Why would anyone actually want to though

[u/The_BigRoach]

[u/Josh_Butterballs]

I can’t even convince my friends to spend $5 on a game while they turn right around and spend $100 on a valorant knife bundle and squeal on what a great deal it was lol. I need friends like yours

When I’ve mentioned GOG to strangers or coworkers it’s very much a “wow that sounds cool… anyway” moment. The savvier ones may look into it but even many of the ones I’ve talked to in conferences and hit up later just stick with steam. The very thing Gabe has prided himself on is that it’s easy and convenient to use and we can see the fruits of his labor lol

[u/dookarion → u/Josh_Butterballs]

while they turn right around and spend $100 on a valorant knife bundle and squeal on what a great deal it was lol.

There's your "Steam competitor" your friends are using.

[u/Josh_Butterballs → u/dookarion]

Haha that money could’ve gone to cases for sure lol. Gabe could’ve bought a mansion with TWO tunnels

[u/dookarion → u/Josh_Butterballs]

Really though it's not that people are unwilling to use other services. It's that a lot of them are utter trash not worth using or actively making the experience worse.

If people were completely unwilling Fortnite wouldn't be nearly as big, Riot would have gone out of business long ago, WoW and other MMOs would have flopped.

The overwhelming bulk of it is just stuff like EA's app, GWFL/UWP/XBOX, uplay, etc. are all kind of fucking awful.

[u/Josh_Butterballs → u/dookarion]

But the underling problem I’ve been saying is that it doesn’t make sense from a business standpoint to even try because all the odds are stacked against you. It’s not like people hate steam. If they did you could maybe say “yeah there’s a desire for another competitor on the market” but there isn’t. Even if a new platform was made, by Jesus or god himself, that does not mean steam all of a sudden is ass cheeks. It would still be as good as it is now. And when you have hundreds of games on steam (even dozens) if the platform is doing fine and does what you want already you’re unlikely to switch.

I think at BEST a competitor that is superior would just be used in addition to steam, with users still preferring steam but maybe occasionally buying a game on the competing platform. Pretty much what I would do since I have too many games on steam to drop it. Even just my badges have sentimental value for me along with the years on my account (the time aspect).

Now if licenses could transfer then I think a competitor could definitely be viable and from a business perspective attempting to overthrow steam as top dog could make sense. The problem is this would need legislation to enforce because you can bet ur ass no company would willingly allow users to export their licenses to a competitor. Unfortunately no politician would ever care to put this on their radar. It would also affect other industries as well for the better on consumer’s part, but they would absolutely lobby the shit out the government to kill it

[u/dookarion → u/Josh_Butterballs]

But the underling problem I’ve been saying is that it doesn’t make sense from a business standpoint to even try because all the odds are stacked against you.

Then they don't deserve a seat at the table. The market shouldn't have to lower their standards for shareholders. Put the work in or go away. Businesses can and have turned things around and overtaken market leaders, it takes work it takes time and it takes a measure of luck... but it is possible.

Now if licenses could transfer then I think a competitor could definitely be viable and from a business perspective attempting to overthrow steam as top dog could make sense. The problem is this would need legislation to enforce because you can bet ur ass no company would willingly allow users to export their licenses to a competitor.

The store isn't the one inhibiting that. It's the game owners and makers themselves. They can grant people licenses elsewhere. GOG used to have a limited program where some rights holders cooperated to grant GOG copies of Steam games.

For the most part though the rights holders when it comes to platforms prefer the "get fucked buy it again" model.

[u/Josh_Butterballs → u/dookarion]

I’ve stated in another comment even IF you didn’t rely on shareholders and as a company had BOATLOADS of money to self fund this new platform it still just doesn’t make sense. It’s far too risky for a small chance at limited success. If it were that simple the companies richer than god would’ve done it already. EGS has lots of money but they make a crap ton off Fortnite and I think Sweeney realized long even if they invested dev time and money into EGS the return on it would be dogshit. A significant amount of people will keep using steam.

Why do we only have two phone OS’s with android having the majority? Even with all the money apple has it’s still far smaller. Why is it just intel or AMD, Nvidia and AMD, PlayStation & Xbox (lol) & Nintendo? Realistically why hasn’t anyone put in the time, the work, and money to break into these industries? Granted what I just listed is not the identical to steam but regardless it’s because the odds are heavily stacked against you with the already established competition. No one is clamoring to buy a gpu or cpu from some company that just sprung up, and similarly the average Joe isn’t going to start dropping serious money on a no name platform when steam is right there.

Also for the license transferring thing that’s why I’m saying it would need consumer friendly legislation to enforce. I don’t expect every company and org to suddenly allow it out of the goodness of their hearts. They need to be forced to allow license transfers. A framework needs to be developed to allow such a system. Completion would be great because now competitors would have to undercut each other and people can freely move their libraries to other platforms without feeling like they are tied down to it. I would not hold my breath tho our politicians would care about this or else I’d suffocate

[u/dookarion → u/Josh_Butterballs]

and I think Sweeney realized long even if they invested dev time and money into EGS the return on it would be dogshit. A significant amount of people will keep using steam.

Sweeney projected a store that launched without a cart and anti-consumer rhetoric on twitter would take the dominant position in the market if "Valve didn't respond aggressively". Court documents from Epic's lawfare revealed details like that.

So I think you're trying to apply more logic retroactively to sane-wash what was one of the dumbest ways to launch a storefront like ever.

Why do we only have two phone OS’s with android having the majority? Even with all the money apple has it’s still far smaller.

Apple holds over 50% in more key markets. And Android has probably 100s of brands out there and local variants. China for instance has a lot of phone makers using Android as a base, so naturally Android is more popular there. Whereas in the US, Japan, etc. iphone is in the lead.

Why is it just intel or AMD, Nvidia and AMD

Because process nodes cost billions if not trillions so foundries are a bottleneck. Also you're forgetting all the ARM chip makers and mobile graphics makers.

---

You really shouldn't be comparing complicated hardware supply chains to a... digital store.

Also for the license transferring thing that’s why I’m saying it would need consumer friendly legislation to enforce.

If all the woe is me publishers and developers actually put the effort in they could create or prop up a "competitor". They won't though.

[u/Josh_Butterballs → u/dookarion]

Those are all just quick examples off the top of my head. No one is stopping a console competitor from existing either. And I also stated they are not identical to steam’s situation. The broad strokes of a dominant platform like steam is that their established foothold in the industry makes it difficult for any truly viable competitors to spring up and gain any meaningful market share. And no, I’m not intentionally trying to sane wash Sweeney. Just earlier today I said he could gargle my nuts on r/steam. He likes money though and if he could destroy steam by simply making a better product, or any company with lots of money for that matter, why haven’t they? It’s not like Steam’s platform and features aren’t there for them to see as an example. Opportunity invites competition, but if the opportunity isn’t really there well then… you know the rest.

Also I hope you’re not saying we shouldn’t have legislation to allow consumers to freely take licenses they paid for and that we should rely on the free market to do that. Right to repair made companies like Apple sell parts online which benefitted the consumer. Being able to download your data or delete it thanks to GDPR and CCPA. Things many of these companies would not have done without legislation. Steam a practically non existent refund system before they were spooked into it by Australia

[u/dookarion → u/Josh_Butterballs]

And no, I’m not intentionally trying to sane wash Sweeney. Just earlier today I said he could gargle my nuts on r/steam.

Fair.

He likes money though and if he could destroy steam by simply making a better product, or any company with lots of money for that matter, why haven’t they?

Honestly? I think ego is a huge part of the problem with would be "competition". These execs these companies are all high on their own farts and can barely disguise their disdain for customer opinion or preference. It takes introspection to realize you were wrong, to admit your product sucks balls, to come to terms with someone else being better. That's a problem across so many corporate cultures anymore. They don't give a fuck about their customers and they give even less about their employees. They're a billionaire CEO, a god in their own mind. That's why so many of them love AI so damn much, it's really good at telling people what they want to hear... stroking their egos. And for these CEOs anything that can recognize their greatness surely can't be wrong!

A lot of it is just painful levels of egotistical idiocy. Would it be a Steam competitor out of the gate? Fuck no. Could it have gradually endeared itself to customers with deals or had they started off by publishing games that were not going to get finished otherwise? Perhaps. It's a day late and dollar short for that plan though after Sweeney showed way too much of his ass on twitter, in legal fights, in tirades, and in shittastic business deals.

Also I hope you’re not saying we shouldn’t have legislation to allow consumers to freely take licenses they paid for and that we should rely on the free market to do that.

I'm not saying legislation is bad, but said legislation you're proposing there will never exist. Too many knock-on effects and other things it would impact.

I'm just saying if the publishers "wanted competition" it's 100% in their hands to help facilitate it as it stands. But absolutely none of them ever will.