An article that could have discussed some actual problems with steam, but instead focused on non-issues like epic having a garbage store.

Press [ x ] for doubt.

Valve is one of the profitable companies in tech, it ain’t going anywhere.

Wow, ok. This blog does not indicate any reason for it’s decline. I guess, someday for some reason Steam will be abandoned, nothing lasts forever. But the criticisms it does bring is

• steam got sued by Australia in 2014 because they did not offer refunds. Except neither did anyone else.
• Steam takes 30% of the profit. Yet the author even agreed that the competitor Epic games Store does not offer as good a shopping experience, does not have the player base, and the author does not mention all the other amenities valves offers.
• epic games store reports they do not make a profit at 12% and failed to mention that a lot of the disdain of EGS is how they treated customers
• the author states that steam market dominance is a monopoly. That game makers are FORCED to use steam due to steam holding its customer reach behind its service. Which is a terrible take. These game makers could publish on their own! They could publish on GOG or EGS. Gamers are free to choose their platform and so is game makers, and the fact that steams platform is so good its become the defacto PC game launcher, is a value to those shopping for a launcher. I literally bought some games outside of steam because they launched independently.

This article feels like it was written by someone that has never gamed on PC and they gave almost zero examples of how Steam is declining besides gaming on Mac and their 30% cut. As someone that has been a PC gamer since the early 2000’s, they underestimate the ubiquity that Steam has. If it’s not on Steam some people will refuse to buy it all together. Not even as a boycott but just because they want all their games in one place.

There will always be alternatives, and I agree that’s a good thing, but Steam basically already cornered the market. Unless someone provides a service that isn’t just different but actually better for consumers than Steam, they will stay on top. Doesn’t matter about exclusivity, free games, or how much of a cut they take. From the perspective of the consumer, Steam is the best option.

And this isn’t just me fan-boying for Steam. I have plenty of issues with them. I just happen to have a lot more issues with the alternatives. The only exception I’d make is GOG. Their launcher is kinda meh, but I enjoy the lack of DRM. Now if GOG had an app and social aspect similar to Steam, that’d be a game changer.