Valve is not your friend, and Steam is not healthy for gaming

Polygon:

The drive to be on the bleeding edge of technology powers the PC gaming community. We want nothing more than to run our ridiculously powerful rigs on barely stable beta drivers, with our CPUs overclocked to speeds that are neither advisable nor guaranteed to be safe for our systems.

[Deep-throat]

Sod off Polygon.

Valve is the friendliest video game company. The platform they built is user friendly and not bloated. Not to mention they made legendary games.

[TekoIie]

"Valve is the friendliest video game company."

Dunno about that. Their paid mods controversy was a complete joke since it basically involved a mod that had taken assets from another mod. Under normal circumstances modders borrowing from another is fine but profiting off someone else's work is scummy. A better solution would've been an option to donate to modders via steam.

Steam's a good service but let's not judge Valve with nostalgia goggles on.

[NewMonday]

Polygon is Microsoft surrogate, this means they are starting to push harder in their attempt to take over PC gaming.

the console war is basically over for Microsoft, they know they hit the ceiling with the XBox and they are not getting anywhere close to 360 level without big blunders from Sony like they did with the late complicated expensive $600 PS3, at the sane time Nintendo went casual with the week Wii, that is not happening, both Nintendo and Sony are on top of their game after learning from their mistakes.

so now the target for MS is Steam, they aim slowly to control PC gaming to create a monopolized store front like Google Play(a de facto monopoly) and the iOS App Store(outright monopoly).

it will be fun watching the Xbox boys take on the PC master race.

[morganfell]

@NewMonday,

I do not always agree with you but I think you are spot on with your analysis of Redmond's plans for PC gaming and Valve. A few years back, after the collapse of Games for Windows, they made a bid for partnership which Valve rebuffed. Now they will attempt to do by force what they could not do by guile.

I own 300+ titles through Steam, have a Steam Link and two controllers which I no longer use thanks to Shield TV Pro and I personally like what Valve has been able to do. They are no different than a publisher that sells the work of others. The difference is, in most cases you are free to seek those same titles elsewhere. There are games tied to Steam such as the Total War series, but the vast majority of mainstream games are available without the service.

If Steam was truly horrible it would not see the sales or numbers it has been able to garner. And Valve, despite being miles ahead of another service I employ, GOG, continue to innovate and move forward from a technical aspect. They also know when to partner with someone rather than try to stand in the middle of the stream and create a log jam that will never stop the flow anyway. An act that has been a Redmond mainstay. There comes a certain point when a company must employ the Chinese water principle. Time will tell if MS is smart enough to do this because if they are not then they will discover rather quickly that PC gamers will more than make up for any attempts to monkey with the system.

And yes, Polygon are as usual completely full of it.

[uth11]

Don't forget they reversed the policy in a heartbeat

[Captain_Tom]

Thank you.

Look I like Valve, but let's not pretend Valve is infallible anymore.

-SteamOS/Linux was half@$$ed. Valve clearly used it as a threat to MS in order to stop them from monopolizing PC gaming. The second MS backed off a little, Valve dropped almost almost all of its efforts.

-Steam is just buggy as F*ck. Constant 120MB updates, and yet it still only works half the time.

-Half Life 3. Yeah I'll say it - it's dumb they haven't made a third one. Valve gets more money from micro-transactions and so they put all of their investments into making that type of stuff more lucrative.

Again, I like Valve. But at this point they really need to reconsider the direction their company is going...

[agent4532]

In the sense that it allows gamers to buy their games from any digital store and install their game onto Steam. Able to create your own gaming library not dictated by a corporation. It allows modders to mod their games despite buying say game from Steam. Is it perfect hell no. Early Access needs major fixing, their refund program sucks, not as many crazy sales as before. Compared to what console manufacturers are doing (upgradeable consoles aka pay $400.00 for overclock PS4 Pro, pay to play online, etc ) . Valve is pretty good; however, the friendliest corporation is without a doubt Amazon. Their customer service is top notch.

[joab777]

They are like the MS of the PC world. Better identifiers of talent than actual innovators. Many games they publish are other people's work.

[ONESHOTV2]

joab777----plz tell me 1 IP on consoles that match half life's innovation

[UltraNova]

Oneshot.

Super Mario 64 alone slaps HL2 to hell in terms of innovation.

Get off your overclocked horse.

[Goldby]

also Prey. if it weren't for prey, we wouldn't have portal

[BongSmack]

@ Goldby, Narbacular Drop (the game that inspired Portal) came out the year before Prey, so please explain how it is that we have Prey to thank for Portal?

[agent4532]

Agreed, the only game Valve both published and develop was Half Life. What Valve did was publish Half Life mods and help the modders to turn their mod into a commercial game.

Counter Strike
Team Fortress

Those two games were Half Life mods plus Portal was a student proyect.

[ocelot07]

"user friendly and not bloated"

You know there is a reason Jim Sterling exists right? Other than his parents doing the business.

[Patriot4Life]

Steam is a very sneaky and shady company but gets away with a lot of things due to nostalgia.

Why people call Gabe a lord is beyond me, because he really is a hypocrite and just plays with gamers when asked about Half Life Ep3...if this was Activision, EA or MS people would throwing them under the bus.

Valve gets a free pass because of the might lord Gaben.

[samden]

Eh, when it comes to HL3 people know it's not coming anytime soon, if ever. It's really just a meme at this point and that's why people aren't angry.

Also I can't see people throwing Activision, EA, or MS under the bus for not releasing a sequel considering their business models are making as many sequels as possible each year.

[Patriot4Life]

Samden - If that's the case why doesn't Valve just come out and say it's not coming out anytime soon or maybe never.

Meme or not a lot of people including myself have been looking forward to this game for a very long time...to make matters worst the last game left on such a huge cliff hanger.

[Gh05t]

"...why doesn't Valve just come out and say it's not coming out anytime soon..."

Because Valve doesn't owe you anything. Would it be nice? Sure, put some minds at ease but they have zero obligation to talk about a project that may or may not exist.

Stop letting your feels impact the reals.

[donthate]

It's as if you only read the title of the article and immediately commenced to comment here.

[UCForce]

Oh really ? Remember Paid mod ? Valve supported that stupid ideas and community really hate it.

[Seafort]

Paid mods was Bethesda idea as it was their game, Skyrim, that they wanted the paid mods for.

After the community backlash Valve swiftly removed the idea of paid mods.

Steam was one of the main store platforms to bring PC gaming back into the limelight once again and it's been going great ever since. The store still needs work and improvements but it's still better than Live or PSN.

[-Foxtrot]

"Not to mention they made legendary games"

That's the problem

"they made"

[zb1ftw777]

It's as friendly as the Apple or Android app store.

Garbage content. But friendly nonetheless.

[Deep-throat]

Garbage content like Black Tiger on PSN? Garbage contents are everywhere, not only on Steam.

[Kurdishcurse]

"And not bloated"..........what?

[Deep-throat]

Yeah... what?

[TargusX]

WHAT THE HELL??? You serious?? :?

[Razzer]

Shocker. Valve is a company in the business of making money by selling games. Same as Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, EA, Ubisoft....and on. Their practices are all the same. If the author hates all this money-scheming biz so much then he should find another industry to cover.

[freshslicepizza]

The problem is when a company gets too big and starts to become almost like a monopoloy making it hard for anyone else to compete. The only problem I have with Steam is it can be very hard to find games because they get hundreds every month and some of the hidden gems can be tough to find. That's not good for them either who are trying to sell their games.

[ILostMyMind]

Just like Microsoft has always done.

[freshslicepizza]

@IvanSF
"Just like Microsoft has always done."

And much like how Sony is currently.

[Razzer]

More competition is always a good thing. But I don't see Valve engaging in monopolistic practices that prevent competition so that really isn't their problem.

I agree Steam has gotten almost as messy as Apple's appstore. This is what happens when you open up your platform for all these small devs. You get a bunch of shit, but every now and then you get a Stardew Valley. Not an easy problem to solve.

[UltraNova]

Moldy, unfortunatly for you MS defines the term Monopoly. See how windows rised to the scene and how it domimated PC for decades now.

Sony, like any other Company is in it for the money, but is nowhere near as ill intended as MS and you damn well know it!

Valve is very much like MS, they are both after total, undisputed control. Sony is just making games and peripherals for their console at the moment, incidentaly what their customers actually want from them...its only natural that they rip the benefits of actually giving us what we want. See the diffrence? Of course you dont.

As for the article, I wouldnt be surprised if this was MS's secret propaganda via their good friends @Polygon in light of some scheme to take over the PC gaming scene from Valve. Maybe should expect some interesting announcments this E3...

[freshslicepizza]

@UltraNova,
"Sony, like any other Company is in it for the money, but is nowhere near as ill intended as MS and you damn well know it!"

You mean how Microsoft used to go after timed exclusive content while Sony goes after FULL control and wants to own IP's which is what likely drove Insomniac away before? Or do you mean how Sony is using its power and influence to get exclusive content for things like Destiny? Or are we talking about Sony's history to always go for a proprietary format like Bertamax or even today with its high end headphones that can only be plugged into their propreitary amp? Or should we talk about the history of Playstation and the Emotion Engine and Cell technology all used to try and create its own engineering process to make games on? How about its unwillingness to allow crossplay with other consoles or blocking EA Access because they can since the PS4 is selling so well? That is all because of their leverage right now.

So in other words a lot worse than Valve who is much more open sourced, even pleading with the VR community as Sony pays for Resident Evil timed exclusive VR content. Thanks for proving my point.

[UltraNova]

Moldy,

"You mean how Microsoft used to go after timed exclusive content while Sony goes after FULL control and wants to own IP's which is what likely drove Insomniac away before?"

Remind me who started the whole buying content or full games? If you start the fight dont go crying to mummy if the other party decides to join and ends up smashing your face in.

Oh, how's Remedy these days?

And...where's your counter on the whole Windows monopoly thing? Oh you cheecky monkey ;-)

"Thanks for proving my point."
No no dont thank me, thank you moldy for proving mine.

[samden]

But it's not Steams job to make sure you find every possible game that may interest you. Their service is storing games so that when you have a key to unlock it, you can download and play it. The hidden gems should be brought out by word of mouth, there are sooooo many ways to get your name out there (YouTube, Twitch, giving away game keys, friends, etc).

Steam isn't close to a monopoly, GoG is a thing, and most games still have physical copies that you can buy from a number of stores. Besides, nobody is stopping anybody from coming out with a quality competitor to Steam, it's just that every time one comes out they do stupid greedy sh*t like M$ is doing with the Windows Store and UWP.

[freshslicepizza]

@UltraNova,

So I said was like how Sony is doing now. I never denied Microsoft was guilty if monopolistic issues with Windows. You guys are the guilty party who keep trying to portray Microsoft as evil and Sony is your best friend because they make good games.

The irony here is Valve supports indie developers and will lend them the funds with no attachment, meanwhile Sony had a pub fund for Indies. The catch is they have to sign an exclusive deal. All Sony cares about is keeping you in their universe, at all costs.

Look at Microsoft approach to VR, is it proprietary?

[BishopPeace]

The problem with steam is too many games? lol

[UltraNova]

Moldy,

Glad to see you tone down this.

To be honest neither Company is innocent here but the truth is Sony will always be the lesser evil when compared to MS. I will end this debate at that.

"Look at Microsoft approach to VR, is it proprietary?"

No it will not be proprietary. Why? Because they do not care enough to innovate, make their own mark in fear of failing. To be clear I dont blame them as they had one too many..setbacks..in the past decade(kinect to name one).

If you read some of my recent comments you should know that I'm actualy rooting for MS to get in the VR game because i dont wont Sony to get complacent.

E3 is around the corner we will see what all of them have instore for us and we will be here to judge them accordingly.

[freshslicepizza]

@samden
"But it's not Steams job to make sure you find every possible game that may interest you."

No it's not their job but they could curate the games better because there is a lot of garbage.

UltraNova I after with your last comment. We will also see at E3 if Phil place to put all his talk into action or just keep talking. It may not appear it but I do like how many how putting lots of pressure on Microsoft to deliver.

As for Steam they are apparently going to bring out a whole new redesign of there site which is much needed.

[ShadowWolf712]

>Drove Insomniac away
>They literally made one game for another platform and worked with Sony again twice after

Dude... seriously. lol

Sony's not doing anything monopolistic in the industry. Proprietary IPs and devices is not a monopoly. Hell, they've actually helped fund games and studios that were going multiplatform. (Street Fighter V, Hello Games, helping Kojima's new studio get started, etc.) That's the opposite of a monopoly, dude.

[notachance]

too many games is a problem... what?

seriously what? this is a new stupid even for the blind moldybread

[agent4532]

There is GOG, greenmangaming, and game developers themselves can sell their games through their own website. For example Blizzard sells all of its PC games through battlenet (their own store). No monopoly from Valve. You can say there is an oligarchy on PC gaming in the sense that Valve, Origin, and Blizzard control the PC gaming market.

[AmUnRa]

O you mean like Microsoft with theyr monopoly in the OS market?

[rainslacker]

Software discovery is always going to be a problem on a large marketplace. It's the biggest problem facing devs when they release their wares on the Apple or Google store.

Steam isn't really a curator of what to focus on, although they do have their highlights section like most digital or retail markets. They are simply a market place, and as such, if a 100 games come out every month, then there isn't much they can do to prevent that that would be fair to all the developers.

Not that they couldn't make ways to help with discovery, but most of that is still the responsibility of the publisher to handle through marketing.

I think the size of Steam is just because they went practically without any competition for the longest time. There are serious competitors coming out more recently though. GOG and Windows Store being two good examples of marketplaces that have a chance of gaining significant market share.

I will take issue where you say it can be hard to find that hidden gem, and that hurts them. It assumes that people don't see any games they want, whereas in all likelihood, Steam is likely getting a sale somewhere either way. It's bad for the devs though, as I said above, but despite efforts to fix this on other similar marketplaces, it's a problem that has yet to be resolved.

But despite all this, Steam has had a lot of good thing to keep the desire for digital to continue to rise. I wouldn't say they're perfect by any means, and I don't agree with all their policies, or something things they've done which I feel are more self serving than for the consumer. However, they still have come up with a lot of good things for digital media, and lack of competition hasn't curtailed that to any great degree. If competition becomes stronger, then maybe we'll see even more good things from them.

[donthate]

No, he is there to uncover it for the unwitting people above you commenting as if Valve and Lord Gaben is the second coming of Christ.

[agent4532]

The difference between Steam and the console manufacturers is that Steam is run by the community. Only on Steam are gamers the gatekeepers of what game can come to Steam and what game does not belong on Steam through Steamgreenlight. Steam allows gamers to publish, edit, advertise games through early access. Steam sales the software to make games which in return the new game developer buys the software he/she needs to make a game from Steam then he/she can put their game on steamgreenlight. With Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo is their way or the highway. Valve is faaaaar from perfect

[TheColbertinator]

Hey hey Polygon is typing rubbish again. Will they ever learn?

[Godmars290]

Naw, despite this source, have to agree.

Thing is, in their typical fashion, they're years too late. What Valve and steam have done is well embedded in the community.

[samden]

I disagree that Valve/Steam is some monopolistic behemoth that can't be stopped and is terrible for consumers. UPlay, Origin, GoG, and Windows Store exist don't they (and not to mention you can buy physical copies in numerous stores)? And Valve isn't actively attempting to shut them down or make deals to hurt those services. The only reason those services aren't as big as Steam is because the companies put greed before their consumers; they took their games off of Steam, stopped giving decent discounts, AND they forced us onto sub-par barely working services.

Just look at summer/winter sales: The Sims 3 on Steam, 75% off. The Sims 3 on Origin, 50% off. It's an EA game!!!!

[donthate]

It's more than that though. It's not just the fact that it is well embedded, but the fact that people believe in how good Valve/Steam is, without all the other backdrop. These same people prevent other competitors from entering the market and given a chance.

[Godmars290]

@samden:
More to do with what Steam has done commercially, create a marketplace which allowed graft and con jobs, let people with limited - if any - dev skills thrive by buying and reselling assets, than anything regarding monopolies. All that crap the likes of Sterling and Total Biscuit exposed which was just festering and even still exists.

But because it has been exposed its slowly but surely getting fixed. And Polygon is way too late to that party and likely trying to politicize it.

[rainslacker]

@donthate

I don't Steam "fan boys"(for lack of a better term) think they prevent others from entering the market. There are other competitors that come up, and some of them are doing alright for how long they've been out.

It's just they're happy with the service that Steam offers, so they have no big reason to look elsewhere. Or maybe they do look elsewhere, since it's not a bad thing to actually purchase from different stores. For instance, I like the service that Amazon offers me, so i don't go looking elsewhere. But I will still purchase something from somewhere else if the price is right, so long as that company also gives good service.

I think Steam has it's faults, and I even know some PC gamers who feel that some people are way to forgiving of Steam(to put it nicely compared to how they say it). But realistically, if a lot of people feel that the service is good, then who's to say they're wrong? People will use what works for them, particularly when it comes to their money. If the other services came out and offered better service overall, I feel that it wouldn't take long for them to make headway against Steam's marketshare. They just have to make deals to get good prices to get the attention, then give good services and features to help keep people using it after that, all while not just expecting people to use their service, or applying restrictions which the customer doesn't want.

[Toiletsteak]

How dare Steam sell us games and give us sales every week with epic Summer/Winter and Autumn sales... This is bad and we should never use this service again.

[DLConspiracy]

It's absolutely disgusting how horrible they treat us. So horrible I continue to buy games on there. I hate saving money and having all my friends in one place it's truly upsetting.

[Aloren]

Oh come on, those "epic" Steam sales are just a shadow of what they used to be. As soon as they got rid of flash sales, Steam sales were not any better than those on GOG or origin. Also I got a bunch of free games on GOG or Origin, while the only free Steam games (not f2p obviously) I have came from bundlestars and humblebundle.
I like steam, but its sales or really just not what they used to be....

[samden]

Not any better than Origin? Literally every time The Witcher series goes on sale it's cheaper on Steam than Origin. Every time The Sims 3 (an EA game) goes on sale it's cheaper on Steam than Origin.

[agent4532]

Agreed, but even if I buy my PC games from G2A (no hate please), humble bundle, greenmangaming, rarely on Amazon (PC gaming library very limited). I still store those games on my steam library.

[rainslacker]

The sale prices are set by those putting their games up though. Steam really has no control over the pricing of those games, outside the ones that they publish.

Valve puts out a announcement to the people who use Steam to sell their wares there having a marketed sale, and those people can decide if they want to participate.

[Aloren]

Just cause the witcher is cheaper on steam doesn't mean origin sales can't rival steam sales. Cause it doesn't need to be the same games. Same goes with gog or uplay.

The thing is, the ending of flash was supposed to give us the best deals right away during sales. It sure doesn't look like it did.

[donthate]

Steam is giving us great sale, let's ignore all the other crappy practices they do! Forget my rights, it's a sale!

I suggest you first read the story then read it again with an open mind!

[Gh05t]

" Forget my rights..."

Like the right to not do business with Steam if you dont want to.

[notachance]

it's a fucking agreement, you apparently don't understand business?

if it's something you willingly know beforehand, you don't get to whine and demand more after you accept it, that's called entitlement. Just simply don't accept the deal and find somewhere better for you to publish your work.

I also think the rate is still fair, although rather on the low side.
What, you do all the work so you're entitled to maybe 90% or more of the profit? That's only something a kid without business knowledge would whine. MARKETING and SALES is the pillars of business, why do you think every single corporation in the planet have their own division for both of those things no matter what company it is? It's because no matter how high quality your product is, you won't get shit without both of those things. Both are the most important things a company should have, a lifeline if you will.

artists getting 25% cut is too low?
What an idiot journalist, it would be true if this is an art exhibition where the product is simply being sold as the product itself, but no, this isn't like that, the game itself is the main driving force behind the sales, when you buy the product, the ability to apply it to the game is the core content you're buying, not the design itself.

Seriously how stupid Polygon can be? Valve unjustifiably got 30% cut only for the cost of maintaining the store?
That's like someone fucking whining why they have to pay high cost to a doctor who only performed 10 minutes of examination, or a client whining why they have to pay an expensive fee to an artist for a simple logo.

THAT'S BECAUSE WHAT YOU'RE PAYING ISN'T ONLY THE LABOR PART IDIOT.

It's exactly the same like how a space rent on New York Times Square is different than you're opening up a store in your garage, wtf Polygon, how are you even a journalist?

[agent4532]

I am aware that Valve has an awful customer service, Early Access still needs fixing really bad, their redund program sucks, bring back flash sales damn it. I still store my games on Steam and once in a while I do buy games from Steam.There is no such thing as a perfect corporation but Valve is not as greedy or as bad as other corporations. Valve sells gaming software for making games at discounted prices

[donthate]

It's completely amazing to me that people rush out to protect a multi-billion dollar company to the detriment of themselves. They don't recognize that, if they truly like Steam, they would want a fair market place where both the store owner, and the artist gets fairly paid, and the products are well priced.

Remember, creators are the ones providing the content. Also, it is an agreement where the corporation has far more power than the creator, it is really a one sided contract. Why? Because, right now, there is no real option. Steam has too big of a market share.

Since some people have problems empathizing, try putting yourself in their shoes. Or better yet, imagine your boss being unreasonable, and you have no other job to go to. Hey, you agreed to it, right?

[rainslacker]

25% cut is all the devs/pubs get?

That isn't right. Steam takes a 25-30% cut. 70% goes to the dev/pubs.

Actual publishers working with indie devs have a much less enticing offer for devs. They only give 50%, and that's only after they get their money back.

What's funny is that the complaints being lobbed at Steam are pretty standard for all digital marketplaces where anyone can put up their products. Apple, Google, Windows Store, GOG, Steam, etc, are all pretty much in line with one another in terms of their relationship with the devs/pubs. If this is their argument for why Valve isn't our friend, then it's just way off base, because that has nothing to do with the consumer.

prices on Steam has nothing to do with Steam. That's the pub/dev side of thing, because Steam doesn't set the prices for anything they don't publish, and their own published games are on sale quite often.

Anything else which is complained about they either remove if people have problems with them, or they work to make it agreeable.

They've had their times where they didn't do something that was beneficial to the consumer, like their change to the TOS in reaction to the EU digital goods laws that got passed, but overall, Steam has consistently provided good services, a solid store, and doesn't overdo it in terms of trying to make shady decisions which are against the consumers interest.

[donthate]

@rainslacker:

It's as if you didn't read the article! o_0

The artists are complaining they only got 25% of the REVENUE, and that Valve pocketed the rest. This was working until Valve decided to slash it to 5% for the artists. What moron thinks that is a fair arrangement?

Also mentioned in the article, is that 75% of the sale price goes to Valve, which is most definitely not the industry standard.

So please don't twist this into how Valve is somehow a victim. This is anti-creators, and ultimately anti-consumers.

[rainslacker]

I've sold games on Steam. I have games on steam now I receive residuals from when I worked on developing them. Steam DOES NOT take 75%. I have no idea what the article what the article was referring to, or what devs were going around saying they only receive 25%. If they receive that much, then it's likely because their publisher was taking a cut as well, which is common.

Steams cut is right in line with other similar services, otherwise, it would be way too easy to simply compete with Steam by having a more reasonable rate.

If Steam took 75%, no one would use them. It wouldn't matter how popular they are.

Maybe on smaller games that don't sell as much the hold back for the month to cover fraud or refunds, but they'd eventually get that back.

Maybe consider the article is wrong, instead of me, because it defies all logic that Steam would take 75%.

[donthate]

@rainslacker:

I'm surprised you are able to make anything, let alone games considering the article specifically says what it is and you can't figure it out. I could post it here, and explain it to you, but you are (hopefully) a smart person so go re-read the article. If you still can't make tails out of it, re-read it again, and again until you do. It is stated there very clearly!

Hint! It has nothing to do with publishers, and all resides with Valve. Valve gets 95% and the creator gets 5% (after Valve reduced it from a measly 25%). Oh, and it isn't games!

[TargusX]

They are not sales, they are over priced digital - then 'reduced' to make it look like a sale. Same old bs.

[WelkinCole]

Good thing I am looking for a video game market and not a friend with Valve.

[jairusmonillas]

This is probably one of those MS paid-sponsored articles. lol.

[ILostMyMind]

It was the first thing I thought. I think the time has come for the Steam defamation campaign. MS needs to convince pcgamers to buy from Windows Store.

[Seafort]

Not a chance in hell. Microsoft have been away from PC platform for too long now. They don't have a clue what PC gamers want or need. MS are too consolified these days. UWP and Windows Store will die soon enough just like G4WL did.

The PC platform already has 5 pretty good store fronts with Steam, GoG, Uplay, Origin and Blizzard. The Windows Store isn't wanted or needed. Too little, too late for Microsoft as usual.

[notachance]

the most convincing moves they could make is improving Windows Store...

seriously, I fucking buy FH3 Ultimate Edition to play early even if it just for a few days... and they fucking made me retry the 40GB~ download FIVE TIMES by the time I successfully installed it, the early access is already over.

never again MS, you hear me? even if it's the most amazing game ever made, if your store is still shit like it is I won't buy it there.

[TargusX]

Lol!

[rainslacker]

I wouldn't worry about it. About once a year we see an article like this. It doesn't go anywhere. Steam keeps getting more users, and making more money.

There are some more recent "upstarts" that are also doing pretty well too, so that's a good thing for PC gaming.

Steam has a user base which is going to take a long way to chisel away from unless some company decides to just allow the customer to do whatever they want and take advantage of any benefits offered. But even if they managed to get all of Steam's user base, their policies would change in order to make money, and make sure the content creators actually stuck around. Steam has built itself up over years. They weren't perfect at the start, but they do seem to try hard to do right by the customer. Not always, but there are likely business decisions behind that to prevent abuse.

[Derceto]

Valve may not be our friend, well ok, Valve isn't our friend. However, I'd hate to see what Steam would be if EA, Activision, WB, Ubisoft, SquareEnix, or Nintendo were the owners of it.

Being that Nintendo doesn't know the meaning of the word "sale", and EA only reduces prices on things that implode so bad, they could hardly even give them away (which ironically is almost everything EA makes these days). Just imagine what Steam would be like under these two grotesquely greed piles of garbage.

SquareEnix? We're talking about a company that released All the Bravest, charge idiotic prices for 35 year old games, and wanted everyone to "augment" their pre-orders.

Activision, Ubisoft and WB? lol These guys would pump the blood from your body, and leave your carcass in a back alley to make a buck, if they were able to legally.

So really, "maybe" Steam might be better under ownership? I really doubt that though. I think Valve is likely the lesser of most evils in this regards. There are always trade-offs, and I'm usually one to stand up against company bulls**t, but there has to be compromise. Valve gives a fairly decent balance in that regard.

[TankCrossing]

EA are actually pretty aggressive in reducing the prices of their games. You can pick up most of their AAA console offering for under a tenner about a year after release (or of course play them on EA Access). Biggest issue with them is their love of season passes and micro-transactions.

Valve and their Steam platform have been great for PC gaming. A monopoly isn't good for consumers though, so people should be open to shopping elsewhere as well. Simples.

[steveo123456]

And they do. My pc is connected to my TV, booting straight to steam big picture. I got plenty of non steam games set up as shortcuts. Can origin or uplay or ms store give me that functionality? I think they're doing a good job to be honest.

[Death]

@Steveo,

The new Win10 update made a huge difference with the Xbox tab in bringing your PC library together. The interface is getting close to the Xbox UI which I feel is a good direction for them to go. They finally addressed the ridiculous download times as well. I'm not getting the do hang ups that made Windows store unusable anymore. Still a big Steam fan though and glad to see there is another option. My Steam games showed up in the UI as well.

[Derceto]

"Valve and their Steam platform have been great for PC gaming. A monopoly isn't good for consumers though, so people should be open to shopping elsewhere as well. Simples."

I'm absolutely on board with this. I'm just thinking of how much worse it could be by contrast to this article. Never been, and never will be a fan of solitary control or dominance by any company though. Monopolies can suck it.

[steveo123456]

@death, is it all controller based? If it's easier to boot straight to that rather than big picture then might use that as my UI if I can fire up non ms stuff from it too

[morganfell]

steveo,

I have the Shield TV Pro. In addition to the streaming of movies, MLB, Amazon, Hulu, Plex, Netflix, digital files such as .MKVs and music from a local drive, NAT, or connected PC, it runs a Steam Link app and with a controller, and boots straight to Big Picture mode. For all other games including Windows, EA, etc it uses the Gamestream app. It streams to my 4k TV from my PC which is in another room. And it does it in 4k with HDR.

You can pair a DS4 or X1 controller but I prefer the Shield controller because it has great rumble and holding down one of the buttons gives mouse emulation for navigating menus.

You must have an Nvidia card in your PC but this simple device has pushed all of my multiplat purchases to PC

[opinionated]

"Whether this means government regulators finally getting their act together, unions winning court cases or citizens voting them out of town, these companies are starting to feel the downside of moving fast"

All 3 are trash lol.. praising heavy regulations? You're a hack! Maybe next you can tackle the illusion of polygon's "professional gaming journalism" reputation.

[rainslacker]

I'm curious what type of regulation would be necessary from Steam. They're a storefront. It's not like they're a utility or a neccessity. They pay taxes like any retailer. What exactly needs to be regulated? The quality of the game? The price of the game? The cut that the pubs/devs get....which is about equivalent to what they'd have to pay within the retail chain?

I think the only regulation to digital goods I've seen was in the EU with digital refunds. Valve changed their TOS to get around it. What's funny though, is that Valve had a refund policy long before it was set into EU law.

I find it funny that anyone in the game industry, whether actually making games, or reporting on it, would call for regulations of any kind in any part of the market. From the developers to the retail chain, it just goes against what is actually good for the consumer. The last time someone sought out regulation against the industry, we got the ESRB and rating system, and a strong media push led by one man to say that violent games shouldn't be made. That is what regulation brings. The industry should be self regulating until the point that it can't do that anymore. As of right now, the only thing that needs to be regulated is the age ratings. Everything else is a free market system.

[opinionated]

Amen, brother. It's not antitrust monopoly stuff, steam has the market cornered but it's not like they are forcing you to buy a crappy service. Steam single handedly saved PC gaming and their pro consumer business tactics built an empire. There is some competition like GOG (which I prefer) but they are nowhere close to steam. I don't understand what needs to be regulated either. I don't think the esrb does a damn thing lol. Like a surgeon general warning on a pack of cigarettes, nobody cares. We know the crap is nasty, thanks for the concern and the 10 dollar tax a pack to pay for your sinking socialist health plans.

The digital platform exists like it does because of steam lol. Their refund system was a brilliant business move imo, the dirt cheap deals as well. Steam deserves its reputation, they played the game right and got rewarded. The hate is unjustified. They are the good guys, more-so than polygon anyway lol.

They are confusing and contradicting. I think these types of arguments stem from an irrational hatred for corporations. Not just steam, any corporation. Anti-capitalist ideology basically. They want state solutions, state regulations and mandates, state enforcement and no real competition besides a state sanctioned selection of plans that all benefit the state. It's the same with "net neutrality". When the phone became a utility and the government squashed competition, mobile was born out of competition and killed the phone. Keep the mobile and internet out of this looping cycle of obsolete utilities. There is zero competition in these industries, a lot of times we don't get a choice in things like cable, satellites, landlines and such. They are not power or water where there is a realistically limited source. Let these company's compete for our hard earned money. That's pro-consumer. Their arguments aren't ones for a free system, they demand conformity and punishment. A dangerous and dumb mindset imo.

[rainslacker]

The ESRB isn't completely useless. They're actually a lobbyist group for the companies in the industry, and they do a lot of behind the scenes things to help companies make more money, as well as avoid regulation to help them stay competative in the entertainment market. Movies have the same thing but can't remember what the group is called.

ESRB was created during the Jack Thompson days to be a group that regulated itself, by creating ESRB ratings, which effectively put any government regulation on hold, because it's what was being asked for, but the way it got done avoided any other kind of attachments applied to it....which was a great thing.

ESRB overall isn't really that much of a consumer advocate though. They can if need be, but rarely do, but overall, they are there if needed. We just don't hear about most of the stuff they do.

Not to say they haven't become a bit too big for their britches at times.

Anyhow, as to this piece itself, it seems more like some propoganda piece for someone who just wants to hate on Steam and be edgy. Some of the info in the article is just outright wrong.

I don't believe Steam is perfect, and I know they have had their moments where what they do is not really consumer friendly, but they adapt quickly to try and keep their customers happy. But obviously you can't please everyone all the time. Things like blaming Steam for the sale prices, when they don't set them is just ignorant people, but being the storefront, they will receive the blunt of the hate. And of course, since they are the dominate player, they will have those that just wish them to fail. To date, I think Amazon is the only company I haven't seen have this lobbed at them.

Others have posited that since this came from Polygon they have an agenda to somehow make MS new WIndows Store more appealing. While an amusing prospect, I think it's not, because realistically, even if someone hates Steam, are they likely to really be willing to go over to the WinStore? If they're hateful enough towards Steam, they're likely the kind of people who are also hateful of MS, and a lot of Steam users don't like MS as is.

[BecauseImBatman]

No company is your friend. But Steam is not bad for the gaming industry.

[AmUnRa]

No, that would be Microsoft.

[BecauseImBatman]

No platform holders like Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are important to the game industry too.

[Fist4achin]

I thought it was an excellent read. Valve are into the money making business, but to provide horrible customer support (refund policy) is absolute crap. They suck and will not get another dime from me. Im sure most of the gaming community wont give a rats ass because this article wont have the popularity and most just continue to keep their heads low playing through their backlogs.

If this business practice were ever carried into another market, the outcry would be insane.

[TargusX]

Spot on!

[Fist4achin]

Valve reminds me of using Walmart tactics towards their products, its just valve themselves are taking a bigger slice of the pie.

Bring the hate from those who dont understand business.

[Psychotica]

Yes, yes everything is a conspiracy..

[BEASELY]

This is a great article. People dick ride Steam way too hard. 5 years ago, they were Good Guy Valve.

They've outgrown that title. Just another company now.

[steveo123456]

So show me the better alternatives

[Pandamobile]

There's stuff like GoG, but compared to other billion-dollar companies Valve is the lesser of almost all evils in the games industry.

[BlaqMagiq1]

I personally don't have a problem with Steam but GOG is starting to rival them now. They CAN'T be ignored. That DRM-free business is what's attracting gamers right now.

[gtxgamer2]

Still waiting for another game by them. Any game really.. preferably L4d3 or half-life.

[gazgriff2k12]

hate valve. we could be playing next gen half life, portol, counter stike, team fortress, left for dead. but were not because gabe newell is a fat lazy greedy prick

[TankCrossing]

Conversely, Gabe Newell could have contributed the same amount to the gaming industry as you. Then we wouldn't have played the first 2 Half Lifes, Portals, Counterstrikes, Team Fortresses, or Left 4 Deads.

But sure, he's the prick.

[Fishy Fingers]

Cheap games, great support, flexible, rarely down and FREE.

Every other service I've used pales in comparison.

[Game-o-holic]

If you dig you can find articles like this and it's true. I have never liked Valve. They are awful and not good for gaming.

[agent4532]

Besides GOG, I really don't see any good alternatives for PC gaming. Unless, we could go back to the old days were gamers buy a digital game and store it on their game folder.

[Game-o-holic]

Your right, there are no comparable services. They are the itunes of gaming, pretending to have small business charm.

[PlusMana]

PlusMana published our own response to Polygon's post: we argue that Valve is not meant to be a friend, and Steam's free market model actually benefits gamers.

http://plusmana.com/valve-i...

[Kokyu]

I knew this when steam launched but people want cheap games nothing else matters.

[TargusX]

That's the problem with this latest gen, they want either dirt cheap or free games - well this is why most games being pumped out are utter cr@p.

[FunkyGoron]

Corporations want your $$ not your best interests. They may not want to literally screw you over, but they have one goal: make money.

[Cobra951]

Utter rubbish, obvious from the first paragraph, and confirmed through the rest of the op-ed's text. For starters, Valve controls nothing on open PCs. The users control everything. If the users allow Valve to have a majority share in the videogame market, then Valve must be doing something right. They're not the only way to get PC games--never have been; never will be. If they alienate their userbase, they will lose it. Of course they're in it for the money. What corporation isn't? If they want to keep making money in a market they don't own, they have to keep competing well, and doing right by their customers.

[steveo123456]

Couldn't of pit it better

[rlow1]

My only problem with steam is Gabe not finishing Halflife. Finish the game dufus.

[JasonKCK]

Valve has the cheapest digital gaming service there is.
Followed by MS and Nintendo.
Sony has the most expensive.

[steveo123456]

There's a few pc services need to go in that list between steam and the consoles. In fact seeing as you have no choice where you buy your games from console wise, you can't even include them in this conversation

[JasonKCK]

You mean like GMG? They lack quantity and newer games and not even close to as big as the four I mentioned.

[-Gespenst-]

Well, if you ask me, Valve is about as friendly as a big corporation can possibly be, and as for Steam, well it has an incredible library that's growing everyday (I reckon there'll come a day when nearly every game is available on Steam), and the summer / Christmas sales are undeniably the best sales in the gaming world. I mean Valve certainly aren't immune to criticism, and they should definitely be called out when they mess up, but come on, Steam is pretty darn great - I don't know how you could disagree with that.

[DrShoe]

Polygon is not your friend, and Polygon is not healthy for gaming.

[mastershredder]

Bwahahahahaha! Oh geez. Dude, Polygon ...seriously...just stop. Shallow end of the kiddie pool shi73 right here.

[_LarZen_]

As much as I dislike Polygon. I have to agree with this. Valve and Steam need some serious competition.

[steveo123456]

This article is complete bs. Don't know why I took the bait I really dont

[Gh05t]

If you don't like it don't use it... Problem SOLVED!

This is some of the most childish ranting I have read in a long time. Should we write an article about Polygon and how they are bad for gaming and definitely not my friend.

Steam offers a great value to me and when I do business with a company that is really all I ask for. Do I get value out of the money/time I put in. The answer is yes for me. If its not worth it to you then go somewhere else. If that somewhere else isnt as good... EXACTLY! that is why people use Valve... not because we are forced but because it is BETTER than anyone else has done.

[TargusX]

I wish I could not use it - but it's sown it's ugly online drm seeds into almost every PC title - which I why I've moved to console gaming again full time. Sad times.

[Gh05t]

That is completely not true... Origin, GOG, Battle.net (blizzard), green man gaming, humblebundle... I am not saying you can get every game but don't try to say there is no way to play PC without Steam.

[Fearmonkey]

Lets not forget that at the time Steam was taking off, we had the major publishers, devs, magazine publishers, websites, pretty much everyone telling us that PC gaming was dead. Shelf space at retailers was full of console games with very little PC game representation. Then Steam gets built up from a Half-life 2 DRM system to a a major game seller, while everyone else was ready to wash their hands of the PC market because of consoles and Piracy. In many ways, Steam brought back PC gaming from the brink, because MS, EA, UBISOFT, Retailers all believed in consoles and hated PC Piracy. The cheap sales Steam started saved PC gaming, and they built it to such a high level, that those same companies that told us PC gaming is dead, started their own PC gaming services and keeping their big games exclusive to their platforms, only for Steam to continue to succeed even though they tried to take a part of its pie.

Steam and Valve have their problems and issues, but they have done alot for PC gaming when the rest of the world was ready to wash their hands of it.

[Chaosdreams]

This is a good read.

[MilkMan]

Steam, like Windows, brought stability to this industry. Until something better comes along, whenever that is. This is as good as it gets. I have no complaints about them.

[steveo123456]

And let's not forget steam isn't just a storefront, it's the online multiplayer backbone of PC gaming. And it's FREE maybe that's where some of the profits they make from the store go?

[Dan_scruggs]

Now excuse me while I go buy games at a discount on Steam.

[TargusX]

'Discount'! The next mug spends their cash

[ShadowWolf712]

They actually make really good points in here... but starting off slamming services like Uber and Lyft? That's a bit of a reach for a related anecdote. And isn't really related.

[dillydadally]

How stupid. I mean, of course valve is a company that wants to make money, but do they not remember how dead PC gaming was before steam? Do they not realize how much steam has done to make PC relevant again? And if Steam hadn't of come along and the leading PC platform was made by a company like Microsoft, so they not realize how much worse it would be? Valve is a company in the business of making money, yes, but they are a saint of a company compared to every other one right now. Other companies care only about making money. Valve has at least proven they care about making money and doing the right thing.

[TargusX]

Dead! Are you serious? It was never dead - just not broadcasts in the ugly on-line limelight like it is now that's all. Wow.

[MorpheusX]

Example A: of what is #1 in this Industry: $$$$$$$$

Not Art.

Not for the love of , passion of Gaming, nope.................$$$$ is King.

Half-Life, arguably the BEST Single player 1st Person shooter, forerunner to other greats like Halo, ...did not see a finish of its very interesting, very intriguing Story, Valve just never made Half-Life 3, didn't bat an eye, didn't feel or express any type of remorse, nope, they just never made Half-Life 3.

It was as if we're talking about a game that well didn't sale well? Wasn't popular? uh lol Nope, that surely was not an issue, Valve just didn't make Half-Life 3.

Listen, nobody can look @ this any other way, Valve DOES NOT care about gamers, they ONLY CARE about .....the $$$$$$$$.

And, honestly, this Industry as a whole, has the SAME MENTALITY................its 1st & foremost about the $$$$.

[PiNkFaIrYbOi]

No company is your friend.

[McGamer]

LMAO, leave it to the fascist asshats of Polygon to push out a garbage article like this.

[S-Word]

They're still 1000 times better than trash like Battle.net from Blizzard.

[NecoTehSergal]

Correction: "Polygon is not your friend, and Polygon is not healthy for gaming".

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Steam is one of the best things to happen to gaming. it represents the future gaming. Polygon has always been complete and utter garbage.

[joethetimelord]

Said the pot to the kettle.

[Mithan]

Polygon... I think that acts as a flag to tell everybody what quality of article they are getting.

[plmkoh]

Ahh the big fat giant woolly mammoth in the room, it really needs to be said.

[Tross]

I'm not clicking the link, as I may be in the minority here, but I don't typically play "bleeding edge" stuff on Steam. Then again I'm also mostly a console gamer who also owns a laptop for the occasional Steam title, so I'm definitely not the authority on the finer points of the service. I don't know if I would call it unhealthy for gaming though. It allows for quick and easy access to a wide range of titles so I can see why it has really taken off in popularity, even though it's not my number 1 platform of choice.

[Felsager]

Valve is not here to be your friend.

Valve preserved the PC Video Game market economically viable. Steam provided a concrete solution to the rampant piracy that many are affected directly and indirectly.

Yes, Valve is not intended to be your friend but they did somethings other didn't. They kept the PC gaming rolling with steam. They had a project and a vision. Everything takes economical resources. Valve is not a charity company but at least they holds up the PC gaming market.

Better them than Activision, Ubisoft or EA. Their vision is to keep the PC gaming a profitable platform. In the end having a PC platform and console platform is healthy for the video game economy.

[Avery]

Good timing Polygon, right before Steam Summer Sale. Little dodgy there.

[gamernova]

This is just sad. Steam is a huge reason why PC gaming is thriving as much as it is. Now that PC gaming is finally getting the attention it deserves it's time to attack Valve? Screw that.

[mahmoods26]

So they found a niche in the market, created a product around it and you're saying they're evil because of their monopoly and Origin isn't evil because it's the same, except it isn't since EA routinely charges the same price as their games or more for DLC, imposes mandates on successful studios they purchase leading them to shut down, refuses to market a game like Titanfall 2 because it doesn't have DLC they can sell, refuses to release games on a platform like the Wii U or Dreamcast out of spite, etc, etc. Valve isn't perfect and there should be an alternative in the PC market space but they're no more evil than any other corporation. Just because they recognized a gap in the market and are meeting its demand doesn't make them exploitative. The reason why gamers rail again Origin, Uplay, Battlenet is not because they're against those services, it's because it's massively inconvenient to have 4 different clients because companies don't want to share revenue with Valve.

[TargusX]

I've hated Steam since the day it was born. It's ruined many a game for me, it should not be a requirement to run games! Always-online DRM (offline never works). It's full to the brim with faults, I can even begin to describe.

[MorpheusX]

@TargusX

I agree 100000000000%.

Its as if consumers simply IGNORE this, ...why the F do we have to have Steam as a requirement to play most PC games? That's taking away "Consumer Options", "Consumer Choice" & saying if your going to play PC games you have to be apart of the Steam Platform.......

That's a MONOPOLY & it ONLY BENEFITS "Big Business", Corporate Earnings. I hate STEAM, its BS, & I will never support it, I don't care how cool the game is, I'm not a "Gamer Addict", I don't NEED games, I play games, games don't play me, they don't CONTROL my decisions which are based on morally upright fundamental's, & basic common sense principals.

And when an Entity is given the type of control that STEAM has, well they naturally take advantage of consumers, its the SAME REASON I'm against Microsoft's vision for gaming , "Service based Games" its = DRM [Always Online], just a less THREATENING way to say it.

Dependency, Total Control over the way you game as a Consumer, its Anti- Consumerism.

[The_Kills]

inb4 UWP shilling.

While Valve was not the folks of a decade ago (look at the Half Life lies and mockery they've made of themselves stringing people along to premeditated vaporware), I'll take them over trash offerings from Uplay and especially that drivel of a platform from MS.

Lastly, games don't need to be Steam exclusive, the only reason some AAA games are is the presumption their DRM layer will save them from paranoia perceived levels of piracy.

Oh and Polygon? Why are people bookmarking sites like that folks. If you're a kid okay, but if you're of legal age, use both brain hemispheres - please people.