Open any gaming PC, and chances are the blue icon of Steam is sitting right there on the desktop. Not hidden, not optional, but almost expected. Over time, Steam has gone from being just another launcher to becoming the default storefront for PC gaming, almost like a built-in part of the experience. The Monopoly Nobody […]
Not a monopoly. Only people mad at Steam are competitors. Competitors focus on shareholders, Steam focuses on gamers, you know, their customers.
Steam takes 30% of a developers sale. That’s a pretty heft price tag.
People don’t call Steam a monopoly (though it pretty much is) because they don’t mind steam.
If you google for 5 minutes, you’d find that 30% cut has been in gaming for ages. Back in the day 30% would include physical printing, transporting, store space. Today Valve’s 30% means forever-downloadable, always in your game list, cloud saves, linux support, community features. If only Valve didnt use income from that 30% to make their service better and grow their user base while at it.
This doesn’t change the fact that they are a de facto monopoly, but gamers defend it because they like steam.
They can be a likeable company and still be a monopoly.
Yep, and that’s exactly why it’s a nazi bar.