Im also pretty sure that it is possible to pirate steam games. In fact, I recall seeing a torrent that advertised itself as being a steam install, and had instr

Im also pretty sure that it is possible to pirate steam games. In fact, I recall seeing a torrent that advertised itself as being a steam install, and had instructions to install the game directly into steam, so in a way it was actually leveraging that platform for piracy. I'm at work so I can't really provide evidence of this at the moment. That said, I do think that platforms like this reduce piracy in general. Gabe Newell, in reference to steam, said something like "People didn't buy games because piracy was beating us at a service level" (not a direct quote). Having an app store like this reduces the headache of having to go to the store in some ways.