Retailers Unhappy With Steam Monopoly

[Blink]

Apparently many game retailers are unhappy with the monopoly that Steam holds over digital distribution and are threatening to stop stocking games that use it:

Insiders say Steam, run by US studio Valve, serves a massive 80 per cent of the PC download sector. And retailers preparing their own rival platforms don’t want that share to grow any more. Some of the biggest PC games – such as Call of Duty and Fallout – use Steam. But retailers are concerned that selling games with the tech built-in pushes users towards only buying games via Valve going forward.

You can read more on this over at MCV.

[Armageddon]

This is just stupid...

[stoopdapoop]

I think the comments are better reads than the actual article

[Dionysos]

It is a big monopoly, but they got there by seizing the moment and providing a service that is otherwise not provided. If they want to lose sales and stop selling those games, they can, but it won't do them any good. If someone wants to break the monopoly steam holds, they have to create a better, free'er service. They won't accomplish that by moaning that someone else was faster and better.

[source-maps]

sorry but... if the games that are on steam won't be available retail.. won't that mean they will loose even more money and everyone will start buying it on steam

last game I bought in an actual store was HL2, I hate DVD's and boxes and such.. just give me the digital content..

sounds like they are afraid of inevitable progress and this is a desperate attempt to try and stop it

[joe_dirt976]

this is quite a laughable situation. Even if the stores were more adequately stocked, why the hell would I opt for the non-steam version of drm? I hate drm either way, but steam is a lesser and more convenient evil. Steam also has a more accessible library of games, most of which are shown with useful statistics such as price, ratings, popularity, automated updates, reliable customer support, and much more. Come to think of it, steam isn't really that evil when you consider all of that, these guys are mad because they don't want to account for their shortcomings.

[ad_hominem]

Lewie P said it best on Rock, Paper, Shotgun:

The actual complaints amount to “we want to have more control over distribution, instead of Valve.”

Whichever highstreet retailer it is, they have all routinely failed PC gaming over the last decade or more, whereas Valve have successfully created what is a level playing field for all sorts of developers, and a fantastic service for it’s customers. It’s not perfect, by any means, but a lot of people obviously think Valve offer the best service.

[Oskmos]

I love steam. Always have, but I prefer to buy the games at a store so i can put the box in my shelf
Best thing is when you can buy at the store AND activate the game with steam so you dont have to hassle with the DVD at all but still have something in the shelf

[LordDz]

Now it shows even more that's it's all about the money and nothing to do with customer service =/

I really enjoy steam.

[Klifsnider]

The thing that bothers me most about steam is that when the Euro was worth less than the Dollar, a game would cost more euros than dollars, but now that the Euro is worth more, a game that costs $60 also costs €60. I find this discriminative. We would be paying $30 more than an American.

[Plague]

Ever since I started using Steam for PC Games almost exclusively I now treat physical copies more like a novelty.

Still have my HL2, HL2:EP1 and L4D1-2 disks.

[stoopdapoop]

The thing that bothers me most about steam is that when the Euro was worth less than the Dollar, a game would cost more euros than dollars, but now that the Euro is worth more, a game that costs $60 also costs €60. I find this discriminative. We would be paying $30 more than an American.

While you have a point, Valve has provided an easy work-around to this issue. Just have an American friend gift you game, then paypal them the real price (maybe a little extra if it's not such a good friend) and you're set, right?

[Klifsnider]

Any American want a European friend?

That is true, although saying Valve provided us with this is a little bit over the top, they banned proxies from steam in order to stop Europeans from using American IP addresses to buy games (before they were out in Europe), and right after that they change the pricing system so Europeans have to pay more. Sounds like a strategy to make more money to me.

[Jangalomph]

All stores around me except walmart stopped selling PC games, Thus in 2006 i joined steam. Steam has various sales.. and game stop etc is gay any ways.

Steam all the way ya know.

[Generalvivi]

I see no problem with this ! Down with game***t!