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Steam is 100% a monopoly, they just happen to be a benevolent monopoly... but like all, that can change.
They're not benevolent in the slightest.
They are a monopoly 100%, just believe me bro.
If you are interested, I provided a pretty comprehensive list of definitions of a monopoly below, which steam neatly fits into!
Or do you want me to believe steam 100% isn't, just believe me bro.
You mean those same "comprehensive" definitions that failed with my argument?
No? I’m going to stick with the actual definitions you ignored, the same ones you stopped responding to while downvoting like my toddler.
The best you’ve managed so far is inventing your own definition where a company only counts as a monopoly if it behaves badly and takes “monopolistic actions,” which is a neat little tautology. And you still haven’t shown a single definition that includes any of that.
In case you managed to not see, or forget, where i previously brought this up, here's a link so you can refresh yourself: https://lemmy.ca/post/55030092/20023839
Outsized market power, what left out are the actions taken to make such an outsized market power. Monopolies are not a passive that form all by themselves. They are created through expansion acquisition, and aggressive crushing of competition. Disney and Nintendo do these actions. Valve does basically… Nothing.
I agree valve hasn't done anything, but that isnt part of any definition of monopoly i've been able to discover, except for someone arguing in bad faith on the internet.
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I guess then MS doesn't have an OS monopoly, because you can not only buy an Apple computer, but also install Linux.
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This is exactly why it's important for people to learn about how capitalism functions instead of how to identify morally condemnable behaviour. A liberal with think Steam is fine so long as they remain "horizontally" organized and Gaben remains the special boi he is, but will only be bad if it the company gets "greedy." There is no benefit to PC game distribution being controlled privately; any media distribution.
Not on games per se but almost on mods. Yes, there are other platforms, but the majory and newest are on Workshop. And they make it hard to download them, if you don't own the game on Steam (and Valve has it in their terms that they own the mods hosted on Workshop).
So one could argue that they use the indirect peer-pressure approach to market dominance, similiar to Google on Android.
I wouldn't complain if they just had a "Download" button on their web version. But they don't, you have to use the finicky steamcmd intended for server administration.
Workshop is kinda shit, I don't even bother looking there. Just Google mods which 90% of the time winds up being Nexus
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this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2025
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