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If you told me two years ago that anyone (even a major player like Amazon) was thinking about competing with Steam, I'd write them off immediately, but this mak

If you told me two years ago that anyone (even a major player like Amazon) was thinking about competing with Steam, I'd write them off immediately, but this makes a lot of sense. Steam has gotten way too complacent in its social features, and I am getting increasingly frustrated by bugs in the app. My ears picked up when Discord mentioned a "book shop" vibe. With all of the controversy about adult games and Steam's "grand bazaar" approach, I would love a store that was curated and made my gaming experience more fun. I smell a game vendor war a-brewing. The results could be messy...

heroprotagonist 8y ago
Well, almost exactly two years ago, Amazon bought Curse. I believe this is forming the basis of their Twitch desktop application. I haven't looked at it, but I imagine the intent is the same.. use Twitch network effect to build an install base, turn it into a distribution/store to take on Steam. That's what Discord had already been doing at the time, largely accomplished via the Twitch platform too. They must have looked at Discord when they were evaluating Curse, given that they suggested the purpose of Curse was to help build community (though curse was originally a distribution mechanism for mods and add-ons that added community as afterthought, in my subjective opinion). I imagine someone at Amazon is kicking his or herself for the choice today..
- ocdtrekkie 8y ago
  I am still surprised Amazon didn't buy Discord, and my internal canon suggests they must not have liked they price. Between Lumberyard, buying Twitch and Curse and merging them, Discord is a sure thing fit for their gaming arm. Twitch in particular is a great/widespread streaming platform with utterly terrible chat, bringing Discord into that would patch up a big weakness there. Microsoft has often been suggested as a suitor, but between having Skype and Teams and the Windows/Xbox Store already, I just don't see Discord meshing well with what they already have.
tzakrajs 8y ago
This latest Steam update is particularly awful. The client needs a major refactor, not a simple reskin. It reminds me of Microsoft's ham-fisted attempts to "improve" Skype.
- naravara 8y ago
  Honestly nothing I've seen out of Valve lately gives me much faith in the company's prospects. They kind of just seem to suck at execution. I used to work in non-profits and I used to see similar types of stuff there. Good ideas, sloppily thrown together with lots of glaring oversights throughout. They got away with that in the early days because the state on online computer games was so dismal. Their chief competition was services like Limewire and Bittorrent. But we don't live in that world and if they don't get their house in order someone's going to drink their milkshake.
  - tzakrajs 8y ago
    I have noticed this trend in tech where folks' incredible contributions to the company go unsupported and unrewarded because it didn't align with the goals of some executive. At Valve, where management goals are heavily obfuscated by the "flat" structure of the organization, there are even fewer champions to support and reward you for big impact -- so I am not surprised that no one is able to take meaningful risk nor execute on it.
Kagerjay 8y ago
Competitions are good though this means steam has to try harder now Personally I am not a big fan of the new steam chat UX, looks ugly

heroprotagonist 8y ago

Well, almost exactly two years ago, Amazon bought Curse. I believe this is forming the basis of their Twitch desktop application. I haven't looked at it, but I imagine the intent is the same.. use Twitch network effect to build an install base, turn it into a distribution/store to take on Steam. That's what Discord had already been doing at the time, largely accomplished via the Twitch platform too. They must have looked at Discord when they were evaluating Curse, given that they suggested the purpose of Curse was to help build community (though curse was originally a distribution mechanism for mods and add-ons that added community as afterthought, in my subjective opinion). I imagine someone at Amazon is kicking his or herself for the choice today..

ocdtrekkie 8y ago
I am still surprised Amazon didn't buy Discord, and my internal canon suggests they must not have liked they price. Between Lumberyard, buying Twitch and Curse and merging them, Discord is a sure thing fit for their gaming arm. Twitch in particular is a great/widespread streaming platform with utterly terrible chat, bringing Discord into that would patch up a big weakness there. Microsoft has often been suggested as a suitor, but between having Skype and Teams and the Windows/Xbox Store already, I just don't see Discord meshing well with what they already have.

tzakrajs 8y ago

This latest Steam update is particularly awful. The client needs a major refactor, not a simple reskin. It reminds me of Microsoft's ham-fisted attempts to "improve" Skype.

naravara 8y ago
Honestly nothing I've seen out of Valve lately gives me much faith in the company's prospects. They kind of just seem to suck at execution. I used to work in non-profits and I used to see similar types of stuff there. Good ideas, sloppily thrown together with lots of glaring oversights throughout. They got away with that in the early days because the state on online computer games was so dismal. Their chief competition was services like Limewire and Bittorrent. But we don't live in that world and if they don't get their house in order someone's going to drink their milkshake.
- tzakrajs 8y ago
  I have noticed this trend in tech where folks' incredible contributions to the company go unsupported and unrewarded because it didn't align with the goals of some executive. At Valve, where management goals are heavily obfuscated by the "flat" structure of the organization, there are even fewer champions to support and reward you for big impact -- so I am not surprised that no one is able to take meaningful risk nor execute on it.

Kagerjay 8y ago

Competitions are good though this means steam has to try harder now Personally I am not a big fan of the new steam chat UX, looks ugly