3 ms·

OK, but Steam has a near-monopoly on games, Spotify has a near-monopoly on music, and both of these are working great for me as a consumer. Netflix had a monop

OK, but Steam has a near-monopoly on games, Spotify has a near-monopoly on music, and both of these are working great for me as a consumer. Netflix had a monopoly, but now not, and it's shit. I have to work out what platform a show is currently streaming on, and decide whether it's worth paying for that to see the show, and the lineups are constantly changing. Honestly, going back to piracy for video is looking good right now. The GP's statement "piracy is a service problem" is so true. And, unfortunately, to provide the kind of service we want, that means a single platform. I'm utterly uninterested in a world where I have to remember which platform that game was on. I refuse to buy games if they require Origin (or an Xbox account, or in fact creation of an account anywhere). I realise that at some point Steam is probably going to become evil and take advantage of its monopoly position. I hope we can persuade it to stay honest when that time draws near. I don't see any other option - I wouldn't want the government (which government? I live in Germany) controlling the platform either.

skinkestek 5y ago
> OK, but Steam has a near-monopoly on games, Playstation, XBox and Nintendo all want a word with you first. After that Fortnite and PUBG developers are waiting. > Spotify has a near-monopoly on music, ITunes wants a word with you too it seems. > and both of these are working great for me as a consumer. Good. That is because both Valve and Spotify know how vulnerable they are. > Netflix had a monopoly, but now not, and it's shit. Unlike Spotify they weren't humble. They abused customers by enforcing the dumb rules of the film industry. I'd almost say good riddance to them but it's not in me to enjoy others misfortune.
- cinntaile 5y ago
  I think he means Steam on PC.
  - skinkestek 5y ago
    It is still wrong. Gog, Microsoft, probably Funcom and a number of others (I'm not into gaming, I'm just pointing out he was extremely wrong, so wrong even I could see it. Or there is some missing context that I failed to see despite trying twice now in which case a clarification might be needed.) Edit: Blizzard and Activision publishes outside of Steam (too)? (I don't know if the publish on Steam.)
    - cinntaile 5y ago
      Well they have all tried breaking Steam's dominance on PC. The ones that come closest are probably Microsoft (especially with their acquisition of Activision Blizzard) and Epic. Almost all of them still publish on Steam, because they basically have to. Gog and Funcom are drops in the ocean in comparison.
bee_rider 5y ago
The music streaming market seems pretty competitive, Spotify is on top but they appear to only be in the 30% range. https://www.statista.com/statistics/653926/music-streaming-service-subscriber-share/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/653926/music-streaming-s...
stubish 5y ago
> I'm utterly uninterested in a world where I have to remember which platform that game was on. I'm starting to use GOG Galaxy for this reason, as it happily integrates with many of the services. I got shifted from my 'if it ain't on Steam, it doesn't exist' mindset by Epic giveaways (resulting in a single actual well discounted sale!) and later Gamepass. I'd still prefer a single service with everything for the right price though, but that will never happen while multiple groups are trying to deliver it.
- marcus_holmes 5y ago
  I bought a few on GoG too, mostly because they were old games that aren't on Steam, and DRM-free :) Happy to support that! But I'm not signing up to Galaxy. I supported HumbleBundle's Choice, mostly because again they were either DRM-free or sold as Steam keys. Then it got weird and "here's 12 games you're never going to play" each month. I'm not going anywhere near Epic (or the shitshow that used to be Blizzard) because I know they're just trying to break Steam's grip, and as soon as they do they'll treat their customers badly.

skinkestek 5y ago

> OK, but Steam has a near-monopoly on games, Playstation, XBox and Nintendo all want a word with you first. After that Fortnite and PUBG developers are waiting. > Spotify has a near-monopoly on music, ITunes wants a word with you too it seems. > and both of these are working great for me as a consumer. Good. That is because both Valve and Spotify know how vulnerable they are. > Netflix had a monopoly, but now not, and it's shit. Unlike Spotify they weren't humble. They abused customers by enforcing the dumb rules of the film industry. I'd almost say good riddance to them but it's not in me to enjoy others misfortune.

cinntaile 5y ago
I think he means Steam on PC.
- skinkestek 5y ago
  It is still wrong. Gog, Microsoft, probably Funcom and a number of others (I'm not into gaming, I'm just pointing out he was extremely wrong, so wrong even I could see it. Or there is some missing context that I failed to see despite trying twice now in which case a clarification might be needed.) Edit: Blizzard and Activision publishes outside of Steam (too)? (I don't know if the publish on Steam.)
  - cinntaile 5y ago
    Well they have all tried breaking Steam's dominance on PC. The ones that come closest are probably Microsoft (especially with their acquisition of Activision Blizzard) and Epic. Almost all of them still publish on Steam, because they basically have to. Gog and Funcom are drops in the ocean in comparison.

bee_rider 5y ago

The music streaming market seems pretty competitive, Spotify is on top but they appear to only be in the 30% range. https://www.statista.com/statistics/653926/music-streaming-service-subscriber-share/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/653926/music-streaming-s...

stubish 5y ago

> I'm utterly uninterested in a world where I have to remember which platform that game was on. I'm starting to use GOG Galaxy for this reason, as it happily integrates with many of the services. I got shifted from my 'if it ain't on Steam, it doesn't exist' mindset by Epic giveaways (resulting in a single actual well discounted sale!) and later Gamepass. I'd still prefer a single service with everything for the right price though, but that will never happen while multiple groups are trying to deliver it.

marcus_holmes 5y ago
I bought a few on GoG too, mostly because they were old games that aren't on Steam, and DRM-free :) Happy to support that! But I'm not signing up to Galaxy. I supported HumbleBundle's Choice, mostly because again they were either DRM-free or sold as Steam keys. Then it got weird and "here's 12 games you're never going to play" each month. I'm not going anywhere near Epic (or the shitshow that used to be Blizzard) because I know they're just trying to break Steam's grip, and as soon as they do they'll treat their customers badly.