A new lawsuit was filed earlier this month in the UK that alleges Valve, owner of Steam, has been overcharging 14 million PC gamers and abusing its dominant position in the UK.
Hey I’m all for another company to produce a better product but…have you see the other options? Not really a monopoly when there is competition out there but they all, maybe with the exception of GoG, collectively suck.
This isn’t like the 90s where if you bought a PC you HAD to use Microsoft. Do you have to now? no there’s plenty of Linux distros out there that are quite good and now work with just about everything. It’s not like Steam is installed by default on PCs. you have the option to use Epic, or Ubisoft, or EA Play, or Game Pass, or GoG. And keep in mind Epic has PC time exclusives that aren’t available on Steam. If you wanted to play Kingdom Hearts on PC you used to have to buy it via Epic and only Epic. same deal with pretty much any EA game for a time. and in the case of EA the consumer spoke up, told them their launcher was shit, and EA then decided to release on Steam.
Every single argument there could be applied to every Amazon, Google, etc.
As a publisher if you do not publish on steam you are review bombed, rage bait is plastered across the internet, and every other comment online is about boycotting.
Oh and there is an easy solution from 15 years ago. Steam killed it. Discs. Or a modern digital representation where you can resell and use the content with a launcher.
I always find it funny when i point out too pcmr that console gaming is far cheaper and easier fairer to the consumer for this reason.
I always find it funny when i point out too pcmr that console gaming is far cheaper and easier fairer to the consumer for this reason.
well that’s just a straight up lie. Sony has timed exclusives. as does Xbox. If I want to play Final Fantasy 16 tell me what are my options? I’m not shelling out $500 for a PS5 to play it. or how about the Silent Hill 2 remake? FF rebirth? hmm Death Stranding 2? the KOTR Remake? Wolverine? Marathon?
Essentially If I want to play them and not have to wait to play on Steam I have to buy a PS5. Sony pays these publishers to have the game on their product first and for an extended period of time ONLY their product. Microsoft does the same. Valve isn’t paying anyone for timed exclusives. that’s not fair at all.
And you think you can resell your digital playstation or xbox content or switch? no you can’t do that either, you know this. Hell Microsoft is releasing a digital only Xbox for this very purpose. these companies would love nothing more than to kill the used game market.
as far as review bombs go? please. Fortnite isn’t on steam, does that get review bombed? League of Legends? Valorent? World of Warcraft? several games exclusive to game pass?
I resell and rent games all the time. It’s far far cheaper and you aren’t waiting for sales. You can easily relist software for 90% of its value. I use gamely so I spent $250 and played maybe 40 or so titles not having to wait for sales.
Add in the costs of a PC vs a console and it’s not even close. I save literally thousands of dollars a year.
Hey I’m all for another company to produce a better product but…have you see the other options? Not really a monopoly when there is competition out there but they all, maybe with the exception of GoG, collectively suck.
This isn’t like the 90s where if you bought a PC you HAD to use Microsoft. Do you have to now? no there’s plenty of Linux distros out there that are quite good and now work with just about everything. It’s not like Steam is installed by default on PCs. you have the option to use Epic, or Ubisoft, or EA Play, or Game Pass, or GoG. And keep in mind Epic has PC time exclusives that aren’t available on Steam. If you wanted to play Kingdom Hearts on PC you used to have to buy it via Epic and only Epic. same deal with pretty much any EA game for a time. and in the case of EA the consumer spoke up, told them their launcher was shit, and EA then decided to release on Steam.
Every single argument there could be applied to every Amazon, Google, etc.
As a publisher if you do not publish on steam you are review bombed, rage bait is plastered across the internet, and every other comment online is about boycotting.
Oh and there is an easy solution from 15 years ago. Steam killed it. Discs. Or a modern digital representation where you can resell and use the content with a launcher.
I always find it funny when i point out too pcmr that console gaming is far cheaper and easier fairer to the consumer for this reason.
well that’s just a straight up lie. Sony has timed exclusives. as does Xbox. If I want to play Final Fantasy 16 tell me what are my options? I’m not shelling out $500 for a PS5 to play it. or how about the Silent Hill 2 remake? FF rebirth? hmm Death Stranding 2? the KOTR Remake? Wolverine? Marathon?
Essentially If I want to play them and not have to wait to play on Steam I have to buy a PS5. Sony pays these publishers to have the game on their product first and for an extended period of time ONLY their product. Microsoft does the same. Valve isn’t paying anyone for timed exclusives. that’s not fair at all.
And you think you can resell your digital playstation or xbox content or switch? no you can’t do that either, you know this. Hell Microsoft is releasing a digital only Xbox for this very purpose. these companies would love nothing more than to kill the used game market.
as far as review bombs go? please. Fortnite isn’t on steam, does that get review bombed? League of Legends? Valorent? World of Warcraft? several games exclusive to game pass?
none of your arguments hold much, if any, weight.
I resell and rent games all the time. It’s far far cheaper and you aren’t waiting for sales. You can easily relist software for 90% of its value. I use gamely so I spent $250 and played maybe 40 or so titles not having to wait for sales.
Add in the costs of a PC vs a console and it’s not even close. I save literally thousands of dollars a year.
PC: 0€ because you already have one for all the other stuff you do that’s not gaming?
Or does everyone really just rely on smartphones exclusively nowadays?
has games from companies like Riot games, or various MMOs been reviewbombed for not being on steam?
Of course there are edge cases.