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Tim Sweeney emailed Gabe Newell calling Valve 'you assholes' over Steam policies, to which Valve's COO replied internally 'you mad bro?' (www.pcgamer.com)

submitted 8 months ago by mr_MADAFAKA@lemmy.ml to c/steam@lemmy.ml

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[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

They have an overwhelming majority that makes assorted competitors individually irrelevant. Jesus, do I hate having to say "they have an overwhelming majority that makes assorted competitors individually irrelevant," just because people get in a snit about the word "monopoly."

You know Standard Oil didn't own all the oil - right? They peaked around 85% of sales. They had many competitors. Those competitors did not matter.

For every game that's done well outside Steam, there's ten that eventually came to Steam and sold massively better than before. That jump is the power Steam wields. That is why we regulate competition, beyond 'do competitors exist.'

[–] Syntha@sh.itjust.works 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The barrier to entry is a huge concern on whether something should be considered a monopoly or not. Extracting and refining oil is nowhere near the same as selling your videogame online. Today the barrier of entry for digital distribution incredibly low.

[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 1 points 8 months ago

And yet: 75%.

They can hand out keys with no strings attached, and it does not matter.