3 ms·

Valve/Steam solved a problem that the PC gaming community faced in late 2003, namely streamlined distribution of online content. Now there seem to be countless

Valve/Steam solved a problem that the PC gaming community faced in late 2003, namely streamlined distribution of online content. Now there seem to be countless fighters in the ring; I can only see this experiment ending in either a small fandom based on exclusivity deals or smoldering out quickly.

TrevorJ 10y ago
Consumers don't really need multiple steam-like platforms either. I don't see the market supporting more than a couple. It's a steep hill to climb for anyone who want's to compete with Steam.
- roflchoppa 10y ago
  you know as much as a like competition in the market. Ive yet to have an issue with Steam, it works well, when I need service I can get it. thx Gaben&team if you read this.
  - azernik 10y ago
    As much as I like competition, there is still such a thing as a natural monopoly. Multiple competing electric grids would probably not be a good idea.
    - jungletek 10y ago
      Poor analogy, as Steam's competitors aren't distributing over a different internet.
- paulmd 10y ago
  Steam, and GoG are the only companies who seem to make it stick. On paper, GoG isn't doing things that differently than EA and Ubisoft (just the no-DRM bit, which is admittedly a pretty great selling point), but I think EA and Ubisoft's brands are just so toxic that people are loathe to use them for anything they aren't forced to use them for. I think Facebook runs into much the same problem nowadays. Their brand is just increasingly toxic outside their core business, and the network effect is strong enough that people don't really have much of a choice there. Blizzard is also a player, but like EA and Ubi they only sell their own products through it. Aside: EA has effectively wiped most knowledge of its existence from the Internet, but I remember when EA launched its first Origin platform back around the 2006 era, and then discontinued it a couple years later. I lost all my Battlefield 2 expansions, and I've been incredibly gunshy about them ever since. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_2#Booster_packs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_2#Booster_packs
  - theandrewbailey 10y ago
    There's actually lots of Ubisoft games on Origin.[0] I've also seen The Witcher and lots of indie games on there, too. I poked around Uplay a bit, but that appears to be 100% their own. [0] https://www.origin.com/en-us/store/browse/ubisoft https://www.origin.com/en-us/store/browse/ubisoft
  - TrevorJ 10y ago
    GOG, I believe is DRM free, and also tends to have a lot of older games, so they have some clear market differentiation.

TrevorJ 10y ago

Consumers don't really need multiple steam-like platforms either. I don't see the market supporting more than a couple. It's a steep hill to climb for anyone who want's to compete with Steam.

roflchoppa 10y ago
you know as much as a like competition in the market. Ive yet to have an issue with Steam, it works well, when I need service I can get it. thx Gaben&team if you read this.
- azernik 10y ago
  As much as I like competition, there is still such a thing as a natural monopoly. Multiple competing electric grids would probably not be a good idea.
  - jungletek 10y ago
    Poor analogy, as Steam's competitors aren't distributing over a different internet.
paulmd 10y ago
Steam, and GoG are the only companies who seem to make it stick. On paper, GoG isn't doing things that differently than EA and Ubisoft (just the no-DRM bit, which is admittedly a pretty great selling point), but I think EA and Ubisoft's brands are just so toxic that people are loathe to use them for anything they aren't forced to use them for. I think Facebook runs into much the same problem nowadays. Their brand is just increasingly toxic outside their core business, and the network effect is strong enough that people don't really have much of a choice there. Blizzard is also a player, but like EA and Ubi they only sell their own products through it. Aside: EA has effectively wiped most knowledge of its existence from the Internet, but I remember when EA launched its first Origin platform back around the 2006 era, and then discontinued it a couple years later. I lost all my Battlefield 2 expansions, and I've been incredibly gunshy about them ever since. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_2#Booster_packs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_2#Booster_packs
- theandrewbailey 10y ago
  There's actually lots of Ubisoft games on Origin.[0] I've also seen The Witcher and lots of indie games on there, too. I poked around Uplay a bit, but that appears to be 100% their own. [0] https://www.origin.com/en-us/store/browse/ubisoft https://www.origin.com/en-us/store/browse/ubisoft
- TrevorJ 10y ago
  GOG, I believe is DRM free, and also tends to have a lot of older games, so they have some clear market differentiation.