So I pay $X and 30% of that goes to steam. This is not me as the user paying. Gotcha. The customer pays for /everything/ /always/ under /all/ circumstances. I

So I pay $X and 30% of that goes to steam. This is not me as the user paying. Gotcha. The customer pays for /everything/ /always/ under /all/ circumstances. It's not cost plus pricing, vendors will charge as much as the customer will part with. Customers are willing to part with less when competition pushes prices down. That 30% is definitely keeping prices higher to the customer in any remotely competitive market. (I say nothing about whether that is a good thing or bad, whether that is cheap or expensive - it's just nuts not to know the customer is paying it, that's whose pocket the money comes out of).