS for gaming outside of the Microsoft Windows system.
Again, having a large market share because you simply provide the best service is -not a Monopoly-. How do they in any way dictate prices? Ubisoft are free to sell their game for half the price on their store front if they want to.
I’d happily pay 30% to Steam for all the service they provide over 100% to Ubisoft’s reskinned, buggy, unoptimized quarterly “games” or EAs microtransaction simulators any day.
You’re probably the first person I’ve heard say Steam has bad customer support.
Steam customer support was a fucking meme back in my day. You also got oceans of videos like these: https://youtu.be/kE0QtkTNUqk
How do they in any way dictate prices? Ubisoft are free to sell their game for half the price on their store front if they want to.
I… are we speaking English? Do you simply refuse to read and get new information? I mean, sure, they can, but they will get angry emails from Valve Corporation and threats of suspended sales, no pre-orders, etc., because that’s what a near monopoly does to further cement their position on the market, and I don’t even want to think about the future with different CEO and valve having basically grown into the next google or microsoft with Gabe long gone
i mean, sure, they can, but they will get angry emails from Valve
So? Maybe they should put more focus on improving their own platforms instead of whining about Steam, then they could sell their game exclusively there without issue.
I don’t know I can make it any clearer; Steam has a big market share because people choose them, not because they use any hostile tactics to push out the others. Ubisoft and EA, among others, have for years done everything in their power to lose any good will from the player base in favor of their shareholders.
Correction: Steam has the largest market share because for majority of it’s existence, it had no competition. It already became a standart before others appeared. That being said, Valve has increasingly become evil during the past decade. I was fully on board with supporting valve, but not fixing fees, supporting and defending gambling, inventing subscription passes, supporting in-app purchases, abandoning games and not using their ridiculous money to develop things people want like Half-Life 3 (don’t even get me started on TF2 mess, almost entire community holds grudge against Valve for enshittifying it like a corporation that only cares about profits). Sure, Valve also does some things that are great for gamers, but I feel like it’s our duty as a society to keep these companies in check, otherwise it’s a slippery slope where if they’re no longer being held accountable for shitty things they do, it will become a normality.
I’m seeing some parallels to Elon Musk where everyone was praising him as an anti-corporate dude who’s going to save everyone from oil or whatever, while few guys were screaming about red flags they’re seeing, but everyone ridiculed them
Yeah but why do they have that market share? It’s not forcefully. They aren’t buying up competitors. They don’t own all the publishers and can dictate who sells their games.
People choose Steam. Why? Because Ubisoft Connect it horrendous to navigate. Because EA App is slow and, when it launched (as Origin), left a bad taste in people’s mouths because it bordered on spyware. Epic Launcher is kinda getting better but when it launched it was extremely bare bones, it didn’t even have a cart to buy multiple products at once, you had to buy things individually, which is absolutely ridiculous for an ONLINE STORE .
This so-called monopoly is not a product of predatory methods, quite the opposite. Valve may be a corporation but they constantly set standards in favor of the consumer:
Definition of Monopoly according to Merriam-Webster:
None of this applies to Valve/Steam, all they’re guilty of is setting policies in favor of the consumer. People tend to choose the consumer-friendly seller.
Who’d’ve thunk?
Added it after a lawsuit regarding steam not wanting to properly process refunds. Epic has it better automated and GOG processes refunds regardless of your hours if you have technical difficulties, so in my eyes Steam is in the last place.
Steam support is commonly regarded as non-existing. The only times I needed it, I got automated replies and my issue was not solved.
Making your product accessible is just business. I don’t really use any of that stuff since I’m only on PC.
This is one of those words where definitions vary, but generally if a company has such a large market share/power that they can dictate prices and set rules that affect other platforms/competition, then that’s monopoly/near monopolies. Valve Corporation does this.
Riiight, because ripping off gamers and devs with 30% cut (a cut that stayed from physical discs and times when 100gb HDD costed 5000eur) is so in favor of the users. The whole gambling thing and mystery boxes was also done to promote ethics to children, right?
My guy. I deliberately left out GOG in my comment because they fill a different niche in the market, DRM-free and generally older games. The bureaucracy of refunds is probably alot less complicated.
You’re probably the first person I’ve heard say Steam has bad customer support.
They are not making “their product accessible”, they are making other people’s games accessible by providing an open OS for gaming outside of the Microsoft Windows system.
Again, having a large market share because you simply provide the best service is -not a Monopoly-. How do they in any way dictate prices? Ubisoft are free to sell their game for half the price on their store front if they want to.
I’d happily pay 30% to Steam for all the service they provide over 100% to Ubisoft’s reskinned, buggy, unoptimized quarterly “games” or EAs microtransaction simulators any day.
Steam customer support was a fucking meme back in my day. You also got oceans of videos like these: https://youtu.be/kE0QtkTNUqk
I… are we speaking English? Do you simply refuse to read and get new information? I mean, sure, they can, but they will get angry emails from Valve Corporation and threats of suspended sales, no pre-orders, etc., because that’s what a near monopoly does to further cement their position on the market, and I don’t even want to think about the future with different CEO and valve having basically grown into the next google or microsoft with Gabe long gone
So? Maybe they should put more focus on improving their own platforms instead of whining about Steam, then they could sell their game exclusively there without issue.
I don’t know I can make it any clearer; Steam has a big market share because people choose them, not because they use any hostile tactics to push out the others. Ubisoft and EA, among others, have for years done everything in their power to lose any good will from the player base in favor of their shareholders.
Correction: Steam has the largest market share because for majority of it’s existence, it had no competition. It already became a standart before others appeared. That being said, Valve has increasingly become evil during the past decade. I was fully on board with supporting valve, but not fixing fees, supporting and defending gambling, inventing subscription passes, supporting in-app purchases, abandoning games and not using their ridiculous money to develop things people want like Half-Life 3 (don’t even get me started on TF2 mess, almost entire community holds grudge against Valve for enshittifying it like a corporation that only cares about profits). Sure, Valve also does some things that are great for gamers, but I feel like it’s our duty as a society to keep these companies in check, otherwise it’s a slippery slope where if they’re no longer being held accountable for shitty things they do, it will become a normality.
I’m seeing some parallels to Elon Musk where everyone was praising him as an anti-corporate dude who’s going to save everyone from oil or whatever, while few guys were screaming about red flags they’re seeing, but everyone ridiculed them
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