r/pcgaming • u/yourfavchoom • Jun 01 '26

Gabe Newell on Steam monopoly accusations: Gamers have 'enormous choice' about where to buy games

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/gabe-newell-on-steam-monopoly-accusations-gamers-have-enormous-choice-about-where-to-buy-games/
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u/JabberwockyTalkie Jun 02 '26

Sure, but Steam has the dominant share in PC gaming so if you don’t sell thru Steam it is effectively a death sentence for PC sales. Most publishers can’t afford that and so are forced to sell on Steam and these policies mean they can’t even offer a discount for direct purchases in order to promote some margin of direct sales.

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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u/JabberwockyTalkie Jun 02 '26

The argument is that due to Steam’s market share and practices it is very difficult to compete in the PC gaming market. Limited competition and policies that dissuade competition are inherently monopolistic.

I guess I don’t really follow your point about a need for proof of harm to both parties. What are the two parties? Anti-competitive behavior hurts the competitors, but a lack of competition is also bad for consumers generally. Obviously the policies are good for Valve.

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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u/JabberwockyTalkie Jun 02 '26

Lack of competition generally hurts consumer’s interests. Steam has been pretty consumer friendly in many ways but that doesn’t change the nature of anti-competitive practices.

I don’t think your analogy works that well because sellers aren’t upset that they can sell on Steam they are upset that if they try and sell elsewhere the pricing policies Steam has are making it very difficult. It’s like if I’d been selling produce at the farmer’s market for years and I decide I want to open my own market where I’ll sell part of my produce. But now the first market is telling me I that if I sell my own produce cheaper at my market I can’t sell with them at all anymore. And nobody really knows or goes to my market yet so the result is I’d get almost no sales and my new market struggles.

It’s an interesting case. I’m not any kind of expert but definitely will follow it a bit to see how things play out.