Retailers Versus Steam? [Nov 11, 2010, 11:08 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
A story on MCV with a quote in the headline (which isn't in the article itself) stating "Valve monopoly is killing PC market," reports they understand "that at least two big-name digital retailers are facing financial difficulties as they struggle to compete" with Steam. "I've fought hard for my customer, and never before have I had to give my customers away. Steam is killing the PC market and it is no wonder digital retailers are failing," says the director of a Steam rival. "Steam is locking down the market." In a separate report they also discuss retailer dissatisfaction with Steam's dominance of the marketplace, which insiders tell them amounts to 80% of PC downloadable games. Since this competes with online sales initiatives by retailers, they say at least two major U.K. merchants will demand that publishers remove Steam integration from their games or they will refuse to sell them. With PC game sales at retail stores in steady decline, it seems an odd moment for these stores to flex their atrophying muscle, but they quote the head of sales at a big-name digital service provider saying: "At the moment the big digital distributors need to stock games with Steam. But the power resides with bricks and mortar retailers, they can refuse to stock these titles. Publishers are hesitant, but retail must put pressure on them."
StingingVelvet wrote on Nov 12, 2010, 07:36:
Why is it that no one can speak of Steam\'s downsides? Why do dozens of rabid fans immediately come out of the woodwork insisting Steam is perfect, or that Steam\'s benefits make mentioning its downsides a bad thing to do? It\'s like loving Xbox Live and refusing to admit it shouldn\'t cost money to use your own bandwith to play games you bought.
You and nxs, or whatever his name is, are building a giant fucking straw man here. There have been plenty of people who have said that Steam isn't perfect, that it could definitely be better, and several others have said that it's a worrisome idea if Steam were to ever become the sole platform on the PC.
However, right now that isn't the case, and right now Steam is, by and large, giving both the publishers AND the customers what they want. Ergo, it's immensely succesful.
B&M stores and Steam's competitors aren't giving customers/publishers what they want, and therefore they don't get a bigger piece of the pie.
So I'd seriously like to know where "no one can speak of Steam's downsides."
Creston
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