Thread 725017417

For the last couple of years, a lot of media, as well as developers have come out stating that steam is very much a monopoly, citing things such as Vavle's cut they take from each sale as a major factor of their dislike of steam, and contributing factor of their monopoly. Here is the thing, is steam truly a monopoly? Monopolistic behaviour, has always been a thing in industries where a company has no competition, but usually monopolistic behaviour doesn't end there, they actively then try to shut out competition out of the industry or prevent competitors from forming, but in reality Valve has done none of that. They are only in a monopolistic position, because there is no other service that wishes to form, and provide equal amount of value to the customer using their platform, or better. This isn't a Visa/Mastercard scenario, where they actively prevent competition of forming and have businesses accumulate fees for using any other payment network. Epic Games, with its heaps of money, has been unable to entrench themselves into the digital marketspace, because lets face it, it's been years, and their platform still only has about 10% of the features that steam has and isn't making any active effort to rectify that, and despite there being different platforms even now, Epic Games, GoG, the industry still screams of valve's monopolistic position and often doesn't even acknowledge those different platforms. so can Valve truly be blamed for the position they are in, when it's the industry that just doesn't want to compete at the same level? or even try? and how much of it is just developers whining because of the cut Valve takes.

fat fuck gaben wins again (i didn't read your post because it's unnecessary)

Steam is good. It gives me slop to play, and I LOVE slop!

https://voca.ro/1e9i6g3n4Zpc

Can any Epic marketer please tell me why I'm personally supposed to have a problem with this monopoly?

I'm not reading all that.
I have been on steam for 18 years and they have never fucked me over even once as a customer. Until you can give me a real scenario where they have fucked me over that isn't a hypothetical your whining about monopolies is disingenuous and not giving Valve the credit they deserve for being consistently pro-consumer for all of these years.

>>725017474
what the FUCK is wrong with these niggas

>>725017647
>>725017471
The literal state of nu/v

Release your game elsewhere
>But I NEEEEEED Steam, the game will bomb anywhere else
Sounds like their cut is worth it, then
>I shouldn't need it
Vote with your wallet, take the sales hit and make a stand, stop weaponizing customers, not my problem
And I'm not a steam only player, I have a lot of issue with the way Steam arbitrarily censors visual novels, but I find the idea of me desperately trying to convince other people to use other stores too pathetic. NOOOO YOU MUST CONSOOOOOM. If they're happy to miss out on a product because they don't like a store, good for them

>>725017826
Yeah, exactly, Devs think customers can be weaponized and used to make change, because for them it's much cheaper to do that, then actually try to rectify a issue they see in their eyes. Same with Epic bitching about steam. Like Tim, you have gorzillion dollars, you can actually literally compete with steam if you wanted to, but instead he just whines on twitter and so on.

>>725018147
>you can actually literally compete with steam if you wanted to
he's actually trying though, buying up exclusives and offering free games left and right.
steam is just deeply entrenched because of friend lists, because of game libraries, because of achievements...

>>725018147
He can't compete, even if he spent all his money. That's the whole point of a monopoly, it's anti-competitive

>>725018254
the only real anticompetitive move that valve does is not allow developers to sell their games cheaper elsewhere.
honestly they're quite above board, nothing like microsoft or amazon.

>>725017417 (OP)
Steam only has a monopoly because all of their competitors keeps fucking their own anuses.
If, for example, Epic was actually a good digital storefront, none of this would be an issue.

>>725018234
Buying games, and offering free games is not long term competition, Imagine I was a ISP, you are getting internet at 10 dollars a month at your current provider, I make you a deal, one year contract for 5 dollars a month same speeds, after that we go back to 10 dollars, but unlike your current ISP, I don't have all the creature comforts they have, we don't have as good as a customer service, or website, or our router software sucks, or whatever. You'll put up with it, because it's cheaper, but once it's no longer, you are actually getting a worse of a deal, so what do you do? You fuck off again to the ISP you were at before.
This is the issue with Epic, you can provide cheaper games, or buy up exclusives, but making the games cheaper doesn't net you customers, because you are lacking everything else.

>>725018373
I never said Steam did anything. This monopoly comes from the customer, and I'm not gonna switch stores to launch yet another launcher. Thus, Timmy can't compete even with infinite money

>>725017417 (OP)
Tl;dr
Steam is based

This is a legitimate monopoly.

>>725018254
How can you say that, when Epic has none of the features steam has? Steam doesn't have a patent on a community tab, or a market place, or better UI. A company can only say, we tried, when they actually have tried.

>>725017417 (OP)
Let me guess, in 2015 you bitched that you need to install 10 launchers to play your games?

>>725018703
Nope.

>Just do the bare minimum(buy game -- play it)
>Don't put anything that inconveniences the customer(intrusive ads, bloatware, and subscription services)
I still don't understand why this is such a difficult concept to grasp.

>>725018590
It is funny to see stuff like Alan Wake 2 discussion in the Alan Wake 1 Steam forums because epic has no equivalent. Even people who don't mind playing their exclusives go back to Steam for the community features that people pretend don't matter.

>>725018743
>intrusive ads

>>725018234
Free games and exclusives aren't going to do shit when people are already playing their favorite games and are enjoying all the other features and support.
The truth is that Steam is the best platform imaginable from a customer perspective. Why? Because it's entirely customer centric. It has direct access, right on the store page, to reviews, information about updates, a full fledged forum for each game and it's all completely public. You can't hide if your game is shit and everything about you and your game is laid out in the open. There's also SteamDB offering up insight into update processes and all kinds of information that customers don't typically have access to.
That's not to mention the easy access to the excellent frameworks Steam has for guides, modded content, player made screenshot galleries and the fantastic support they give to developers to have their games make use of all the Steam API elements.

And this is all possible because publishers are being swayed to use Steam essentially against their will, by the customers themselves. Sure they'd rather have their games be exclusive to storefronts and launchers they have full control over, but the customer has said no, and rightfully so. I don't give a single flying fuck that Epic paid you money to be exclusive to the store and giving you a better cut because EGS demonstrably does not have my best interests at heart.
If you wanted to compete with Steam, you have to focus on the customer first, which they are not doing.

>>725017813
If you want people to read then format your shit properly
You haven't used the enter key once

I will say this. I, as a gamer, hate having all my games spread across multiple launchers and platforms. I hate having multiple accounts I need to sign in to. I want them all nicely in the same place. Thats just the nature of digital media.

>>725018819
No, that would make the blocks longer, and scare even more people off.

I like GoG

>>725018932
>launch game
>a second launcher opens asking me to log in
>uninstall game

>>725017417 (OP)
Gog is even worse than Steam because they don't allow anti-piracy solutions on top of having the same bullshit 30% cut.

It’s not about the 20%, which is the actual cut if you’re selling anything people actually want to buy and not some gamesjourno’s Earthbound clone about depression
The major publishers hate Valve because it’s not a publicly traded company and thus isn’t part of the cabal, and thus that fat fuck gaben can freely push back on the industry installing cryptominers in games and AI slop without offending his Blackrock overlords
Everything else is a psyops

>>725019320
Steam allows AI slop thoughever, they just need to put a little note at the bottom about how it's AI slop

>>725019378
And even that makes publishers furious, and they’ve been trying to find ways around it, because they know what a toxic admission it is

>>725018794
>Intrusive a-AAACK!

>>725017417 (OP)
Still no alternative.
>but GOG
No games.
>it has old shit you already have on Steam! anything else is goyslop for pajeet shill consoomer paypigs!
Stop being poor.
>but Epic
It has the same problems Steam has in addition to a worse launcher and none of the QoL shit Steam brings to the table like: Steam Input, Remote Play, Family Sharing, etc
>but Microsoft
Has some games, but not many.
>but battle.net
Has Diablo 1, 2, and 4. That's it.
>but consoles
Stop being poor.

>>725018794
You can LITERALLY turn them off

i will never understand why Steam makes turd worlders and consolefags seethe so much

valvetranny coping thread

>>725019378
There's a big difference between AI porn games and big AAA publishers trying to change everhthing to AI

>>725019598
They're poor and mad that they got VAC banned in a game they saved up for 6 years to buy.

>>725019487
and they're right, the concept of ai in programming is nebulous as fuck. we've been using machine learning algorithms for decades.

>>725019602
Just hide the thread, and go back to shitposting the the threads that are about to 404 and caked in 30 layers of post irony.

>>725019639
very true and highly educated fact

>>725019642
Shup your ass up, nigger. The disclaimer is required for generative AI being used for artwork or music. Not coding work.

Okay, it maybe a monopoly. But it’s through fair play.
>first mover advantage
>took a chance on an emerging market
>years ahead of tweaking to make a service that no one can compete with
>I don’t have to pay shit as a consumer to use steam
Valve is the most consumer favouring service and yet they make a fuck load of money. This is just other companies who are forced to use it or get boxed out because in the past their rival services have been dog shit. This will all last until gaben dies so stop sooking and just fucking wait you tards on the epic payroll

>>725019736
>I don’t have to pay shit as a consumer to use steam
you do actually pay, and quite a lot. games have a 20-30% tax to valve.

>>725018234
>offers up free games on his service
>his service is still missing basic fucking features
lazy balding fuckhead

>>725019878
He pays same price regardless of where he buys the game, like i get what's you're saying, but man, don't exclude details.

>>725019886
>Startup location
just this little option alone btfos all other launchers

>>725019736
That's what I've been saying, Valve is in the position they are, by simply not being like every other current company, other don't want to compete on that level, because it involves making concessions that goes against their investors, try pitching the idea of making less money, being more feature focused, and not fucking over your customers to public investors, they'll panic sell in a moment or tell you to get bent. So it's literally impossible for any other company to compete, but not by valve's design, more like by capitalism design.
>>725019878
True, but that 20-30% cut doesn't translate to cheaper games for the individual, supposedly, devs make a higher cut on Epic games, yet Alan wake 2 was still a full priced game, so the user didn't see any of that benefit, so for the user it makes no difference.

>>725017471
fpbp
>>725017417 (OP)
There's a dozen competitors they just suck so no one wants to use them. Xbox, Gog, epic, etc.

>>725020079
It will never stop being funny to me that Timmy thought he could make his new store become the next big thing by not passing the savings on to customers
I guess he expected all devs to immediately swap to a platform with 1/100 the consumers because they make 10% more per sale

>>725019736
>This will all last until gaben dies so stop sooking and just fucking wait you tards on the epic payroll
They've already planned to keep the company private after gaben dies, because there's a benefit structure to not go public for the employees

>>725017417 (OP)
Valve got there first and has done enough things right to where people can't imagine going elsewhere.

>>725020225
>not passing the savings on to customers
he literally can't, because you're not allowed to sell games cheaper on other platforms if you want to sell on steam too.

>>725020225
imagine a flat 10% off on every game compared to steam. maybe epicfailure would be able to gain some momentum

>>725018743
>>725020079
This, imagine if other companies owned steam.
>Not paying for steam plus? Well, we paused your game to play an unskippable ad for woke trash 3
>Steam store page takes 30 seconds to go to the next menu
>All games get automatically removed from your library unless you pay a renewal license

>>725020367
We're talking about all the games that never hit steam, for example the one we were talking about Alan Wake 2, it never released on steam, yet it's still a full priced game.

>>725018234
How about the devs actually lowered prices by 5-7 dollars which would still make devs more after 12% commission vs 30% of steam

>>725020470
>it never released on steam
Jesus christ. And then they wonder why it took like 1.5 years to just barely turn a profit, wokeness aside

>>725017417 (OP)
Tldr.
Like an anon above said they are yet to fuck me over in 15 years as a customer + a lot of stores line itch.io, gog, epic games exist, not our fault that gog is the only decent one after steam, may i remind you that epic took 2 years to add a shopping cart? Embarrasing.

>>725017417 (OP)
I didn't read anything.
Steam has treated me well for 20 years. Not sure why baconheads believe I would betray them.

>>725018556
Epic was and still is shit, they don't offer the customer except free games which people don't care about, while not having the most basic feature of open user reviews or a fucking store basket at launch

>>725020079
>True, but that 20-30% cut doesn't translate to cheaper games for the individual
You want consumers to be compensated for developers not being raped?

Steam is great. There's just the real risk that after GabeN dies it could all go to shit

>>725020559
It took Valve over 4 years to add a shopping cart. I started using it in 2007, and it didn't have one then. I remember them adding it some time before 2009.

>>725020696
I frankly couldn't give a fuck whether devs get raped or not. I simply buy games that are fun.

>Some literal who releases a "study" where a bunch of braindead CEOs call Steam a monopoly because they're mad
>Like 20 threads pop up
Curious.

>>725017826
>Stop taking credit cards, make a stand goy
I don't even avoid steam but your argument is dogshit. There's an obvious global effort to keep these shithole platforms controlled and alternatives defunded. If valve cooperates with CCC to make that happen they are as complicit making the bombs as CCC soldiers are for dropping them

>>725018234
>buying up exclusives and offering free games left and right
He's like a crusty pedo offering free candy to kids to take a ride in his mouldy rape van.

>>725020776
The same guy spammed these threads long before that. He's been at it since 2023.

>>725020712
Cart was added in late 2006.

>>725020776
It's not just a literal who, anon. It's much, much worse than that

>>725018254
Epic has a monopoly on game engine space which has lead to much worse outcomes than Steam's monopoly on a store. A company that can't create a good engine can't create a good store

>>725020789
and valve is the landlord still asking rent on the dot ready to evict you if you miss a payment
are we done with shitty metaphors?

>>725017417 (OP)
Here's an interesting fact: having a monopoly because you have the better product or exclusive access to a resource is not, and has never been illegal.
What IS illegal is using your position as a monopoly to harm your competition.
Now, I want you to look at valve, and tell me where exactly they're directly inflicting harm on their competition.

>>725020696
You want customers be inconvenienced and use a worse platform, with less features, with no benefit to the customer, for developers own monetary gain? Devs aren't owed a purchase of their games. If they put games on a platform that is so far behind what is currently out and expect a sale on said platform because it'll give you a higher cut, then they are in for a cold awakening.

>>725020865
Not allowing publishers to sell their games cheaper on other platforms. That's illegal and Steam will be forced to disband

>>725020839
Couldn't have been. I made my first purchase in January 2007, and I was buying them one at a time through the same dialogue used for installation.

>>725020862
what?

>>725020902
You Epic Games shills always bring this up, but it's not about other platforms, it's about selling STEAM KEYS through other platforms.

>>725020902
Steam is a program, and not a company, organization, group, etc. You don't know what you're talking about.

one of these threads every hour nowadays
a lot of jews are butthurt

>>725020865
Anon, I'm not actually trying to post anything as truth or fact, I'm inviting open discussion regarding the topic.
>>725021039
Read the thread dumbass, or is anything above 10 words too much for your bain?

>>725019878
Devs don't lower their prices in stores with lower commissions they're pocketing the money and you use a worse service, you're delusional

>>725021106
you are bad at your shitposting job

Why doesn't Timmy campaign against tax rape instead? When they say a game costs $60, that's what Yuropeans actually have to pay but Americans pay tax on top

>>725017417 (OP)
>citing things such as Vavle's cut they take from each sale
The thirty percent that's standard for literally every digital platform except for Epic and Itch, both of which offer little more than letting you upload and download games?

>>725021160
>Reee, a actual thread that invites discussion on my /v that's not allowed, only steam chart threads and goon threads are allowed. Here just watch the gif, so you have atleast something that you usually come to 4chan for.

>>725017417 (OP)
It's just the best store front on PC. It's not Valve's fault that everyone elses fucking sucks.

>>725017417 (OP)
still not using Echinkware launcher
still don't care about EA app
still ignoring Ubishart launcher
still don't have BattleNet crap
still cursing Microjeet store (and Vishnu)
GoG can GOrGle these balls
Riot can go fuck itself

>>725017417 (OP)
People use steam because it’s the best option. There’s nothing stopping alternatives from competing.

>>725017417 (OP)
too long
didn't read
-1 image slot
no bump for you

>>725020367
You're bullshitting, steam doesn't allow Devs to sell steam keys for a lower price than they are on steam, the Devs can sell their games on other stores for any price they want.
The Devs choose not to lower prices on other stores because they want to pocket the difference and not offer players a better service

>>725020789
kek

>>725017417 (OP)
The problem with Steam being a monopoly is not really the price fixing or the cuts they take (30% is industry standard, like it or not. Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all take the same cut), it's their opaque content restrictions effectively forbidding certain types of games, particularly Japanese ones, from being sold there, which due to Steam's monopoly making other storefronts irrelevant and a dead-end for sales, effectively bars these games from the market and forces them to self-censor if they are made at all.

>Do nothing
>Do absolutely nothing
>Do the barest minimum
>Go back to doing nothing
>Buy a yacht
>Do nothing on a yacht
>Give an interview, say nothing
>Other companies just keep failing on their own and falling around your ears while you do nothing
MONOPOLY MONOPOLY MONOPOLY MONOPOLY MONOPOLY REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>725021249
>everyone does it so it's ok
fuck this rent seeking behavior that we have all over the place with digital stores that do little beyond offering payment and a basic ui. they're overpaid middle men.

>>725020696
The Devs could lower prices and still get more profit than they do on steam there is enough margin between 30% on steam and 12% on epic, they still choose not to do it

>>725021414
I wish they'd ban all non-American games and be done with it.

>>725021490
Anon /pol is that way. Also summer ended months ago.

>>725020712
Valve wasn't competing back then. Epic is competing with dozens of stores. Big difference.

>>725021414
Just buy your weeb games somewhere else then, coomer

>>725017417 (OP)
didn't even read your dogshit post, just know that if you don't want a steam monopoly, offer a service that's just as good or better.
currently that's not the case for anything outside of maybe GOG, and that's by virtue of having installers available off their platform

>>725020902
Price parity isn't illegal anywhere but it could become illegal in the EU within the next few years. Wolfire v. Valve is probably the reason these threads are being spammed right now, as it is specifically challenging the whole price parity issue.
The thing is, that case will go nowhere because it is hinging on the idea of Valve's 30% cut being "supracompetitive", when it is nearly the universal standard for all digital storefronts, not just for video games or steam specifically. Valve can also just say that they are not gatekeepers (the legal term, not the internet meme one) because there are tons of other ways to buy PC games. Meanwhile Wolfire has to actually demonstrate that antitrust injury is occurring, and what harm is coming from Valve's conduct.

>>725017417 (OP)
I switched to GOG years ago. Only subhumans still use Steam.

>all these replies that didn't read the post thinking the post is more complaining that Steam is a monopoly when the post is actually explaining how Steam isn't a monopoly
It's November yall, hasn't school started back up by now?

>>725021470
how does the diddly do it

>>725021414
In all fairness, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, also have heaps of Japanese games, now censor themselves according to their own guidelines, I think this is less of a platform thing, and much more of a global thing, violence is okay, sex is bad. mmkay? type of mindset.

>>725021538
>muh anime coomer

>>725021602
Those people vote btw.

>>725020712
>You should use an inferior today because, sometime ago the market leader didn't have that feature
Epic has to compete with steam today no steam from 20 years ago

>>725021571
>The thing is, that case will go nowhere because it is hinging on the idea of Valve's 30% cut being "supracompetitive"
the funniest thing is that the whole reason those companies are so buttmad about valve is that they think 30% is too much, which is the exact opposite of what would make an actual case

>>725021648
Why do you need to buy your weeb shit on Steam? Who ever said Steam has to allow weeb shit for coomers like you? Just buy it somewhere else
But I see you already failed to answer one, meaning you concede the argument.

>>725021679
I never endorsed Epic. I was just stating that Steam used to suck as well. Thanks for putting words in my mouth, schizo.

>>725021602
maybe if op had made fucking paragraphs people would read through his garbage.

>>725021602
>valve explaining what everyone knows
yeah great thread this one

>>725021679
Inferior store today*

>>725021538
I do. But being barred from Steam and losing 90% of their sales just means they don't get made any more. No matter what way you look at it, it's a problem caused squarely by Steam's monopoly. This wouldn't be a problem if other storefronts were viable. The whole reason Valve does this is because they know they have no competition in their space; if other storefronts were actually competitive and could offer similar sales, Valve would be more hesitant to kick games off their platform because if some other storefront picks them up, it'd just be their loss.

>>725021602
>typing out the obvious
>retards cry that super intelligent chads don't read it

>>725017417 (OP)
I never understood this complaint about Valve "taking a cut" from sales. Like, what is actually the expectation? That Valve should host and transfer their game for free? Valve should pay for the servers and bandwidth, and provide all the extra features and social functions, out of the goodness of their heart? Are they meant to be a charity? Should the government subsidize them? Is this that "communism" thing I keep hearing about? EBT for game developers? It sounds very jewish.

>>725021738
>just means they don't get made any more
based

>>725021719
It's a barrier of entry, can't believe reading is one, but apparently it is.

>>725021602
my apolocheese, I'm so used to bait on this website, I tend not to read to save braincells

>>725021212
meanwhile Gaben/Valve actually did go against implementing Sales Tax on digital Internet transactions (alongside Newegg) but lost in court.
i get ya though how no businesses ever include the Government's take in the USA, where Europe shows the price+VAT so you see the REAL price before reaching the Checkout.

>ctrl+f linux
>zero results
this one achievement of theirs is entirely why all the bitching about steam is irrelevant and childish
they've done more for the world than anyone else

>>725021671
Voting is as real as magical girls "saving humans" from witches

>>725021684
there was no question pleb, you just outright said to buy anime games elsewhere missing the point of the discussion you supposedly want to have

>>725021781
Faggot bootlicker.

>>725021738
So no anime game has ever been made before 2003?

>>725021719
You can't read a block of text unless it's broken up into a hamburger essay for you? American education...

>>725021887
The market was less centralized back then.

>>725021914
i don't know on what planet you live (perhaps in india they don't format text), but formatting text is a basic courtesy if you want people to read your vomit.

>>725021914
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet Steam is not a monopoly discuss clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod

>>725021826
>valve and linux
valve is a tiny portion of linux, i get that you wouldn't have discovered it without them; but linux and even wine have been plodding along for decades long before valve ever got involved.

>>725021602
I don't care about the OP, I'm arguing with epictroons

>>725021984
>reading is hard
americuck spotted

>>725022001
linux has 30573234876% of the market share, sweaty. :3

Valve IS a monopoly but doesn't act like one

>>725022030
ok mujeet. don't forget to wash your hands after you shit in front of your house.

>>725022030
making paragraphs isn't just about formatting, it's also about structuring your argumentation.

>>725022001
where can i get some of that valve wine i will only buy that type of wine to show steam supremacy

>>725021984
Write text.
>REEE IT'S TOO LONG TL;DR REEE
Format it, it's now longer vertically.
>REEEEEEEE WTF IS THIS WALL OF TEXT, IT'S TOO long.
Just say you don't want to read beyond the usual Irrelevant question and lust provoking image anon.

>>725022093
>valve wine
it's called proton. it's a wine fork with a bunch of pre included software like dxvk and game specific patches.

>>725017417 (OP)
Valve deserves to be the only game in town, they're the only ones actually improving gaming by investing in Proton to get games working nicely in Linux

I'M A STEAMIE, I LOVE SLOP!
I DON'T PLAY 'EM IF THEY FLOP!
FATFUCK GABENCUNT-SAMA...
GIVE ME SLOP TO PLAY RIGHT NOW!!

>>725022087
Dude, we're on /v/. We're not writing a thesis on advanced biochemistry.

>>725022107
i'd rather have a lust provoking image and an irrelevant, time wasting question than your word vomit.
if you want me to read it, format it. otherwise you can suck a nugget out of my asshole.

>>725021984
You really can't read unless it's broken up into paragraphs with reddit spacing and tab indents? That is fascinating. Hey, do me a favor, try this - picture a rotating apple in your mind. What do you see?

>>725022245
Luckily anon for you, I wasn't targeting you in specifically to come post in this thread, so by all means, hide it and go back to the threads you do like.

>>725022378
oh i see, you chose the option where you suck a nugget out of my asshole. bon appetite

>>725022210
What's it like being poor? I ask merely for information.

>>725022210
you're not fixing microsoft with good vibes timmy

>>725018795
This

To this day I still haven't seen a single argument about steam being a monopoly that wasn't just timmy screeching.

>>725022437
>>725022456
GABENCUNT STOLE ALL YOUR GAMES?
IT'S ALRIGHT, HAVE SOME STEAMIE SALES!

>>725017505
it's unfair to offer a solid service with lots of functionality for a common fee.
How is anyone supposed to compete with this?

>>725022658
Ok.

>>725022658
take your meds timmy
and don't tell me you're a consolecuck, you don't even own your hardware

>>725018234
>he's actually trying though
>by being the worst platform possible

>>725017505
You exist to benefit corporations.
You live for their sake.
Think of the millionaires.

>>725018373
>the only real anticompetitive move that valve does is not allow developers to sell their games cheaper elsewhere.
They don't allow developers to sell STEAM KEYS cheaper elsewhere without providing equivalent discounts on the Steam storefront.
Why should Valve allow people to use their infrastructure (distribution network, bandwidth, etc.) for free? They're a private company who've iterated on a "luxury" product for decades and haven't engaged in anti-competitive practices while doing so.

>>725022551
Because there is no arguement.
The three types of people seething about Steam/Valve are:
>Entitled developers who think they should be able to use Steam's infrastructure for free
>Greedy companies jealous that they don't own the leading platform.
>People with unrelated vendettas latching onto this shit about monopolies as a scapegoat to try and "take valve down a peg"

>>725022658
How was my money stolen?

>>725022732
I would never trust Tim just on physiognomy alone. but then he xeets shit like that and the physiognomy theory is confirmed.

>>725017417 (OP)
go suck a dick Timothy Dean Sweeney

>>725020782
>if valve operates with CC
that's a pretty big if mate isn't it

>>725023348
It's kinda fun using this thread to see how many people actually read past the headline, shockingly not many on /v

the united states government very much doesnt like monopolies. valve isnt a true monopoly though. its just the most dominant platform. i dont really need all of steams features. i use epic a lot too because i got a lot of important free games on there. the only thing i actually need is just a downloader platform to launch my games from.

>>725023550
>op is hurt that nobody read his wall of text
make paragraphs next time.

>>725023634
>the united states government very much doesnt like monopolies.
that's the wrong tense. the current american government doesn't give two fucks about monopolies anon.
our only hope is the eu.

>>725023550
>makes reddit post on /v/
>complains it is not reddit
>????
>cuts off dick
many such cases

>>725017505
Because I can't play steam games unless connected to the internet and that's bullshit

>>725023634
>the united states government very much doesnt like monopolies

>>725023634
>the united states government very much doesnt like monopolies
based retard

>>725023634
The united states, famously known for disliking monopolies.

>>725017417 (OP)
Because the competition, despite having Steam itself as a template, always end up being terrible storefronts that hindrance the service with missing basic features.

>>725024848
>missing basic features.
it's a store front, the only feature it needs is a buy button and a download button, anything else is bloat.

>>725017417 (OP)
Gaben wouldn't have a monopoly if every other dev didn't abandon PC gaming when it was dying

>>725023634
>the united states government very much doesnt like monopolies
this nigga thinks Teddy Roosevelt is still in office

>>725025028
How are you finding the games without a search button?

>>725017417 (OP)
The problem isn't "Valve is being greedy", the problem is "the public market (EA, Ubisoft, Epic, etc) can't/won't create a platform that can do the things Steam can".

That's it. That is the entire reason Valve has stayed on top of digital game distribution. No one else can do better, or won't even try and invest in trying to do so.

>>725025261
just type in the url directly, easy

all these replies about my government monopolies post.

its true though the elites are very keen on making sure no capitalistic companies get a total monoploy. at least for very very big companies that have big impact on critical sectors of the economy,

>>725023415
They're already complying.

>>725017417 (OP)
They are only greedy if you believe the fairytales of a man who himself admitted that a lower cut is unsustainable, which means his plan for his own store was enshitification once he trapped enough users

>>725023783
Even eu isn't any better. They just want to fuck with industry in general if it hurts other nations

>>725018794
Buy a dictionary before you try to make another post on the internet

>>725021470
If Valve seems like they are doing nothing, it's because you have to run just to stay in the same place

>>725023882
But that's not true at all?

>>725017417 (OP)
I do have a steam acoount, but I primarily use gog. I buy my games on gog. Also steam is not worse than all the retarded launchers the aaa corporations have.
TL;DR: GOG

>>725020782
>voting with wallet is not so appealing after all when its you who has to suffer
Oh how ironic.

>>725025714
Here, you dropped this.

i use rutracker.org i am not some low iq shit-skin nigger that collects cuck badges

>>725017417 (OP)
Oh my GOD, the same guy from last time got butthurt because Timmy Tencent's dick cant fuck his ass properly and is here to get a new reaming from us!!

He's literally addressing all my talking points from yesterday on his opening post praying that'll keep him free from criticism!!

>>725025928
Fix your sentence and I will prove you are a liar

>>725023415
I knew it

>>725018234
He's not trying AT ALL. That is not trying! That's just flailing in the wind aimlessly.
You know what trying would look like? Making good video games, funding good video games (not ones that have already promised to release on Steam BTW) and then announcing and releasing those on your platform. At the same time you ought to be making your platform as pleasant to use for both customers and publishers as possible. Keep doing that for some years, and eventually you'll have a customer base.

Granted, Epic couldn't do this even if they changed. It's already over for Epic. They dragged their reputation through the mud so badly that nobody has any goodwill to give. The only customer base they have are fucks who are redeeming the free games, which is about what they deserve really.

>>725026796
I play all my Steam games offline.

steam is objectively too good to be defeated by competition
it's already near perfect and has decades of seniority and investment
the only thing that can topple steam is valve butchering the golden goose

>>725026796
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E18-319B-E34B-B2C8

>>725020902
epic games are not selling the games cheaper despite taking a lower cut so this argument holds no water at all

>>725018234
>buying up exclusives
This is the exact reason I refuse to buy anything on EGS, and also support the devs who stabbed their customers in the back by taking the deal.
Keep exclusivity cancer on consoles.

>>725027292
>>725027517
Are your computers still connected to the internet? That counts as being connected to the internet

>>725021414
Blame Visa.
Blame Mastercard.

He who controls the cash controls the world.

>>725028035
i have just turned off my wifi and rebooted
steam AUTOMATICALLY went to offline mode
you're coping faggot
timmytards are low information voters fueled by contrarianism

>>725028241
>wifi
lmao

>>725028292
i accept your concession

>>725028241
You are mad and not white. I proved you wrong and now you cry

>>725023882
Yes you can retard
And you have been able to since practically forever
Just download the game and go in offline mode. Or don't even bother doing that and just unplug the cable from your PC

Reminder OP is a paid shill from Rokky, a company who has its main form of advertising being about convincing devs not to use steam and sell through them instead.

>>725028369
>proved
it's proven you esl faggot
i have literally just had steam boot into offline mode by itself, no questions asked

>>725028374
>Just download the game
How, if I don't have internet? Enjoy your DRM

>>725028374
The "-offline" shortcut stopped working and I can't even open steam without it trying to update. I proved you wrong nigger
The only solution is to connect my computer to the internet

>>725028497
anon... you read the op at all?

>>725028509
>I proven you wrong
>he is the ESL

>>725028509
It's doesn't. It won't. I proved you wrong

>>725026005
I tried playing Gloomhaven on GOG until I found out I need to use their launcher so its DRM can tell the game that I have a legit copy to play online with

>>725028592
learn to english you dumb nigger
you specify time and say proved or you don't and say have proven
i also accept your concession on the steam offline thing

>>725028695
Oh, you're baiting. No native speaker would bring up hard-and-fast rules about how language works, you only learn that shit in language courses
Anyway feel free to give me another (you) but I'm out

>>725018794
Disable that in settings and put Steam to open to your library not the store when it opens. Or are you too lazy to even open settings faggot

>>725028667
I don't know what you're saying. Nobody sane is playing online games on gog. Gog is for real gamers, not degenerate normies who will die if they don't socialize with other braindeads for a day.
TL;DR: Skill issue. All the game I bought on GOG run offline. Don't evne have galaxy.

>>725028806
if you're going to throw esl accusations around be prepared to get the book thrown back at you you utter fucking moron

>>725028846
>needs to know there's a button that disables ads
>needs to know where that button is
there's a reason nobody changes defaults anon.

>>725017417 (OP)
Key resellers. Steam allows you to redeem keys sold from third parties. That is why it will never be a monopoly. If you can find a better price Fanatical, GMG, or Humble Bundle, then you can buy it there and redeem it on Steam.

>>725029115
>key resellers
those are just credit card scammers anon, never buy from there. it's better for everyone if you pirate the game.

>>725019598
>turd worlders
they either get vac banned and cry, or feel they are beholden to Tim "Brahmin" Epic because he gives them games that cost their month's wages that everyone else played 5 years ago
>consolefags
every now and then companies are forced to overturn some bullshit on PC and it reminds them they're cuckolds. They never got over the fact that due to the Helldivers situation Sony listened to PC players while not giving a flying fuck about PlayStation players, EVER

>>725028947
>if you're going to throw esl accusations
That goes both ways and that is why you got schooled like the monkey you are

>>725020862
>and valve is the landlord still asking rent on the dot ready to evict you if you miss a payment
But Valve has never once asked me to make a payment

>>725029390
who started it dumbass?
you
either shut the fuck up and don't throw stones in a glass house or stop crying you're not allowed to screech at others with impunity

>>725020862
Holy shit I can't believe my landlord expects payment.. We need communism now

>>725017417 (OP)
Not reading all that shit

>>725029673
Wrong. You only need to search the thread for "esl".
Do you need my to tell you how to do that on your phone little monkey boy?

>>725029824
what do you think the connotation of "you're brown" is, you fucking moron?
are the words you're using too big for you?

>>725018234
Being a popular choice is not the same as being a monopoly, there are avenues in which other storefronts could compete with Valve but they don't except for I guess GOG which is why I've actually bought games from there.

>>725017417 (OP)
I'd be mad too, as a publisher, if I had to give a fat old man and his private company 30 percent of the vig just to sell games on PC.

>>725029985
you can sell them off your own website
besides that goes down to 20% if you're successful
good luck with being independent on consoles though

i've used various steam competitors. they were fine.
lord gaben must be the special ingredient, so i'm not sure how long steam will last when he passes

>>725020301
Plenty of companies that had the first mover advantage eventually got obsoleted by competition. Sometimes it wasn't even deliberate sabotage!

>>725029916
There are many brown non-esls. Think globally brown boy. The earth is bigger than you realize. FYI, it's not flat either
Also, steam is shit because you need to be connected to the internet

>>725028982
>retarded baboon who grew up on walled garden mobile systems doesn't even bother trying to configure his experience
That is a you problem

>>725030174
i'm done debating whiteness with you because it's clearly fucking cope filler
>Also, steam is shit because you need to be connected to the internet
objectively wrong, do i need to fucking record myself for your retarded nigger brain to get it?
besides installing a crack takes 1 minute

>>725018234
I just don't want to use the Fortnite/Unreal service to store all my games, they don't deserve that much trust at all. Fuck you and fuck Sweeney.

>>725030408
>>725030174
Now kiss.

>>725030408
>i'm done debating whiteness
You lost the moment you tried to talk about anything other than ideas. Classic normie behavior
>objectively wrong, do i need to fucking record myself for your retarded nigger brain to get it?
Look at this image
>>725028035
>besides installing a crack takes 1 minute
That doesn't fix steam only the game. Nice cope

>>725030180
>just jump through 5 hoops to disable ads
>steam are the good guys i swear
they're only the least worst of the bunch.

>>725017417 (OP)
I like seeing these kind of threads now, they're proof that EGS cucks willingly accept their defeat. After the time of anger comes the time of the Bargain, and the tears are delicious, i can't have enough.
Keep'em coming, losers !

>>725030835
What are you talking about?

>>725030668
>i'm using steam one year out of date and i'm too stupid to take a screenshot
timmy, we both know you're not giving tencent store the same treatment

>>725028982
>there's a reason nobody changes defaults anon
"I'm not capable of finding the settings menu and clicking a checkbox, therefore steam is le bad" are you seriously this fucking retarded? Is this the point you're trying to make? For what, to claim that Steam has "intrusive" ads that only notify you once on launch? Don't bother responding. Get the fuck off my board, subhuman.

I am still waiting for 1 (one) solution to this 'problem'. Im willing to hear out your side if you can think of 1 way that resolves this issue.

Hey, Ebin games shills. Why is it bad when Steam has the 30% cut but Gog or consoles doing it is okay?

>>725030869
I'm talking about you, crying for a DRM. You're a loser, get over it.

>>725030954
government-enforced exclusives
each new game gets randomly assigned to a store and is only allowed to be sold there

>>725018234
>he's actually trying though
GWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Is that why ebin gaymes didn't even have a shopping cart for years? Which led to people being blocked for "suspicious behavior" because they were doing many small purchases in a short time?

>>725030882
If i connected my computer to the internet I couldn't prove steam doesn't work offline. Good to see you doubling down on being retarded though

>>725019378
>>725019487
>>725019642
this sounds like one nigga talking to himself

>>725031002
Are those people with you in the room right now sir?

>>725031020
>Government restricts it so you can only buy chicken from Walmart, seasoning from Target, and milk from the Piggly Wiggly.
Wew

>>725031146
offline mode doesn't mean stay offline for fucking years and timmy is no different about this
maybe move out of afghanistan if you can't update your shit for even once a year

>>725031183
it's not.

>>725017417 (OP)
Provide a better service.

>>725031265
It's a joke today, but it will be reality tomorrow.

>>725031251
Still in the denial stage, i see? It's fine, it takes time to fully process what happened to Epic

>>725021338
>not using GOG
do crackers just not know how to pirate anymore or does giving valve a 30% cut give fond memories of the time their uncle molested them

>>725031565
Brother lmao, seriously, what are you talking about? OP is literally about how steam is NOT a monopoly. Are you mentally challenged or do just have a reading disability?

>>725031282
Offline means offline you shill troll

>>725031780
offline means going out to a place without reliable internet for extended periods of time not perpetual fucking schizophrenia that causes you to not update for years
as mentioned, timmy isn't lenient about this either and if you're this much of a schizo you wouldn't have either installed or you're a fucking hypocrite

>>725017417 (OP)
>Monopoly

>>725031703
I... Erm it's fine but maybe yo- i mean oh shit i'm losing connection, ciao !

>>725017417 (OP)
I've always been curious what solution these people propose. Forcing steam to split its store off from the launcher and allowing people to use the steam store to buy games for their epic launcher? Banning certain genres off steam? Forcing Valve to split into different companies in different states and countries?

its funny how steamies ignore how Gabe did a rugpull on the Artifact community

>>725031989
Offline means offline.
You adding babble and gook will never change that nigger

>>725029269
shut the fuck up retard

i bought over 200 games from cdkeys.com over the last 10+ years and never had a problem

if those keys were stolen steam would revoke the key

>>725032305
sure thing shill

>>725032338
yes im the owner of that site, you got me

>>725032140
steam is a bloated mess of vertically integrated software.
the actual answer would be to force steam to make shit like the friend list, achievements, saves... easily accessible on other store fronts to allow others to compete more fairly.

>>725032223
whatever helps you cope about your sorry state of being
in the end you're crying about a company that's pushing for freedom and timmy is seething over not being able to run kernel level spyware on it

>open steam
>click on game
>it opens another launcher

everyone who buys PC games is mentally ill, when publishers start to respect their customers maybe i will stop pirating

>>725023882
>Because I can't play steam games unless connected to the internet
Neither can you play EGS games without internet?
What's even you're point?

>>725032470
>give others gibs because they're too stupid to do it themselves

>>725032549
>cope
Projection
You need to be over 18 to be here

>>725032672
maybe you should timmy to the same standards as steam instead of being a contrarian?

>>725032549
but VAC is literal spyware, it scans your whole PC are reports back to Valve, but you don't care about that because your a Steam cocksucker

>>725032749
Just curious what OS do you use?

>>725032836
>moving the goalpost

just curios, how does Gabes cum taste like?

>>725032749
so you don't play any games with anticheat?
since they're all worse than vac

>>725032887
>cherrypicking your security nitpicks

Reminder that Timmy is a console jew who spent years wanting PC gaming dead and neglecting game IP's that boostes his company, then saw how much money gaben made by supporting PC gaming and tried to take him down out of jealousy with a classic businessman tactic "if I just give customers free shit and offer lower prices, surely they will choose me over the competition even though I don't understand the market and my service is shit!"

>>725032929
>so you don't play any games with anticheat?
yes

why is it so hard to believe that? and when yu install Steam it automatically installs the VAC service, no matter if you dont play any VAC games

>>725032549
The same corporation that fought against your rights to refunds. Shut the fuck up anon.

>>725033035
show me nintendo and playstation refund terms then

>>725032998
>the guy that made Unreal and Unreal Engine that is used to make 50% of PC games in the last 20 years is a console jew

take your meds you dumb imbecile

>>725033035
>phoneposter
>likely has never used a PC

>>725032742
What? Do you need some rest?
>>725032620
>Neither can you play EGS games without internet?
Why does that matter? Is that your default shill response?

>>725033229
maybe you should hold timmy to the same standards as steam instead of being a contrarian?

>>725033154
Yes, the same guy who proceeded to spend years deepthroating consoles and making statements along the lines of "pc bad, console good" until he woke up one day like "wait, Gabe makes HOW much money by selling games on PC?!"
Also the same guy who neglected his original game series like Unreal Tournament while Valve continues to support Half-Life or Left 4 Dead to this day

>>725033301
You know that Timmy makes more money than Gabe right?

>>725033281
>timmy
Who?

>>725033136
https://www.nintendo.com/us/refund-return-policy/digital-products/
>required by applicable law
That’s a yes

>>725029269
The ones I listed are not. Look into how they work. To sum it up they buy directly from the publishers in bulk at a discounted price. Things like Kinguin and g2a are credit card scams though. Know the difference.

what does any other storefront or launcher do better than steam that would give me, the consumer, any reason to move away from steam?
>hard mode: no gog because i already use it
I literally cannot think of another company that is nearly as customer oriented as steam even outside of the gaming ethos. Proton alone is enough for me to feel happy that gabe gets to chill on his several yachts. even if i had never spent a dime on steam, he is making sure that all my pirated and old games work flawlessly on linux.

>>725033347
Holy shit, go for a food analogy next time
Mobile market most likely makes more money than ebin so guess android trash is better than steam and epic by your logic lmao

>>725030754
Settings>Interface>Disable ads
>jumping through hoops
you need to jump off a bridge

>>725033376
https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Support/Nintendo-Switch/Refund-for-Downloaded-Game-or-DLC-Wrong-Game-Didn-t-Like-Game-Accidental-Purchase--1379023.html

>>725022779
But Timmy Tencent is a billionaire too. Just not as billionaire as Gaben.

>>725033560
>Settings>Interface>Disable ads
i'd be curious to know how many people actually go through these hoops to disable something literally nobody wants to see. i'd be surprised if it were even 10%.

>>725017417 (OP)
Sir, this is a basket weaving image board.

>>725033837
Chinese basket weaving image board actually.

>>725018373
They can sell their games cheaper elsewhere. They just can't sell their steam keys cheaper elsewhere.
Talk about wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

>>725033738
You're probably right. Then again, we're talking about people who are less bothered by pop-ups than by doing a one-time action that takes several seconds, so I don't exactly see them as human

>>725017417 (OP)
TL;DR.

Going to reply anyway: Steam is only a "monopoly" in the sense it's 80-90% of the userbase market.

HOWEVER it ISN'T a monopoly because there is 5 other storefronts (that nobody wants to use lmao) that you can put your shit on.

It isn't Gay Ben's fault that you only get 2% sales from Epig versus 98% from Steam. Consumers are speaking, you should probably listen instead of bitching about it.

If you repeat "piracy is a service problem" to yourself long enough, all of your problems go away.

>>725032470
>the actual answer would be to force steam to make shit like the friend list, achievements, saves... easily accessible on other store fronts to allow others to compete more fairly.
Nobody uses half that shit, be serious.

Cloud saves are about the ONLY thing besides guides and the browser (both able to be Steam overlayed) that people use.

Workshop as well, but developers are being bitches and using Mod.io (Epig) or NexusMod (dogshit) instead of it for their Steam stuff.

Baldur's Gate 3 pisses me off becuase of that. No, I don't want to make an Epig account to install QoL mods like "no weight on gold so you aren't encumbering yourself being a Jew", I want to fucking use Steam Workshop for my STEAM PURCHASED TITLE like Gay Ben intended.

>>725018794
>is that... game ads in my games store for games....?? OH god... AAAAA SAVE ME NIGGERMAN AAAAA

>>725034127
>>>/vt/ranny

>>725020712
When you're the first, you set the pace. When you're playing catch up, you're held to others standards.
Tim should know that having to constantly update UE to compete with Quake engine.

>>725017417 (OP)
valve has been incredibly customer-friendly across their years, and there are few things that as monopoly they did or are doing badly.

1. Imposition of price: If you sell your game on steam you cannot sell anywhere else at a lower price
2. Censorship: anime titles get banned on steam without a clear why. the entire process lacks transparency, and there is no proper rule determining the line between allowed and not allowed when it comes to anime or stylized characters
3. Arbitrary censorship and ban timing: your game can be banned when you submit it for review, but it could pass that and then get banned 2 days before release.
4. Gatekeeping: Preventing official patches for games if said patches are hosted outside steam.
5. Outreach: some of their customer protection rules also stifle expression.

can't think of more. btw, besides the not-transparent censorship thing, and the arbitrary ban, all the other make sense for a business.

>>725034203
it was
now it's a poverty or schizophrenia problem

>>725017647
Based.

>duuuude use GoG
>GoG has more stability than Steam!
>GoG proceeds to admit their own business model isn't working

>dude use ESG!
>it's uh... its uhm... it uh... it has free shit every now and then?

>Dude use Origin!

>Dude use GFWL!

>Dude the game doesn't wanna sell itself on steam you gotta buy it on its own site!

>haha you're buying the latest blizzard title on their own launcher right?

>wow you use steam?
>why would you use steam?
>ew steam
>Ick steam
>why do you only use steam control
Fuck off

>>725034127
I accept your concession, Timmy Tencent.

>>725033738
I leave it on for ideas on what game to play. It never bothered me none

i do not give a single fuck about devs and their interests
its the best platform from a consumer point of view and that's it
i'm a consumer
devs can suck my tiny dick, they wouldnt even be able to clothe or feed themselves if it was up to me
FUUUUUuuuuuuuUUCK em

>>725034393
>GFWL
i cant even hardly grasp how asinine and horrible pc gaming would be if microsoft had a heavy and dominant foothold in the marketplace.

>>725034203
It was. People are only pirating now because Trump's America is killing them if they buy luxury goods (TV shows [Streaming], video games, books, etc.) instead of trying to keep a roof over their head.

Or it has EpigOnlineSpyware.dll in your STEAM PURCHASED TITLE so you might as well cut the middlemen (Steam/Epig) out and pirate to rip that malware .dll out.

>>725034420
>Didn't read the op.
>Types literally what the post says.
>Hurdur me smart!!!!!!
Retard.

>games are getting too expensive lately
>30% is the standard fee
uh oh... stinky...

>>725017417 (OP)
>"WAAAHHH WHY CAN'T I WIN WITH ZERO EFFORT!!1!"
get fucked LMAO
Enjoy the line go DOWN

>>725018234
Free slop and buying shit out both come across as disingenuine and refusing to acknowledge that their storefront and by extent their program as a mandatory to launch a game just because I bought it on their program sucks.

>but anon we bought out games to force you into this handshake or tormenting!
Sweet, thanks for trying to force me by making yourself an obstacle, faggot. Will torrent.

fuck the goddamn devs
this isn't like oil or gas monoplies where i can't live because they jack prices up
this is a "benevolent dictator" that allows us to play games without squeezing customers. this is a GOOD monopoly, what happens when you have a good king in a country
As long as Gabe is alive, keep it the same, don't "open the market" and let these fuckers squeeze us

>>725034610
If I turn the line 360 degrees and then turn it around it goes up!

I'm going to redeem this card

this thread again...

>>725033519
timmy doesnt sell mobile games, your going full schizo

>>725017417 (OP)
The purpose of protections against monopolies is to protect the consumer against actively unlawful or abusive business practices with no place to turn e.g. Microsoft frontloading their own software and making it difficult to opt out in the 90s.

These laws do not exist simply to break up a dominant business because it's the dominant business. Steam is an entirely optional service. Steam does not pay developers to come to Steam. Steam spends a ton of its own income into providing consumer tools that no other store bothers with. Steam uses a ton of its own income to provide servers and support hubs for developers. Steam spends a ton of its own resources to maximize consumer interaction with games that would appeal to them, acting as free exposure for developers.

Steam does everything in its power to be pro-consumer, so this endless attempt at abusing anti-monopoly laws to have it chopped up and weakened is just a blatant attempt by opposing companies to get a free leg up against something they don't want to fairly compete against.

you fags know you can buy 100% legal keys from 3rd party stores that are always 50% cheaper than on Steam?
If Steam was a monopoly they wouldn't allow this.

https://www.loaded.com/pc/steam

>Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo all agree that a 30% cut is fair on a locked down console
>Developers don't complain
>Steam takes a 30% cut on a PC with at least 5 different competing storefronts
>"THIS IS A MONOPOLY!!!!!!!!!!! BIG DADDY GOVERNMENT SAVE ME!!!!!!!! I CANT PUBLISH ON EPIG THINK ABOUT MY SALES!!!!!!!!!!"

>>725022210
epic will never work timmy just pack it up!

>>725033436
We have itchio, newgrounds, companys like nexon, hoyoverse who dont pay 30% steam tax. MMO games. Only you fake “gamers” want to play inside your ecosystem of a corporation that hates you.

>steamcuck making fun of Timmy
>meanwhile in the real world:

>>725035420
>indieshit
>flash games
>gachas
>"fake 'gamers'"

>OP is about how volvo is not a monopoly.
>Half the responses are replies on how the thread is dick riding Epic Games.
Idk what's more hilarious knowing that /v isn't full of bots, because they would have been able to at least read the content of the op, or knowing that about 60% of the people who browse /v have a reading disability.

>>725034010
>ItS nOt a MoNoPlOY becUSE of NumBeR oF oThEr cOmPanEys
Same logic with gas companies, you are overpaying for gas. 100 companies from around the world and none of them are under $1. Stop believing in lies.

>>725035563
>volvo
So that image was a selfie I take it

>>725035420
what does that have to do with ME? ive bought off of itch before but by no means would i ever give it a second of serious thought that i am going to use this as a main hub for my games. All of these stores exist and yet most still use steam, and when nip games get tossed off of steam for usually asinine reasons, everyone seethes despite muh 30% cut.

>>725035147
I usually buy most full priced modern games from key sites and buy most indies at full price

>>725035563
>read the content of the op
What are you gay?

>>725035631
Just use Origin bro

Just use ESG bro

Just get more shit to launch to launch your game bro

Just divide your library for the first time in nearly 20 years bro

Cmon do it think of the poor developers

Don't you want free games on Origin and ESG???

Why don't you buy on GoG when they acknowledged their own model is unsustainable?

>>725035504
Yet, none of these companies committed crimes like patent infringement.

Steam is one of the major reasons why games are priced at $70 today. If Steam lowered their cut, we could potentially get more games funded or games released at lower prices.

Steam is a near-monopoly because it has pricing power over the market. That's all that matters.
It has rules about how you can price your games on other platforms, and in practice we see developers following those rules.
This is literally a textbook signature of monopolistic behavior.

Now whether monopolies are good or bad in the end is a separate question. But to deny that Steam has effective monopolistic control (pricing control) over the PC Gaming market is just stuffing cock down your own throat.

>>725035937
lol
steam's cut goes down for games that sell more than $10mil and it becomes lower than on consoles

>monopoly
>facing free competition
>competition sucking shit means Valve is buying out/forcing an otherwise inorganic amount of traction

>seething this hard at an actual free market

>>725035937
>If Steam lowered their cut, we could potentially
you know that potentially means fuck all in the real world. steam could do 0% cuts and they would still charge 70.
the transition to digital only games was supposed to make them cheaper but when silksong comes out, it caused industrywide upset. GTA6 could release at 20$ and still make their money back hand over fist, then by the dumptruck once the monetization flows in

>>725035891
Nyooo

>>725036174
Steam has zero pricing power since they aren’t the ones that set the prices.

>>725036296
Charging 70 with a lower Steam cut would mean the publisher would need to sell less copies to make a profit, funding future games. The cost to make games are increasing but the demand for games isn't. So it's this or $80 games in the future.

>>725019598
On the contrary, as a third worlder I love Gabe. He made games possible to afford and made a great platform to discover free games or games with deep discounts. If it wasn't for Gabe I'm sure I would have never paid a cent for a video game and I have spent more than 2k in vydia only on steam. We love steam so much down here that we refer to the pirate part of gaming as "Steam Verde". May Gabe live a thousand years more.

>>725036424
We've been there before anon, right around the time ET filled a landfill and such an event was immediately preceding why we don't have $200 games today.

>>725036424
the audience is bigger than ever and thanks to the internet you could live in buttfuck nowhere and still make games

>>725036420
Steam sells access to it's userbase to developers for a 30% fee. 30% is a "price" in economic terms.
Developers accept that 30% fee over cheaper alternatives. In a competitive market the consumer behavior should shift towards a cheaper platform, but it doesn't. Thus Steam unambiguously has pricing power on the market.

Monopoly isn't about whether there technically are alternatives. It's about who controls pricing.

I like steam because it has more games, more freedom, more transparency and more features than any other launcher. Plus I as a consumer always get the best price available and don't get fucked over by jews. Not to mention all the good things they did for linux gaming and the 'eck. Other platforms just can't compete and you're pic related if you disagree, tho.

>>725036681
I guess it's Steam's fault Tim Sweeney and EA started a trend?

>>725036681
Seriously though, if you look at where the $60 instead of $50 game began as well as the $70 and $80 dollar versions of the same shit, you'll find Steam isn't the problem and the pattern of who is the issue to remain steady.

>>725036424
right but that doesnt mean people are going to buy enough of it to make a profit even at such a price tag. at a certain price point you are making less money from charging more because when someone feels like its not worth it they just opt not to buy. Had it been $10-15 cheaper, you would have made up the difference and then some with extra sales. How much that is depends on each product. i dont buy games over 30$. Lower your price for something that you have a literal unlimited amount of or im getting it for free.

>>725017417 (OP)
I wish steam was taking 50% cut, maybe these whiny bitches would fuck off and make their own shitty store

>>725036924
Price increases coming from entities other than Valve is exactly what you'd expect if Valve holds the dominant position.

My lemonade stand can't compete with Coca Cola, somebody please take down Coca Cola it is a monopoly ;_;

>>725037206
Anon, it has been EA and Activision every single time and usually coinciding with a new MicroShit Xbox release.

These games and price hikes have every time come back to console gamers buying that shit up time and time again.

Explain to us how Steam controls Xbox launch title pricing.

>>725034971
TRVTH NVKE

>>725018794
>A fucking popup on startup that you can close in less than a second
Goddamit tim you're so fucking retarded
That screenshot has to be like 6 years old by the way

>>725037617
Other layer to it is that hardware developers sit quietly while one software developer will be the one to day "Yeah actually its the hardware guys' fault that we have to raise money again and despite us being the only one to lead the way everyone else was already on board because you'll buy it anyways".

Just so happens the guy shilling ESG has joined in on raising it $10 higher.

>before fortnite nobody gave a shit about steam's marketshare because it was obvious all the alternatives are 100x worse
>timmy gets fortnite money and goes on a personal crusade against valve
>suddenly there are hourly threads around the clock complaining about steam
>the 30% cut is always the main criticism which coincidentally is what timmy won't shut up about
very organic threads saar
how big a check did you send hiro to ignore your blatant astroturfing?

>>725037881
We unironically suffer these brown threads because F2P fortnite got so many fucking kids into it that Timmy hungers for more money even if he has to force people into it by trying to enshittify Steam with government oversight and overreach.

Faggot Timmy wants to proxy fix what isn't broken to make his own shit platform more relevant.

>>725037330
>explain economics
>I must be attacking Valve
I actually like Valve, especially over the alternatives. But economics are economics. It's actually precisely because valve is a monopoly that it can behave mostly generously. You should be very happy about that.
If they were in the trenches competing with everyone else, there would be no "good guy gaben"

>>725018496
Niggas underestimate force of habit
You may be stupid or autistic. Just because you think you would do most logical thing doesn't mean that most people would bother switching anything.

The fact that you need to have steam installed to install and run the games you "bought" is mopolistic as fuck.

>>725039237
There's plenty of Steam games that have no DRM at all. All you have to do is copy the files elsewhere and run it

>>725039237
>download game
>crack it by replacing a single file
>no longer need to have steam open
it's that easy
the only platform where you're not running drm as a baseline is gog and cracked steam games are indistinguishable
all consoles run hardware based drm by default

For me Steam is the last store front that i will pay money on, i like them as a service sins i have never been fucked by them for over 12 years. i dont think the other store fronts will be like steam has been, is steam ever becomes a shit service i will pirate games.

>>725017417 (OP)
see thats what i want to understand myself, why exactly does the industry NOT EVEN TRY to compete, i mostly agree with you though, there is so much money to be made by making a proper platform yet they don't.

>>725040038
>i mostly agree with you though, there is so much money to be made by making a proper platform yet they don't.
no there isn't
steam has been too good for too long, nothing is taking it down except for valve themselves

There is nothing stopping you from competing with steam or self publishing your game. This isn't like the ISP monopoly in some countries where they will use every trick and underhanded tactic in the book to prevent you from developing your infrastructure on their turf. You can in fact go and open your online vidya store right nao and gaben can do absolutely nothing about it.

>>725040038
Dunno, maybe people like Epic Games think doing 1/5th of the work is good enough to make a dent in the industry, but as shown, it really isn't. Epic has put significant amounts of money in creating the idea of another digital market place, but they've done fuck all with it or even really tried, (and if this is their trying, holy fuck what are they doing.)

>>725040291
no you can't do that in something like a digital storefront you go the whole hundred or its not worth the effort, why even invest any of the revenue from fortnite into a half assed store you never planned to take into full fruition it doesn't even make sense to operate in that way.

>>725017417 (OP)
>a lot of media, as well as developers
>Valve's cut they take from each sale as a major factor
my radar is tingling

>>725039835
Simple as. No more is needed in this conversation

>>725040291
All their trying amounts to burning infinite fortnite money on free shit and cashback programs and such it seems. I had to use EGS recently and it's as barebones and unresponsive as it was years ago, keeps updating itself all the time, hangs and crashes with the unreal engine crash reporter pretty often. The best way to use it for me was to create a desktop shortcut for the game and avoid interacting with the actual client as much as possible.

>>725039297
A minority of games and requires extra steps.

>>725039825
Oh, just pirate the game. Why didn't think of that. Duh.

>>725035937
steam could give developers 10% of the sale price per sale and those jews would still jack the price you delusional faggot

>>725040992
>and requires extra steps.
>Ctrl c and v
>Hard

>>725039825
Oh, and about the console bit. Steam turned PC from an open platform to a closed walled garden without any of the benefits. Enshitification 101.

>>725035937
>timmy jerks himself off about muh 30% cut for years
>games on epic cost literally just as much as everywhere else

>>725040038
Even if they offered a better service people wouldn't use it because their existing games are tied to Steam and are untransferable.

>>725041010
They wouldn't if they could sell many more copies at $50 or $60.

>>725040992
>pirate the game from yourself
???
gog's games acquired yourself are indistinguishable from the ones you pirate
you want to get a pat on the back for buying them but you don't want drm?

>>725041129
>open platform
there's absolutely fucking nothing preventing you or the developers from not using it
no one wants to sell discs, get over it
there's no advantage to having discs over putting all your shit on an archival hard drive coated in bubble wrap

>>725040498
You will never see Steam's userbase go against it. You wont ever see passionate gamers insult Steam. And you wont ever see proper genuine reasons of why Steam is an evil company. All of it is just hurr durr bullshit half assed shitflinging.

Every media outlet, organization, or person who goes against Steam, is doing so purely on a business perspective. They will comment on the 30% cut, or the fact it has no competitors, or the fact that the it houses like 90% of the PC gaming playerbase, yet they will never comment on whether Steam is a good service or not. Everything they say is pure and absolute jewish corponigger slang.

>>725041129
Ah yes, there was absolutely no intrusive DRM before gay ben invented steam, in fact PC was such an open platform the developers gave vidya away for free and sent the hottest community managers to give a corporate-mandated blowjob to every customer. Fucking retard.

>>725017417 (OP)
Not only does Steam not have a monopoly over PC games, it doesn't even have a monopoly over Steam games. You can literally go on GMG, Fanatical, Humble, whatever, and buy a Steam key without Valve getting a dime (while they still cover the cost of the download, cloud saves etc. for that purchase).

This is why Tim's legal team went after Google and Apple, not Valve.

>>725035937
Clair Obscur, an AA game not bound by any corpo restrictions, that had 5 years of developer time, and with over 40+ hours of quality content, was priced at 50 dollars and made bank. It also had barely any marketing too. The 60 dollar price tag is an absolute meme and I long for the day that cattle will stop slopping it up.

>>725041678
>60 dollar
Bro. Games are 70 now

>>725041029
If I have to do extra steps it's because the default behavior is monopolistic.

>>725041332
GOG games work by default. No need to download cracks for them.

>>725041512
99% of games used barebones DRM and didn't require me to install a shitty rental app to run them. Hell I could even resell them just fine.

>>725017417 (OP)
>when it's the industry that just doesn't want to compete at the same level? or even try?

They can't. A publically traded company simply cannot offer the level of service that Steam does, as they need to feed the shareholders first.
Epic had an upfront investment and the usual timespan to become profitable, but they fucked up because they tried to take a shortcut to becoming a monopoly by forcing customers to use their platform at cashpoint. ALl teh while very clearly not giving a single fuck about said customers, as proven by their dogshit launcher.
GOG is actually up to par with steam, but they are content with staying in their niche, not willing to risk the whol eplatform in order to take up the necessary debt/sell their asses to shareholders to acquire the capital they would need in order to challenge Steam.

there has been no valid alternative since 2008
I've refrained from buying games that came with some third party launcher bullshit
apart from gog there just isn't anything else and it's not like steam sucks
still don't have an EGS chink spyware account for shitty free gaymes either

>>725041757
Yeah thats a very new thing and hasnt caught on just yet, only the newest triple A is 70 dollars. Id give it a few years maybe until all new games are like that

>had an old fat xbone die on me
>couple of games bought in my account
>fast forward some years and give PC Gamepass a go for one month to speedrun thru some of the games offered
>see on the app the games I had bought years ago on my dead xbone
>thought they've made something huge and would let me play them on PC
>actually need the goypass ultimate to play them through the fucking cloud streaming
>also months later bank notifies me some jeet tried getting my credit card info, virtual card had expired by then

see, I THOUGHT Microjeet would do something different and honestly radical to make PC users flock to their storefront making you able to play at least some of your library bought on their consoles on PC, but it was just another way of nickel and diming (You) thru the gamepass

>>725041757
Games are 60$ at the absolute most or I will simply pretend they don't exist until the go on sale.
>p-poorfag!
I'm precisely not poor because I pay for products what they are worth, not make-a-wish prices set by stock market addled retards.
Considering theres unlimited indies for ten bucks a pop to waste endless time on, there is no reason or pressure with paying this much for the same amount of fun I can easily get for a fraction of the money.

>>725035937
did EGS offer cheaper prices with their lower cut?

who
asked
?

>>725041775
gog games aren't one click installs
that's the tradeoff, steam knows people don't care about installers and if you want to do offline autism you can go through the miniscule amount of effort to do that instead of having it up front

Steam is a monopoly because I can't transfer my licence for a game to Epic or GoG.

>>725041775
Show me that GOG copy of Space Marine 2 working by default.

>>725040038
They do try to compete its just that all launchers are genuinely dogshit.
I have my own experience with them and it isnt good. First off Steam is just too big, everyone and their mothers is in it, so whoever tries to compete is an automatic disadvantage

Yet its made even worse with just how terrible every launcher is. I got free games from EGS, Origin, and Ubisoft launcher. Yet they were all buggy pieces of shit, unreliable with terrible clunky UI.
I installed fall guys on EGS, a week later I reopen the launcher, and for whatever reason, the game starts installing itself again?? Despite it literally being on my PC, I even right click -> properties and everything added up, it just started reinstalling itself for no reason. I had to wait 20 mins until I could play the game again. Shit like that made me so pissed I uninstalled it right away. But yet for whatever fucking reason, EGS doesnt fully uninstall itself from your pc, it kept bugging out everytime I deleted it, I had to install a 3rd party uninstaller just to get it out. Its just fucking terrible in every way

>>725042103
G0G and Epic are monopolies because I can't transfer my license for a game to Steam.

>>725042209
you can though
retard

>>725042209
But they do...retard

>>725039237
It's genuinely disgusting seeing consumers like you looking at developers getting buttfucked by storefronts and thinking you're the one who's not being treated well.

>>725041775
> 99% of games used barebones DRM and didn't require me to install a shitty rental app to run them. Hell I could even resell them just fine.
kys revisionist retard. Any high-profile game rolled its own DRM solution and often slapped some dogshit rootkit like starforce on top. Steam IS "barebones DRM" btw, so by your own logic nothing changed, you can trivially remove it from a lot of games and not have to use steam at all.
>Hell I could even resell them just fine.
Oh yeah let me resell my copy of enemy territory quake wars real quick. Oh wait it's a useless piece of plastic and the only thing that mattered is its CD key. Almost like this glorious open platform past never existed but at least now I don't have to explain myself to every other new game why have I committed a cardinal sin of having 2 CD drives in my system. Do the world a favor and stop breathing, instead of spreading your retardation, okay?

>>725042101
Yes, enshittification due to a lazy and retarded userbase.

>>725042336
WTF are you talking to? Valve is the biggest buttfucker of them all and you're the one defending them.

>>725042416
>you're making my experience worse by... making me replace a single file as opposed to going through an installer
neither of those requires any actual techological competence and the vast majority of people would rather have the game playable in one click
nothing has changed for you

>>725042416
>Valve is the biggest buttfucker of them all
Gog has the same shitty 30% cut as Steam while not letting developers protect their games from pirates.

>>725042379
> Any high-profile game rolled its own DRM solution and often slapped some dogshit rootkit like starforce on top.

Didn't need me to interact with a shitty "store".

> the only thing that mattered is its CD key.
So? I could resell it just fine because. Can't do that with Steam rentals.

>>725042562
You forgot the point: GOG games run without needing to have a rental store app installed.

>>725042723
GOG doesn't require integration with the store and Steam's DRM is trivially crackable.

>>725042723
>protect their games from pirates.

The age old shit. I've bought all games I liked when I initially pirated them, and any game I pirated I did so because I wouldn't have spent money on it otherwise.
The other pirates are teenagers without money and thirdies who also don't have money. No actual sales are lost to pricay, thats simply a fact.Its jsutu narcissist malding about someone getting to enjoy their product "for free" as a matter of Ego.

Also, in return for their cut, those storefronts will giove the game exposure, basically provide all marketing necessary for a small budget game and also handle payment processing and taxation including the fees that come with that.
Overall, what you spend on marketing plus payment processing and distribution isn't going to come out at much less than what devs pay those platforms.

>>725017417 (OP)
>Valve is taking a cut.
What do you expect? A charity organization? Mad that I can refund your shitty game after 2 hours because it's utter garbage??
Indieslop developers are not human

>>725042968
GOG doesn't allow always online games or Denuvo which is the issue me and many other developers have with them, it's objectively worse than Steam because of that.

-GABEN IS DEAD-

What happens now?

>>725042968
>abloo abloo steam installed is le bloat
if you're on windows you have no right to cry about this
storage is cheap as shit and steam won't take up even 10 fucking cents worth of a hdd space

>>725018234
>buying up exclusives and offering free games left and right.
that's just bribery, their actual service is so shit that people would rather pay for games on steam than bother to claim them on EGS.

>>725043338
We all collectively kill ourselves

>>725043338
No one knows because we don't know who becomes the CEO of Valve and by extension their plans for Steam.

>>725042968
>So? I could resell it just fine because. Can't do that with Steam rentals.
Yeah you could totally no problem resell an online game with a used cd key that was already bound to an account. I hate larping zoomers so much it's unreal. Just kys

>>725018234
>buying up exclusives
Openly going "hey I'll give you a zillion dollars to not put your game on my competitor's service" to whatever game is building up hype at the time puts EGS at automatic bottom tier. That's too greedy, too stupid, or too both to be trusted.

>>725043338
Either he has an airtight testament naming a capable successor in place, or we all get reamed out by the (((shareholders))) until no choice is left but to abandon our Steam libraries and go back to pirating.

>>725043321
GOG protects users from viruses masquerading as games. Nice.

>>725043382
It's not about space, it's about being forced to interact with a store and asking it for permission to launch the games I supposedly "bought".

>>725043574
1 in 10000 registered their games back then. Non-issue in real life.

>>725043338
Valve might have lost their touch with gaming as a whole but I dont really think Gabe lost his passion, you can tell with his HL documentary. He had decades to come up with something, most likely someone will take his place and Steam will continue on like normal, I doubt they will ever go public when they had that success as private

>>725017417 (OP)
>Here is the thing, is steam truly a monopoly?
Legally speaking yes.
Nobody can do anything to be sure they don't use their position to undercut their competition as that's the only thing that's illegal for a monopoly

>>725043789
>buying out publishers so they wont put games on competitor markets
wait a minute…… doesn’t this sound suspiciously like attempted monopoly behavior…???

>>725043789
And it doesn't work

>>725044432
No because they fund the development so they have a say on which storefronts to sell it, the fact that they choose their own storefront is just a coincidence, goyim.
See: Bayonetta 2

>>725044528
hmmm…. im beginning to nootice things……….

>>725037881
timmy literally paid for 3rd world spammers
he's the sole reason you're so many brown ESL anti-valve threads

>>725044259
>it's about being forced to interact with a store and asking it for permission to launch the games I supposedly "bought".
then why the fuck are you on windows? why do you have a phone?
you're schizoing over steam while there are fifty more things that harm you more
your priorities are wrong

>>725044450
>Alan wake 2 is finally profitable!
>immediately lose that money with your retarded attempt at a live service shooter

>>725021778
30% is still a big cut, and it would make sense if Steam curated their sotre instead of allowing sovelware on it.
I want to browse a store where every game has a mark of quality to it, right now we're still discovering by word of mouth about good titles, while many great one are still in the mud until some big youtuber picks them up and becomes GOTY in everyone's mind.

Is this 30% cut for all games? Isnt this still a bit tad too much and greedy? Steam still makes bank from its own market. Why dont they just reduce it to 25% or 20%. They would still be making money and keep people happy. If you're indie or AA, this would seriously hurt you even if you make good profit, no?

>>725045045
>I want to browse a store where every game has a mark of quality to it
Here you go

>STEAMIES
>*CLAP*
>DON'T
>*CLAP*
>PLAY
>*CLAP*
>THEIR
>*CLAP*
>GAMES

>>725045289
Sell on GOG, EGS, ITCH or any other storefront if you don't want the fee, surely the reach, features, services and fees are better there.

>>725045432
lol
all the crying about steam comes from the point of obsessing about meta shit, not actually playing games
if you actually want to play games steam is by far the best with the steamworks multiplayer integration, playing with friends, workshop access, easy installs and forums to get help from

>>725044689
"B-but Windows is worse!"

kek

>>725045289
if your game sells certain landmark numbers of copies through steam ( in the low millions) then the cut is reduced to 25 and eventually 20%.
and for how much data, servers, and infrastructure steam has to keep running I dont think 30% is insane desu. Id be interested in what their expenses for all of that actually is.

>>725045770
giving a shit about having steam installed when you're compromising yourself with way worse shit is like a fat fuck buying diet coke
your mindset isn't based on anything rational, just an animalistic contrarian impulse and you evidently cannot even begin to explain your rationale without looking like a fool

>>725025307
Oof that's some fukkin bloat there

>>725045530
Steam services serve the player, so it should be them who pay the premium, not the devs.

>>725017417 (OP)
Got me wondering if their are people who say steam is a monopoly and that steam charts don't matter.

>>725046150
>Steam services serve the player
lol no, devs and publishers have a shitton of metric services alongside steamworks, distribution branches, multiplayer based on steam accounts and more.
>I don't use it
Nobody cares nigger

>>725017505
It's a private company so jews can't stuff it with tranny shit and DEI

>>725046531
The 30% is flat regardless of what services provided by Steam they use if any.

>>725047030
Better use them all then

>>725020367
Even if that rule wasn't just for steam keys it still doesn't apply here
Borderlands 3 released at full price on Epic Store despite not coming to steam for a full year afterwards
Phoenix Point, a kickstarter game that was successfully funded prior to the creation of the epic store that was scooped up as an exclusive in exchange for a fat payment, also did not release to a discount, even after breaking promises to the backers that fully funded their game that they would recieve their choice of a steam OR gog key
It is entirely within Sweeney's power to stipulate that since you're saving so much on his store cut you have to reduce the sale price, but he never did because his strategy was to always court developers and publishers by making his slapped together store a more appealing choice and force gamers to deal with it

>>725017471
fpbp

>>725043338
I was sort of just hoping that I would randomly die in my sleep before this happened, but piracy doesn't seem to be going anywhere and I've already been dulled to the pain of what the future brings ever since Mannconomy in TF2 and CS:GO being such a clownfest that I never installed it. Despite all of this, the only other alternative is GOG and I still don't like their launcher.

>>725045432
That's right, they just buy games. Unlike EGS, where people both don't buy OR play games.

>>725049715
In a ideal world, gabens son would have been interested in vidya and be brought up with the same ideals as his dad, too bad, the son doesn't really care for vidya and cares more about driving in discount formula 1.

I still occasionally look at the Ooblets steam page to see how they're doing. It looks like they finally made their sales when they launched on Steam, but I'm still permabanned from the forums for pointing out that there would probably be less backlash from the disgruntled Steam users if they didn't lie to their Patreon supporters about releasing on Steam, and only informing them well after taking the EGS money. The ban reason was because I said they were kickstarted, and not specifically saying patreon. whoops!

>>725049715
>piracy doesn't seem to be going anywhere
Yeah nah. Its the worst it has been, ever. Unless future games have no denuvo, dont expect any of the new ones to get cracked without a wait time of several months of years even.

I know this is bait. But steam isn't a monopoly. GoG existing is a prime example of why not. It's just that between those two you don't have the need to use anything else unless they give you free games.

>>725017417 (OP)
steam isn't a monopoly
you literally just have to make a better platform than steam, that's it, just copy steam and you'll have functioning storefront, unfortunately they don't want to actually pay people to make that storefront so they go with the most low effort low priced piece of shit that barely functions

>>725017474
Humanity PLEASE!

>>725028374
people are retarded and don't realize they need to keep their login credentials on their PC to start in offline

>>725041775
>99% of games used barebones
holy shit, you're actually just a kid, you don't know what it was like

>>725017417 (OP)
>offers a worse service than the one I already use
>I'm supposedly forced to use it, otherwise it's a monopoly
just code a fucking basket tim

They can win, but they are too greedy.

>>725053351
Pretending you're older than 12 isn't working. Try something else.

>>725041807
>>725042379
There was small businesses like indiegamestore and wirdtarget. You choose to not buy anything outside of Steam. You choose to not be part of gaming community in forums and voice chat. You cause problems within gaming that hurt games.

>>725044432
>>725044528
Valve brought a studio and then fired everyone. They are not the good guys.

>>725043338
I give it half a year tops before the new people in charge go public with Valve/Steam whatever. Then it all goes straight to shit.

>>725028035
Why are you running a shader on your desktop?

>>725057267
And this studio is?

>>725034393
>tfw used to own a LAN center
>tfw Steam and to a slightly lesser extent Bnet were the only launchers that didn't consistently shit the bed

>>725017417 (OP)
Steam has the position that it does because to me, the consumer, they have a million small little things I like.
>simple, ease of access to games
>consumer friendly services such as refunds within reasonable windows
>compatible with off-service games getting added to my library for things like Emulation
>the library is cross-compatible with Steam Deck, meaning I don't have to re-buy games I already own such as Witcher 3 on Switch as example
>pushing Linux as a viable, mainstream platform for gaming and basic necessities to get people out of Windows hell which no other competing company is even daring to tackle at the moment; Epic outright refuses Linux as a platform
>friendly and open to modding, encourages it with the Workshop
>the community market isn't something I use since the old days of TF2 but still appreciate; things like Fortnite direly need to add trading and marketplaces to their games to offer access to older gated content imo

The list could go on, but here's the most damning point.
>every competitor is incompetent, hostile to the consumer, and simply offers a worse product.
Epic can give me as many free games as they want, they still lack basic features that matter and optimization that works. Every time I update Fortnite my computer starts freezing, but when I let Steam background download I never even notice. It's the little things like that that Steam has pressed for literally every aspect of their platform that no other company bothers with.

>>725017417 (OP)
>For the last couple of years, a lot of media, as well as developers have come out stating that steam is very much a monopoly
No they haven't, poojeet. Every single time it turns out that the people whining are Steam's direct competitors who are lying to tear down Steam instead of building something that can actually compete. Eternal curse upon Vishnu and your whore mother.

>>725018234
Ironically enough Timmy is the one who desperately wants to be a monopoly. Exclusivity deals are actual, direct anti competition measures and you just know that if Epic ever actually became the market leader they would try to do that with every game they have.

>>725057967
Ironic Epic refuses linux when EAC supports Linux

>>725018254
List the anti competitive things steam does.

>>725040992
>legally modify game files you legally puchased and are the legal owner of
>piracy

Fun fact: Digital software companies have been willing to underwrite settlements paying basically any amoutn to ever let the whole "you only bought a license" thing ever get cleared up in court.
So far, its not backed by any law or court judgement whatsoever and therefore a huge grey area.
Which means on the other hand, any company that wants to sue you for modifying your own game files without illegaly distributing them to third partieswill have to face a lawsuit that will clearly define ownership once it concludes.
And how that ends, no one can say.

In either case, what the anon you replied to described does not fall under piracy by its legal definition.

>>725020079
>but not by valve's design, more like by capitalism design.
Shareholder kikery isn't capitalism, it's a bizarre extra system we for some reason decided to adopt. Valve working outside of it proves that it has nothing to do with capitalism.

>>725020367
>anti steam pajeet
>lies
A tale as old as time.

>>725034352
>Imposition of price: If you sell your game on steam you cannot sell anywhere else at a lower price
You cannot sell STEAM KEYS at a lower price elsewhere.

>>725061515
Lefties jeep confusing Judaism Marxist fuckering scamming as "capitalism." Selective loans and enforcement of laws is the OPPOSITE of capitalism.

The 30% cut isn't my problem, and it was the people paying the cut who decided it's not my problem

>>725020902
Good thing Steam is not doing that then.

>>725021516
So why are you still here?

saars log off your epic accounts and go to sleep it's the middle of the night

>>725021414
honestly we've seen this year it's Visa and MasterCard forcing their hand. However it IS known there's some tranny inside with veto power against anime looking games, anecdotally as much of gachashit Blue Archive is, I've read that they've been left in the dark for months

Here's a suggestion I have. Why don't the other storefronts allow you link your Steam account to carry over your library to that platform? That way, you'd no longer have the Steam sunken cost burdening you.

So now, imagine this.
>New PC storefront comes along that competes with Steam
>They offer all of the games (except maybe the Valve games)
>You retain your entire Steam library on that platform when you link your Steam account
>Perhaps they make it a better experience
>And they give game developers a bigger cut of the sales
There you go

>>725057831
Makers of Firewatch, Campo Santo. Valve hired them to make Half Life Alyx and then fired everyone soon after.

>>725033945
Additionally, when a Steam key is sold, Valve gets 0% cut. I still have no idea how places like Fanatical get away with constant discounts on Steam keys direct from big publishers. Valve really doesn't police this at all.

>>725063014
>>Perhaps they make it a better experience
99% OF COMPANIES GET THIS SIMPLE THING WRONG. YOU WON'T BELIEVE NR. 7

>>725063014
Are YOU going to convince every publisher and indie to just make transferrable licenses for your marketplace?

>>725063017
I'm gonna ask for a source and wait another hour.

>>725063014
Eh I don't know. At this point you'd also need something else to hook the customers over to your new storefront. I feel that Microjeet actually lost a big one by putting your acquired console library behind the Goypass Ultimate tier paywall and having to play them through the Cloud if you wanted to play them on PC.

>>725063452
If I bought a game on Steam, I should continue owning the game no matter which platform I'm on. And vice versa, if I bought a game on Epic, for example, I should be able to play that on Steam.

>>725063976
i'm surprised you know how to write, respect

Another thread hitting the bump limit by utilizing excellent ragebait. Thanks for playing.

>>725063976
I've thought this should be the case ever since consoles got digital marketplaces.
I bought a licence to play the game. What does it matter which machine I play it on?

>>725017417 (OP)
Reminder: Shill threads such as this keep happening because rich morons don't know how to compete with steam, so they're settling trying to poison the well at a grassroots level with endless shilling.
Check out pic related.

They can't compete simply because they don't know what their customers want.
They can't compete with Steam because of incompetency.
They can't compete with Steam because all they care and think about is making money, and not about providing 'good service' which is actually the secret to Steams success.

>>725017417 (OP)
Reminder: Shill threads such as this keep happening because rich morons don't know how to compete with steam, so they're settling trying to poison the well at a grassroots level with endless shilling.
Check out pic related.

They can't compete simply because they don't know what their customers want.
They can't compete with Steam because of incompetency.
They can't compete with Steam because all they care and think about is making money, and not about providing 'good service' which is actually the secret to Steams success.

>>725065281
Yup. Gaben stated this he said he makes buying the game an easier experience than piracy.

Also a massive massive part of steams success is game sales. Lower prices make you earn less money on each transaction, but the overall size of the profit pie gets bigger due to more sales. This is not possible with the public corporation mindset.

>>725017417 (OP)
Nigger just make a better marketplace with avatars and shot. Of course it is monopoly while other markets are complete garbage. People want to communicate with other players.

>>725063692
How do you not know about this: https://www.engadget.com/2018-04-21-campo-santo-team-joins-valve.html

GTFO newfag