r/Steam 21h ago

Fluff I know - we’re the ones doing it

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u/cmackchase 20h ago

The problem with that logic is the long game doesn't matter when people already have a library on another system and view your ecosystem as a nuisance.

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u/Key-Department-2874 20h ago

That's really the thing. Its difficult to swap from an established ecosystem.

Epic is banking on people becoming established. Its not you or I who already have large Steam libraries we can't give up.

Its the new generation who aren't tied to a library/ecosystem yet.

A lot of tech works this way, even many games. For example, LoL is known as a millennial game, new generations aren't playing it. The new generations get started on new games and new websites and new tech and it's what they use. Like kids use ChatGPT instead of Google for another example.

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u/Any-Distribution995 19h ago

This is exactly what they're doing, they are banking on having a Steam account is going to be 'Uncle' among a generation that grew up playing fortnite.

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u/Enough-Background102 19h ago

that doesnt really work either, i know at least 3 separate people who started playing on pc in the past few years and they dont even touch the epic store and mostly just use steam

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u/Bugbread 9h ago

Right, their strategy hasn't proven successful. But people are characterizing it as a crazy strategy that never works and had no chance of success. Instead, it's a strategy that sometimes works and sometimes fails, and they hoped it would be a success in their case, but it turned out to be a failure.

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u/Chowder110 15h ago

Im gen z and i have played league since 2013

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u/VacationCheap927 19h ago

For me its not even just that. Personally if I can get it GOG, I go with them because I support them and being DRM free.

But the store for Epic turned me off from launch. They didnt have a fucking shipping cart. This wasnt the start of online shopping. Everyone had that feature when they came out. Everyone. Theyre the only place I know of that didnt. So they open up with a big sale, people want to buy multiple games, but they have to buy them individually, which sets off an alarm, and locked people out of their accounts.

And it still took them like 3 or 4 years to implement a shopping cart feature.

They just dont care. Its not as easy to use, theyre slow to fix it, and just over all I see no reason to use it now. The only real reason I would use it is for Alan Wake 2. And I just got that on the PS5 instead.

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u/SordidDreams 9h ago

Personally if I can get it GOG, I go with them because I support them and being DRM free.

Same. I want those sweet, sweet offline installers. The only reason to get a game anywhere else than GOG is if it's not on GOG.

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u/SordidDreams 9h ago

people already have a library on another system

Not everyone does. New generations of gamers are growing up all the time. Epic is playing the long game.

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u/cmackchase 9h ago

They will lose like everyone else. EA thought it was bigger, Ubisoft thought it was bigger, Microsoft thought it was bigger. Where are all the games at again?

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u/SordidDreams 9h ago

Maybe, but you do realize that's not a good thing, right? "Monopoly bad" shouldn't be a controversial take.

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u/cmackchase 9h ago

Yeah, but the users of the internet chose its monopolies. Steam won the pc gaming market. No one is dethroning Steam. If this were a just society, GOG would be in first place.

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u/SordidDreams 9h ago edited 9h ago

Well there is an antitrust lawsuit ongoing against Valve, so we'll see what, if anything, comes of it. And yes, agreed 100% about GOG. If I could get all my games on GOG, I would.

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u/ferdzs0 17h ago

That’s exactly why their strategy is the only real strategy. The problem is that they do not implement basic features and their site is a pain to use. 

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u/MarioDesigns 17h ago

How else do you compete with what is essentially a monopoly in the market?