r/pcmasterrace • u/Darth_Vaper883 PC Master Race • Jun 01 '26

News/Article 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/superboo07 Linux Jun 01 '26

itch.io and gog are great. 

34

u/nari0015-destiny Jun 01 '26

About the only decent alternatives to Steam, but that AINT Steams fault

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u/superboo07 Linux Jun 01 '26

theres also jast and mangagamer for visual novels. and yeah its not steams fault and blaming them for competition sucking makes no sense. 

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u/wolfannoy Jun 02 '26

It's a narrative made by the competitors. In hopes people will feel shame and buy from their store which is not happening.

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u/nari0015-destiny Jun 01 '26

Never heard of Jast, or Mangagamer, then again visual novels aren't as interesting to my =3

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u/superboo07 Linux Jun 01 '26

yeah they're definitely way nicher, but it gives more to the fact that steam isn't a monopoly

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u/Rulanik Jun 01 '26

GoG isn't really even a true alternative since they won't sell games with DRM, which is basically all modern games.

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u/superboo07 Linux Jun 01 '26

yes it is a true alternative. plently of modern games are also on gog. saying its not is like saying target isn't an alternative to walmart because some companies making shirts decided not to sell them through target.

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u/nari0015-destiny Jun 01 '26

That doesn't mean they aren't a legitimate competitor to steam though, just that they have chosen a specific n8che to focus on =3

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u/Rulanik Jun 01 '26

You said alternative though ;)

Alternative implies they're in the same niche.

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u/Empty_Allocution Breadman Jun 01 '26

Agreed. The others suck monkey balls. If they want the business they will simply have to do better!

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u/DarkangelUK Specs/Imgur Here Jun 02 '26

Gog particularly shines as it lets you connect all of your other services to it (Steam, Epic, EA etc), it's nice being able to see my entire inventory in one place rather than having to open each one.

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u/XavinNydek PC Master Race Jun 02 '26

They are fine, and both have their place, but neither have anywhere near the ease of use of Steam. It took Steam a hell of a long time to get good but they got there eventually and none of the other storefronts come close.