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Steam keeps on winning (www.pcgamer.com)
submitted 10 months ago by Carighan@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world

From the opinion piece:

Last year, I pointed out how many big publishers came crawlin' back to Steam after trying their own things: EA, Activision, Microsoft. This year, for the first time ever, two Blizzard games released on Steam: Overwatch and Diablo 4.

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[-] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

Fanboys and monopolies, name a better combination.

[-] coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago
[-] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

You missed an opportunity to say "coffee and biscuits" and I've never been more disappointed ๐Ÿ˜”

[-] coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

I failed myself ๐Ÿ˜“

[-] chitak166@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago

Sorry you got swindled into buying games on a bunch of different launchers.

[-] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world -1 points 10 months ago

I've not been "swindled" into anything, I've never paid for shit twice and I get most of my games DRM free on GOG. I use Epic exclusively for their free games.

I'm just sick of hearing Gabe's personal blowjob brigade pretending that monopolies and capitalism don't apply when it's a product they personally enjoy.

[-] derpgon@programming.dev -2 points 10 months ago

Monopoly isn't bad (or illegal) if it doesn't exploit and/or abuse it's market position, which Steam doesn't.

[-] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 3 points 10 months ago

Monopolies are always bad. They give too much power to the people who do not deserve it. Even if the one in charge looks benevolent.

Tell me, what do you think would happen if Gabe died tomorrow?

[-] darreninthenet@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago

Also it depends what's driving that attitude... if it's an ethos from Gabe then great but he won't be around forever... what happens when he dies/retires?

Many companies have started with great ethics that went out of the window when the founders moved on, and Steam is in a fantastic position to enshitify if it wanted to.

[-] derpgon@programming.dev 0 points 10 months ago

That's a lot or what-ifs. If a lot of companies enshittify, that doesn't mean all do. Especially when Valve is not publicly traded (sure, "for now"). It has a lot of credibility, especially compared to other launchers (EA, Ubi, Bethesda, Battle.net). And while there is GOG which is a great launcher aswell especially by selling games without DRM, it's one in a million.

By your logic, we shouldn't trust any company because they can all enshittify.

[-] darreninthenet@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago

If you replaced "company" with "monopoly" in your last sentence, I agree.

[-] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Doesn't even have to be a monopoly, I have zero loyalty to any business beyond the product they give me. Trust is for people, not for some nebulous corporate entity who wants my money.

[-] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago

Monopolies are bad. Period. End of story.

You probably identify as leftist yet here you are shilling for corporate capitalism the moment you like the product.

[-] derpgon@programming.dev 1 points 10 months ago

I don't identify as neither, I do no follow politics, nor do I care about some left right bullshit.

But yeah, if a product is good, I do recommend it if there is discussion. Your regular Joe is not gonna build his own home printer, he goes to the store and either buys an HP, or a Brother. They don't know how to pirate games, they go to a launcher and buy it there.

You have to understand that not everyone has the freedom to choose, because they simply don't have time or don't give a fuck, and settle for something that someone recommends.

[-] Aux@lemmy.world -5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

But it does abuse its market position. By setting very high developer/publisher fees and forcing everyone to pay them. Don't forget that from Steam perspective, developers and publisher are their consumers, not you. Their business is similar to supermarkets. Supermarkets don't sell stuff to you, they provide selling and logistics services to produce manufacturers.

[-] derpgon@programming.dev 1 points 10 months ago

But those fees are counteracted by large user base, which is large due to the fact the platform is great and provides it's users good features that aren't elsewhere. A s large user base means large buying power, which directly translates to higher sales and thus higher profits.

If a supermarket gives the customers a nice place to stay, and provides extra features others don't, the extra cost for having your store in there (in Steam terms higher commissions, although I personally think it's adequate, but I digress) is offset by having bigger profit overall.

[-] Aux@lemmy.world -2 points 10 months ago

That doesn't mean Steam doesn't abuse its power. Because they sure do.

[-] derpgon@programming.dev 2 points 10 months ago

How? By being a good company? Look at the Google Play Store lawsuit, and why were they sued, any why they lost. Steam is not abusing it's position. And if you think they do, gimme an example or two please.

[-] Aux@lemmy.world -1 points 10 months ago

Steam has several lawsuits and class actions over their head:

[-] derpgon@programming.dev 1 points 10 months ago

With a big platform, I would be surprised if there were none. Most of them were dismissed or Valve won. I haven't seen a big one that Valve lost.

this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2023
632 points (95.5% liked)

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