The Weekly Raid: Will Any Other Platform Replace Steam? Should It?
In an article on PC Gamer, co-founder of Epic Games Tim Sweeney worries that Microsoft is trying erode Steam's influence by creating compatibility issues in future Windows updates. It wouldn't be the first attempt by a company to cut in on Valve's turf.
UPlay, Origin, Arc, Nexon Launcher and Aeria Ignite are all similarly designed digital distribution platforms. They lump games together for easy access (but mainly their own games). Nothing can compete with Steam's huge and ever-expanding catalog of games. And it seems unlikely anything else can, not that it stops companies from trying.
But should something off-set Steam's near monopoly? We often remark that companies ought to put their games on Steam to increase their potential audience (HeroWarz please). And it's clear Steam helps. Plenty of old games have found success, temporary or otherwise, by launching on Steam. It's a powerful tool for developers and publishers.
Will anything ever usurp Steam. I don' think so but anything's possible. And I'm fine with the way Steam is, but if it ever underwent a radical change I may wish for another service.
The Weekly Raid: Will any other platform replace Steam? Should it?
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From Mega Man II to Ape Escape, I've been playing games for as long as I can . I've spent months killing porings in Ragnarok Online and more recently lived a second life in Eve Online. I usually play as gUMBY, gUMBLEoni, or gUMBLes in-game.
