Capitalism breeds innovation crowd seems awfully silent
Of course it’s not fixable! It would have to be broken first.
Unless he’s referring to the failure of EGS. That’s not fixable for other reasons.
Valve “made a better product than we ever could” former Epic dev says “I don’t think we can ever build something that isn’t slop”
Even on Lemmy people talking about stock value fluctuations as if that’s the whole of the game for businesses.
I want steam hardware division to put their heads down and do what they did on the movie Ready Player One… like they can do it. They have the $!
😅- sorry should’ve mentioned that I want the suit part - wasn’t intending this horrible direction
They can break it real easy…
- Go public
- Priotitize investors over customers
- Slowly degrade customer sentiment until the customers are willing to switch.
You know… the same thing that is driving enshitification across all markets.
To quote the article: “Competition in this space is not only uninteresting to most Steam users, it’s actively denigrated!” He then says.
And then: “As long as Valve is independent and not a publicly traded company,” it looks impossible for Steam to be overthrown as the de-facto PC gaming marketplace.
(Sorry I don’t know how to do quotes)
This entire article tongue in cheek shows the thinking behind these ceos and how out of touch they are. The vibes I get from just scrolling here and listening, plus listening to the market in general, people are moving away from the evil, and ai whomever is least evil, wins the attention.
This guy compeletely ignores the inbetween the lines of his own words, Steam isn’t publicly traded, so doesn’t put shareholders above the actual product and it’s users. The ai isn’t used in the same ways, it’s pretty obvious to anyone who isn’t actively hallucinating , everyone hates ai.
They want an equal share of the market, and instead of listening this article (not bagging the article) highlights how much he instead sucks on sour grapes, and blames the gamers for being rusted on fans, rather than examining where they might have gone wrong, acknowledging and listening. The fact he’s unable to listen is going to actively keep users from Epic.
People just want to feel like they aren’t seen as cows to milk, in ever decreasingly comfortable and trapped ways. They want to feel listened to and be able to use the product. They don’t want to be force fed pigs pigswill and told to like it. There almost seems to be a fetish level hate towards the customers / consumers from these elitist idiot ceos etc. On a base level anyone could tell you that’s not a good business model.
The market is so fed up with all the things said out loud that previously weren’t. The whole “we own you” spiel from the top companies and ceos around the world. Gamers would more likely pack in the internet and retro game or build their own infrastructure (like has been done here) and ignore them all.
This guys egomaniacal take is just absolutely going to sink the entirely ship.
There’s an argument that steam take too high a cut from developers, but if that keeps it stable as is for a very long time, instead of tipping the scale and leading to a publicly traded company, so be it.
You can do the greater than symbol for quotes at the start to do quotes.
“>” Like this
Like this
It’s just as much that epic shit the bed when they first introduced their launcher/store by very clearly taking the “shitty capitalism” path that tries to compete by killing off competition with exclusivity deals and later throwing money at players with free games. Not to mention not even trying to compete on some of the things that gives steam more value to many users.
It was clear they were trying to do to video games what uber and abnb tried to do to taxis and hotels and use venture capital money to undercut the existing market with the intent of being able to set whatever price later when their competition died off but were even less successful than the other two corps, who still managed to become big players in their market even if they didn’t kill off the competition.
For me personally, not only am I uninterested in epic’s store, but I don’t wasn’t to see them succeed. Even if they started doing the good things, I wouldn’t trust that they’d keep it up if they managed to get to steam’s market position. They showed their cards too soon with trying to open up with exclusives.
skill issue
BS. Steam offers games simply without the bull. They didn’t break capitalism, they just didn’t enshitten their platform.
Or maybe they broke capitalism in the sense that they are showing that the shit they teach MBAs isn’t the only or even the best path to profit and if enough people adopt (or return to) that way of doing business, they can dominate their markets and compete directly with the venture capital class that tries to compete with its financial weight more than whatever products or services it is currently peddling.
I mean, this part is so obvious to me right now. With all the complete shit products out there that have so many anti-features that I often just stop looking for things rather than get enticed by the good features, I think that competitors that come in with the intent of making good quality shit people want (where “good” can even just mean “doesn’t try to spy on you”) could similarly dominate their markets. And if people don’t chase empires to become billionaires, I think there’s a lot of room in all markets even when certain players come to dominate their local area (considering physical markets more than digital ones, since they scale very differently, though I do think that some thought could be put in to how to do this for digital markets, too… Maybe some drastic changes to IP laws).
Steam can, and will be replaced. Kiaran Ritchie is a silly boy.
The volume of Valve glazing I see on the internet has me worried. They could enshittify dramatically tomorrow, and I think they would still have positive sentiment.
People trust them. Trusting a corporation is a recipe for monopoly, pretty much without exception, historically.
And Steam is the only storefront for so, so many games. For all of Sweeny’s toxicity, I honestly didn’t feel that particular outrage against EGS, as I was already concerned by how many games are Steam-only.
They could enshittify dramatically tomorrow, and I think they would still have positive sentiment.
Baseless assumption on your part. Nobody is blindly trusting Valve and excusing their faults.
And Steam is the only storefront for so, so many games. For all of Sweeny’s toxicity, I honestly didn’t feel that particular outrage against EGS, as I was already concerned by how many games are Steam-only.
Steam doesn’t force retail exclusivity. That’s on publishers for not putting it on other storefronts, but also most games can be found for sale on other stores.
Steam doesn’t force retail exclusivity. That’s on publishers for not putting it on other storefronts, but also most games can be found for sale on other stores.
Technically not true, the reason Steam was so hated in the beginning was that even if you bought HL2 from a physical store, you STILL had to activate it on Steam to play it.
They just don’t do exclusives now because there’s no reason to anymore.
That’s not what retail exclusivity is.
Not for the games I play. My order of operations for buying most games is:
#1: GoG, so it’s DRM free
#2: The lowest fee storefront to support the dev (so 1st party store, or maybe EGS).
#3: Steam, the default. This is prioritized if it’s a Workshop-exclusive game or something.
#4: Some junky storefront like Xbox
But in recent years, basically all the games I want have been Steam only, or “Steam locked” because I am otherwise locked out of the Workshop, multiplayer, or something.
That’s still not Steam forcing retail exclusivity.
Like how Amazon doesn’t force retail exclusivity, either. They simply dictate prices of other stores.
…One could just not list on Amazon and go out of business. Or list, and have the vast majority of sales go through Amazon since pricing has to be exactly the same anyway. It’s technically a choice, but it’s effectively no choice for many types of products.
Steam is largely the same thing. They are a “soft monopoly” now, they technically don’t enforce exclusivity, but it’s often not a choice for game makers.
Hence basically every indie/AA game I’ve bought recently has been on Steam, in spite of me actively avoiding Steam if I can.
Amazon’s situation is that they drove prices up artificially through browbeating vendors by leveraging their considerable power. Items that used to be $10 are now $50. Unless you’re suggesting Steam is really what are forcing AAA games to go up to $80, it’s not the same situation as Amazon.
Steam is a textbook example of a natural monopoly. It seems like people have forgotten about this concept. Exclusivity is always a choice for publishers. They do not ever have to only be on Steam, and most games aren’t. It’s also their choice to rely entirely on Steamworks instead of using alternative technologies.
You could always choose to buy many of those indie games on GOG, Itch, or on other stores.
Baseless assumption on your part.
You mean the current enshitification due to AI isn’t happening on Steam… Baseless!? Please
Steam doesn’t force retail exclusivity.
They don’t have to, they control the market. They are definitely guilty of price fixing though preventing other storefronts from offering better prices.
You mean the current enshitification due to AI isn’t happening on Steam… Baseless!? Please
How do you read someone talking about how people in the comment section are so enamoured with Steam that they will ignore if they become way worse overnight, and somehow think they’re talking about this other matter entirely?
They don’t have to, they control the market.
They didn’t even when there wasn’t a market to control.
They are definitely guilty of price fixing though preventing other storefronts from offering better prices.
False. Minimum pricing is a pretty common retail policy and Steam’s specifically only applies to where ever Steam keys are distributed.
Baselessly defending Steam I see.
They control over 70% of the Market which is considered a monopoly even in the more stringent federal courts.
False.
Oh God another Steam key propagandist. The Steam Key thing was debunked years ago and not what anyone is currently talking about. Steam is on record in court lying on the stand about this. If it is “industry standard” why lie? Simply put, they know they engage in price fixing and parity to control the market.
It is clear you have not studied this.
https://www.rainintelligence.com/blog/price-parity-mfn-clause-antitrust
Baselessly defending Steam I see.
Considering you came in here arguing about something nobody said, I don’t think you have the best idea of what other people are saying.
They control over 70% of the Market which is considered a monopoly even in the more stringent federal courts.
What is this disagreeing with in my comment?
The Steam Key thing was debunked years ago and not what anyone is currently talking about. Steam is on record in court lying on the stand about this
Okay, show where.
It is clear you have not studied this.
It’s an opinion article about the complaint written from arms length, and it covers both the arguments for and against from that disconnected perspective.
Considering you came in here arguing about something nobody said
I made a statement that you have not been able to refute.
What is this disagreeing with in my comment?
It is a statement of fact
Okay, show where.
Show that you are using some old pro steam propaganda that is unrelated to what is going now? Hard pass.
It’s an opinion article
Everything is pretty much an opinion. I will pick the side of lawyer’s opinions based on evidence and facts. As I said, you have not studied this. You have not read the testimony.
I made a statement that you have not been able to refute.
Because I don’t have any reason to refute the notion of AI games being invasive. I’m not here baselessly defending Steam. And it is still not what anyone was talking about.
It is a statement of fact
Without point or purpose?
Show that you are using some old pro steam propaganda that is unrelated to what is going now? Hard pass.
No, show those records you say exist. It doesn’t matter what I’m operating from.
Everything is pretty much an opinion. I will pick the side of lawyer’s opinions based on evidence and facts. As I said, you have not studied this. You have not read the testimony.
You don’t seem aware about half of what that opinion piece says. It’s not even factually rich, it’s pretty high level consideration of the complaint. There’s no testimony here, or mention of one. I’ve studied it more than you have it seems.
They were already shitty in the past. Their stellar return policy was ordered by a court and not of their free will.
Steam has actively engaged in price fixing that has ensured no other store front can offer games for less even if they could because of less overhead.
Not only do they meet the definition of monopoly by controlling over 70% of the market, they have engaged in monopolistic practices.
They are not the good guys. They just happen to have a decent product and a lot of goodwill at the moment.
They have positive sentiment because they haven’t enshittified much, in an industry that has embraced shit maximalism as a policy.
People would complain if they got worse. There would be people saying “at least they arent microsoft”, but they would still be held to higher standards than other companies. The fact they are more or less meeting those standards is impressive.
Also, steam integration is pretty un-invasive on the developer’s side. If steam went tits-up, everybody would just re-release elsewhere.
We know they will, but it’s probably not today.
Gabe will die, directives will change, Valve will slip. But probably not today.
Steam has problems, Epic games could fix that. They choose to whine about it on social media instead.
Fixing those problems wouldn’t get anyone to move over. It’s another launcher and store. Who the fuck wants that? Until GabeN dies, Valve is taken public, and things get straight up shitty on Steam, nobody’s going to start buying games on another platform.
They could, but they won’t.
The major way they broke capitalism was by not going public. Gabe has to answer to nobody, so the usual gang of corporate fucking idiots can’t force him to do short sighted shit to make a short term squeeze at the cost of long term viability.
This is the key. It’s the WHOLE thing. A runaway cap table destroys companies, always. Investors have different exit horizons and they are fundamentally incompatible with long term viability.
All you need to do to compete with a publicly owned company is capitalism is wait for their investors to get too greedy.
I’ve been screaming this exact sentiment into the void for a long time, so it’s nice to see someone else who understands.
The main reason companies are getting so shitty right now isn’t a blanket “capitalism bad”. Companies need to have a clear goal that they pursue with a coherent vision, and that is impossible when you auction away control of the driver’s seat to a comittee of random people with varying interests.
On the one hand, they’re not really competing on features right now.
On the other hand, I have heard (more times than I can count or remember), that Steam users will never use another launcher for any reason ever.
So they kind of have a point. If they invest hundreds of millions or billions into features, would Steam users really use the Epic launcher? I don’t think so.
There are a couple things that cement Steam at the top, imo.
The first is obviously familiarity and completeness - everyone knows Steam and it almost certainly has whatever game you are looking to buy.
The second is added value - very good controller support, mod support, (some) good community spaces, easy multiplayer sessions, proton integration, regular updates, etc. These are genuinely worth using the launcher for.
The third is the single-launcher desire (or the sunk cost effect depending on your point of view). People already have massive libraries on steam, keeping their collection there just makes it easier to browse and find whatever they want to play. Yes, there are other solutions for this, but that is an extra step - there will always be people who don’t take that step.
Familiarity can’t exactly be bought - Epic tried. Completeness can be bought (Epic, Gamepass) but it is hideously expensive. Added value is difficult to get to parity (mod authors aren’t going to instantly port to a new launcher even if there is support). The single launcher effect is a massive first-mover advantage.
I completely agree that Valve having a monopoly on PC game distribution is unhealthy long-term, they also just offer a better experience to me as a consumer than the competition. Even when games have GoG versions, for instance, they are often not updated as frequently and mod support is often more difficult, controller support is hit-or-miss, etc.
they released a new video codec for steamlink vr streaming not too long ago, and are adding achievement categories
He is saying Epic isn’t releasing new features right now (because it doesnt help against steam)
Epic announced that fartknife was coming to Linux less than a month ago
I mean, Steam isn’t even my preferred storefront, despite being where I buy most of my games. I actually prefer GoG when it’s an option.
Yeah, and their unknowable secret sauce to win capitalism was to not overdo it and enshittify. Wild stuff. Who could tell that keeping your userbase happy is more productive in the long term than chasing “growth” at every turn?
Give it a generation or three, but yes.
Companies that “haven’t gone evil” yet are like dynasties that aren’t ruled by a mad king, yet.
It usually comes after the original founder leaves or dies.
Yeah it’ll be extremely interesting to see the post-Gabe Valve era
I’m terrified, honestly.
Steam still have a lot of issues, so there’s some opportunities still. If Epic truly managed to provide what Steam does while taking less from the devs, I would guarantee you that more people would go to the EGS, and even make memes about EGS taking less from devs. But with nonexistent social features and AI slop unlabeled, people will not want to touch it with a ten foot pole.
Hell, even if they just let people avoid AI slop easier than on Steam would at least win over a few people. But from what Epic is doing with its other tools, it seems like they’re trying to force as many devs to be “AI first” as possible.
As a dev, I wouldn’t lie that Epic taking lower cuts sounds nice. But if it comes with the costs of their game launcher coming with Chinese spyware and being horribly vibe-coded, a chronic inability to dodge AI slop, then I don’t even want to touch it with a 10 foot pole. Maybe I won’t even release my games there.
Steam still have a lot of issues, so there’s some opportunities still. If Epic truly managed to provide what Steam does while taking less from the devs, I would guarantee you that more people would go to the EGS, and even make memes about EGS taking less from devs. But with nonexistent social features and AI slop unlabeled, people will not want to touch it with a ten foot pole.
Until people can just transfer all their game ownership to Epic, those opportunities are kinda moot. What most people don’t seem to understand is that your average gamer does NOT want to have two different launchers and storefronts.
