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[Topher]

A decade ago, EA pissed a lot of people off. That's normal for EA, but this move in particular earned the publisher some lifelong enemies among PC gamers: After releasing the first two Mass Effect games on Steam, EA announced that Mass Effect 3 would only be available on its proprietary client, Origin, blaming Steam's "restrictive terms of service." Rather than sitting in a neat stack in our Steam libraries, the trilogy was split between two launchers. It was a crime against PC gaming, as far as some were concerned.

Eight years later, in 2020, EA finally released Mass Effect 3 on Steam. Perhaps overcompensating, it then released Mass Effect 3 on Steam again in 2021 as part of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. If any doubt remained that the publisher's Steam vacation was over, it killed Origin this year. Granted, Origin was immediately replaced by the EA app, which is the same thing, but the point stands. EA came crawlin' back to Steam, and it wasn't the only big publisher to do it:

After sequestering the Call of Duty games on Blizzard's Battle.net for a time, Activision came back to Steam this year with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0.
Microsoft started releasing games on Steam again in 2019, having failed to make the Microsoft Store essential. (Although it has found success with Game Pass and the Xbox App.)
Following a couple years of Epic Games Store exclusivity, Ubisoft finally released Assassin's Creed Valhalla on Steam this year.
Take-Two also toyed with Epic exclusivity, but only ever for short periods: Borderlands 3 was on Steam after six months, and Red Dead Redemption 2 was exclusive to the Rockstar Games Launcher and EGS for just a month.
Steam has recently welcomed notable newcomers, too. For a while, we wondered if Epic's relationship with Sony would mean that former PlayStation exclusives would favor the Epic Games Store as they trickled onto PC. Epic apparently made an offer, but Sony didn't pick a side: God of War and other PlayStation-published games are on both Steam and EGS.

It's good to be Gabe
Perhaps things would actually have turned out worse had EA, Microsoft, and others not annoyed us by pushing their own stores and launchers for as long as they did. A decade and change ago, it seemed like Steam was on its way to becoming synonymous with PC gaming, with only a few companies, like Blizzard, able to succeed outside of Valve's ecosystem. As influential as Valve is today, it did not ultimately become PC gaming's "Xerox," which I think most will agree is for the best. The reaction to Microsoft's hoovering up of important studios suggests that PC gamers don't like seeing too much power consolidated within the Seattle Metropolitan Area.

"I do think PC gaming has quietly (and sometimes loudly) endorsed a Steam monopoly."

If Valve was made nervous by the sudden competition it faced over the last decade, and the departure of these big franchises, we certainly couldn't see it on its face—but then again, the company's sedate demeanor has always been hard to read. When Epic CEO Tim Sweeney posed the Epic Games Store as a direct challenge to Steam's 30% revenue cut, for example, Valve hardly budged. It did eventually lower its fee, but to 20% rather than Epic's more generous 12% and only for the biggest publishers, which pissed off a lot of indie developers. And yet, Epic still has to spend big to acquire notable exclusives, with its new publishing wing currently funding two Remedy games, one of which is Alan Wake 2. (Don't get me wrong, I think that's a great thing, because I always want more Remedy games.)

It feels premature to say that the era of the Steam rival is over, but I do think PC gaming has quietly (and sometimes loudly) endorsed a Steam monopoly. For all of the virtue that PC gamers and this publication proclaim about the platform's openness and freedom of choice, I think it's also understandable that so many of us value the predictability, convenience, and centralization that comes with Steam's dominance.

"It's a very good time to play games on personal computers, on Steam or otherwise."

Valve's continued relevance hasn't always felt this secure: The 2010s were full of little and big controversies and blunders, such as the vaporous Steam Machines program, Artifact's failure, semi-frequent confusion around Steam's adult games policy, review bombing and Steam forum moderation quagmires, and the mild dud that was the Steam Controller. Lately, though, Valve's on a bit of a roll, with its hardware efforts especially looking more fruitful: It still makes our favorite VR headset, and the Steam Deck has been a small triumph this year. I'm glad to see Valve's long, slow effort to build a Linux-based lifeboat for PC gaming, SteamOS, finally made practical for the average gamer.

And Steam itself, which was once only a destination for publisher-backed games, is now a destination for cool, weird stuff like Cruelty Squad(opens in new tab) alongside mainstream hits, which now includes games we once didn't expect to see on PC at all, like Marvel's Spider-Man and God of War. That's in part down to the health of PC gaming in general: It's a very good time to play games on personal computers, on Steam or otherwise. But let's be honest: mostly on Steam.

So is Steam really a monopoly in PC gaming? If so, are you ok with that? If not, why not?

 

[jshackles]

 

[Trogdor1123]

I said no to a monopoly as you can buy keys elsewhere and add them to steam still.

It could certainly go that way though pretty easy I think.

 

[Jennings]

It's not a monopoly, but choosy customers who are only interested in getting the best selection, service, and prices are making it very difficult for competition to thrive.

 

[nightmare-slain]

nah, there's plenty of alternatives. Epic is probably the best store out there aside from Steam.

i hardly use Steam these days but can't deny it's the best experience for most people. people were quick to shit on Epic for trying to compete with Steam but i think it was the right thing to do. Stick with Steam if you want but competition is good.

you can't call Steam a monopoly when you have epic, gog, ea, blizzard, riot, etc.

 

[GHG]

This is not what a monopoly looks like:

Game deals - Find video games on sale - GG.deals

Compare prices of video games from almost 60 stores, find the best game deals online. CD keys for all PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PC games on the market at the best price!

gg.deals

 

[Guilty_AI]

GOG > Steam >>> Everything else >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Microsoft Store

 

[Topher]

I said no to a monopoly as you can buy keys elsewhere and add them to steam still.

It could certainly go that way though pretty easy I think.

True, but those are Steam's keys. Every one of them are bought from Valve to be resold.

Scratch that. Incorrect assumption on my part.

 

[Tams]

I'm still pissed at Valve for not letting me play games I'd bought because I didn't know that I had to set my app to offline mode.

 

[Three]

It's a monopoly but one that customers have chosen and not one where they were forced to use.

 

[GreatnessRD]

GOG > Steam >>> Everything else >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Microsoft Store

GOG is Goated because of their no DRM policy, but they don't really have anything. At least to me.

 

[DGrayson]

I dont advocate for monopolies. Steam's launcher is ancient but that shit works and works well.

No one else has developed something better. I dont care about free games, if someone wants to do better than Steam they need to make a better launcher. Steam has tons of room to improve. I never use Steam chat, use Discord only. Streaming needs work. Social integration needs work. Your Steam page needs work, everything could be better.

So ya someone could come and develop a better product but that's going to take time and more importantly money and no one wants to do that, they just want to either give away free games (Epic) while putting forth a worse product or some other game developer just effectively keeping their games hostage on a worse launcher.

 

[GHG]

True, but those are Steam's keys. Every one of them are bought from Valve to be resold.

Not all of them are, not even close.

 

[feynoob]

It's a monopoly but one that customers have chosen and not one where they were forced to use.

That is how you win.

 

[winjer]

Considering how many online stores sell legit Steam keys, it's not really a monopoly.

 

[jshackles]

True, but those are Steam's keys. Every one of them are bought from Valve to be resold.

Valve actually lets developers generate keys for no cost, so that they can be sold directly by the developer or on 3rd party sites. Valve doesn't get their 30% cut on any of these sales - this lets developers sell on other sites (Humble Bundle, Fanatical, etc.) without getting dinged twice by fees.

 

[Topher]

Valve actually lets developers generate keys for no cost, so that they can be sold directly by the developer or on 3rd party sites. Valve doesn't get their 30% cut on any of these sales - this lets developers sell on other sites (Humble Bundle, Fanatical, etc.) without getting dinged twice by fees.

Really? I didn't realize that. Guess I just assumed Valve was acting as a wholesaler with those keys. Interesting

 

[TrebleShot]

If you have steam deck Steam is the only option other launchers end up being a. Pain

 

[JayK47]

On one hand I like competition. On the other hand, I want all of my PC games to be in one convenient place. It is already too late for that. All of these publishers moving back to Steam just means you can buy from Steam, but still requires the 3rd party launcher.

 

[Laptop1991]

And i do prefer my games on Steam without all these extra launcher's, i'm glad BGS got rid of their awful one, i just wish they would get rid of the need to use their's as well, i'm not running 2 launchers for 1 game, there is no need, it doesn't help or stop anything.

 

[Topher]

If you have steam deck Steam is the only option other launchers end up being a. Pain

Heroic Games Launcher works pretty well in giving access to GOG and Epic games on Steam Deck. In any case, Steam OS is an open platform so anything can run there.

 

[jshackles]

If you have steam deck Steam is the only option other launchers end up being a. Pain

You can literally install Windows on it if you'd like, it's the definition of open. If you only know how to use the built-in Linux interface, that's on you. The fact that Valve makes things so easy is kind of the whole point.

 

[NeverYouMind]

GOG is Goated because of their no DRM policy, but they don't really have anything. At least to me.

I like GOG on principle but I have issues with developers updating their games there and I do not think they have the infrastructure to support the shear volume of data and users that Steam does.

Origins and Uplay are awful with how you can get locked out of what you payed for. Abhor the Rockstar Launcher crap. Never used Epic and prefer to get their exclusives on console.

 

[Guilty_AI]

GOG is Goated because of their no DRM policy, but they don't really have anything. At least to me.

Honestly that no-DRM policy (as well as installers and the ability to easily roll back updates) triumphs most features you can cram into a launcher. I usually only open exceptions for games with tons of workshop stuff, devs that stop updating their game there for some reason, or if they're much cheaper on Steam.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

#Monopoly

 

[Magic Carpet]

If you have steam deck Steam is the only option other launchers end up being a. Pain

What's sad is Microsoft becomes the biggest pain to use on Steam Deck.
Even when installing Windows on the Steam Deck, Valve (Being assholes on purpose) makes the controls on the Steam Deck wonky in Windows, and you have to use 3rd party garbage to get it to work. (mostly works).
This makes me want to look at any of these other PC handelds to see if the Aya Neo or any others have this same wonky controler issues.

OR Microsoft could be the assholes here by not having a driver that can use the controls in Windows. OR just simply have a Gamepass app in Steam.

 

[Madonis]

It's just too convenient. Build a better store and people will go there instead.

That said...I'm glad other supplementary alternatives like GOG exist, for certain specific games that are unlikely to get on Steam or at least would get buried without receiving much attention among the flood of new titles.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

All hail the steam monopoly!

 

[Celcius]

I just want to say that Origin was a great store and launcher, but then EA killed it and replaced it with the EA app which sucks because it runs so many background processes.
Steam is actually competent and has a great refund policy.
I refuse to use Epic because of their exclusivity stuff.
GoG I don't buy from but I have a few free games there and 100% DRM free is cool.
FF14 I just use the standalone version (non-steam).
Battle.net is great as well, though I only have 2 games there and COD has since moved over to Steam.

One big thing about Steam is that they have huge Japanese games support and that's most games that I play.

 

[Ogbert]

Not their fault they’re the best.

 

[AlteredForms]

Because Steam has the experience and because of that it has the largest audience. There were very few who got into digital distribution back in the day, I would say Sega were the first with Steam and Direct2Drive following, but did the other two actually see the future in it? The only competitor around nowadays is GOG and Epic Games and I only care for Good Old Games as being the primary alternative to Gabe and co.

 

[Lupin3]

 

[IFireflyl]

Just because there is a gap between the largest company and the second largest company doesn't mean that there is a monopoly. A monopoly is a situation in which there is a single seller in a specific market. Steam is not a monopoly because there are other sellers. Steam is, however, the primary dominating seller in the PC video game market. This is a testament to what their storefront offers, not a testament to them being anti-competitive. When Epic started buy exclusivity agreements Valve could have responded in kind, but Gabe Newell isn't a rat-faced douche like that ugly chode Tim Sweeney. Gabe is actually a gamer and cares about the video game industry. Tim is a turd.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I dont advocate for monopolies. Steam's launcher is ancient but that shit works and works well.

No one else has developed something better. I dont care about free games, if someone wants to do better than Steam they need to make a better launcher. Steam has tons of room to improve. I never use Steam chat, use Discord only. Streaming needs work. Social integration needs work. Your Steam page needs work, everything could be better.

So ya someone could come and develop a better product but that's going to take time and more importantly money and no one wants to do that, they just want to either give away free games (Epic) while putting forth a worse product or some other game developer just effectively keeping their games hostage on a worse launcher.

Your post is a posterchild example of when a company should be classified a monopoly. Should it be? Should it not be?

- Company has vast majority market share
- I dont think Valve is iron fisting game companies to join or not. I dont think they really care
- They freely allow companies who left to rejoin (no grudges or restrictions held)
- Their fees charged seem similar to everyone else
- They got very good customer refund policies (often a tough thing for gamers)

Add it up and are they a monopoly? Does it matter if domination is due to iron fisted demands or if it's just customers loving it so it's a natural course of success?

With something like a game service, if the government was to crack down on Steam, I dont know how or what they'd even do. In giant corporations, a break up is often demanded by government (split up companies into distinctly run businesses). Who knows what a Steam regulatory policy would be.

 

[Lasha]

Just because there is a gap between the largest company and the second largest company doesn't mean that there is a monopoly. A monopoly is a situation in which there is a single seller in a specific market. Steam is not a monopoly because there are other sellers. Steam is, however, the primary dominating seller in the PC video game market. This is a testament to what their storefront offers, not a testament to them being anti-competitive. When Epic started buy exclusivity agreements Valve could have responded in kind, but Gabe Newell isn't a rat-faced douche like that ugly chode Tim Sweeney. Gabe is actually a gamer and cares about the video game industry. Tim is a turd.

Valve doesn't need to buy exclusives because valve has a defacto monopoly with it's first mover advantage and perceived switching costs for users. Spending money and buying in is the only way to break into a monopoly which is why Epic throws cash into it's store. Valve is keenly aware of it's position and the antitrust attention it would receive if it began pursuing exclusive deals of its own.

 

[lordrand11]

nah, there's plenty of alternatives. Epic is probably the best store out there aside from Steam.

i hardly use Steam these days but can't deny it's the best experience for most people. people were quick to shit on Epic for trying to compete with Steam but i think it was the right thing to do. Stick with Steam if you want but competition is good.

you can't call Steam a monopoly when you have epic, gog, ea, blizzard, riot, etc.

Outside of Steam GoG has been one of my faves because of their focus on bringing the PC games I played in my childhood back to the forefront and making them playable, I absolutely love their storefront

 

[IFireflyl]

Valve doesn't need to buy exclusives because valve has a defacto monopoly with it's first mover advantage and perceived switching costs for users. Spending money and buying in is the only way to break into a monopoly which is why Epic throws cash into it's store. Valve is keenly aware of it's position and the antitrust attention it would receive if it began pursuing exclusive deals of its own.

You should read my post before replying because you missed several key points.

 

[rofif]

It's not really a monopoly. Everyone is selling keys. cheapshark is your friend. cdkeys too

 

[ReBurn]

Valve doesn't need to buy exclusives because valve has a defacto monopoly with it's first mover advantage and perceived switching costs for users. Spending money and buying in is the only way to break into a monopoly which is why Epic throws cash into it's store. Valve is keenly aware of it's position and the antitrust attention it would receive if it began pursuing exclusive deals of its own.

Valve has always been laissez faire about their approach to Steam which is probably one of the reasons gamers like it so much. They've always been like "put it here or don't, we don't care." They've created a marketplace that prioritizes the buyer over the seller, thus making it the place where people prefer to buy their games and gamers know that if they can't get a PC game on Steam it's not because of Valve but because of the publisher or developer.

That's what Epic didn't seem to understand. They put emphasis on the seller trying to court them with lower commissions and outright buying exclusivity, then they tried to bribe buyers to switch by giving them some free games. But Epic didn't put gamers first so gamers didn't see a need to switch to EGS for anything other than free games.

 

[Lasha]

Valve has always been laissez faire about their approach to Steam which is probably one of the reasons gamers like it so much. They've always been like "put it here or don't, we don't care." They've created a marketplace that prioritizes the buyer over the seller, thus making it the place where people prefer to buy their games and gamers know that if they can't get a PC game on Steam it's not because of Valve but because of the publisher or developer.

That's what Epic didn't seem to understand. They put emphasis on the seller trying to court them with lower commissions and outright buying exclusivity, then they tried to bribe buyers to switch by giving them some free games. But Epic didn't put gamers first so gamers didn't see a need to switch to EGS for anything other than free games.

Valve built it's monopoly by forcing everybody to use steam to play CS and HL2 nearly 20 years ago. Others tried to emulate Valve by using their own IP to launch storefronts but failed because Valve had too much of an advantage. Steam has a checkered past that is often glossed over and Valve is currently facing anti trust legislation due to its market position.

Valve shouldn't even be a factor in a fair market. They are a middleman. People don't show loyalty to big box stores when buying goods they buy from the store with the lowest price. Epic and GOG are better stores on paper and offer lower prices yet people stick up for Valve like console fanboys in rage.

 

[PhaseJump]

What's sad is Microsoft becomes the biggest pain to use on Steam Deck.
Even when installing Windows on the Steam Deck, Valve (Being assholes on purpose) makes the controls on the Steam Deck wonky in Windows, and you have to use 3rd party garbage to get it to work. (mostly works).
This makes me want to look at any of these other PC handelds to see if the Aya Neo or any others have this same wonky controler issues.

OR Microsoft could be the assholes here by not having a driver that can use the controls in Windows. OR just simply have a Gamepass app in Steam.

Tell us you're retarded without telling us you're retarded.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

Valve built it's monopoly by forcing everybody to use steam to play CS and HL2 nearly 20 years ago. Others tried to emulate Valve by using their own IP to launch storefronts but failed because Valve had too much of an advantage. Steam has a checkered past that is often glossed over and Valve is currently facing anti trust legislation due to its market position.

Valve shouldn't even be a factor in a fair market. They are a middleman. People don't show loyalty to big box stores when buying goods they buy from the store with the lowest price. Epic and GOG are better stores on paper and offer lower prices yet people stick up for Valve like console fanboys in rage.

Well their software is practically second to none when they get around to releasing it, and most of their hardware has been awesome. Steam Deck has reinvigorated my love of PC gaming, and with their store front being compatible with any hardware I can run 18 years of legacy content anywhere I want now. But not being cunts, they left the hardware wide open so if you want to run windows and never login to Steam with your Steam Deck, you can.

They’re not perfect but they’re pretty damn pro-consumer. And one middleman they cut out was the publishers by basically building up the whole indie scene on Steam. So I’m honestly perplexed why anyone has an axe to grind with Valve. I’d take them over Sony, MS, EGS and loooool Nintendo’s shitty history of selling you the same game over and over.

I bought Half-Life 2 once, 18 years ago, and now I can play it in VR. I bought an Index before Alyx was announced and got it for free, just because. Valve is a great company, even if not perfect (who is?)

 

[Guilty_AI]

Valve built it's monopoly by forcing everybody to use steam to play CS and HL2 nearly 20 years ago. Others tried to emulate Valve by using their own IP to launch storefronts but failed because Valve had too much of an advantage. Steam has a checkered past that is often glossed over and Valve is currently facing anti trust legislation due to its market position.

Valve shouldn't even be a factor in a fair market. They are a middleman. People don't show loyalty to big box stores when buying goods they buy from the store with the lowest price. Epic and GOG are better stores on paper and offer lower prices yet people stick up for Valve like console fanboys in rage.

The biggest problem with the argument that Valve is a monopoly is that they aren't doing any sort of monopolistic behaviour. Sure, they're the dominant platform, but just being dominant isn't enough to call someone a monopoly.

Just think of it this way, if you want to 'stop valve's monopoly' over the pc market, just what kind of regulation you'd have to impose on them? What kind of unfair barriers Valve willingly imposes that stops other competitors from entering the market?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

So I’m honestly perplexed why anyone has an axe to grind with Valve. I’d take them over Sony, MS, EGS and loooool Nintendo’s shitty history of selling you the same game over and over.

I'm going to take a guess that because Steam is so big, some PC gamers expect them to have lower prices. Kind of like Walmart. Instead, you got resellers selling Steam keys for cheaper, where they expect Steam should be able to handle selling them for that cheap right off the bat.

Also, some people are just anti-corporation. Even if a company does extremely well simply by having a good service and everyone gravitates to it naturally, they still perceive the corporation as evil and greedy.

And lastly, it's Gabe. He's a big fat guy. No doubt in my mind some people dont like Valve because he looks like a slob. He reminds of the late Rob Ford (old Toronto mayor). Bring up Rob Ford and some people will have a discussion he's good or bad due to policies he did or he's a crack head. Fair points. But some people didn't like him simply because he was a big fat guy (made worse by cartoonists who would always draw him as a bumbling fat guy busting out of his suit).

 

[Klosshufvud]

It's funny how people whine that Steam is a monopoly while not minding consoles one bit. Because we all know being actually hard restricted to a single store on a console is the epitome of fair competition right?

 

[IFireflyl]

I'm going to take a guess that because Steam is so big, some PC gamers expect them to have lower prices. Kind of like Walmart. Instead, you got resellers selling Steam keys for cheaper, where they expect Steam should be able to handle selling them for that cheap right off the bat.

These people need to understand that the developers/publishers are still the ones setting the prices. Valve/Steam has nothing to do with that. (And I understand that this isn't your perspective, so that's not aimed at you at all.)

Also, some people are just anti-corporation. Even if a company does extremely well simply by having a good service and everyone gravitates to it naturally, they still perceive the corporation as evil and greedy.

We have more information at our fingertips than we ever had in the history of our planet, and yet a not insignificant portion of the population is less informed than ever about the causes they fight for/against.

And lastly, it's Gabe. He's a big fat guy. No doubt in my mind some people dont like Valve because he looks like a slob. He reminds of the late Rob Ford (old Toronto mayor). Bring up Rob Ford and some people will have a discussion he's good or bad due to policies he did or he's a crack head. Fair points. But some people didn't like him simply because he was a big fat guy (made worse by cartoonists who would always draw him as a bumbling fat guy busting out of his suit).

If people (gamers) actually read up on Gabe they would think he's a great guy. Gabe is my spirit animal.

 

[MiguelItUp]

I wouldn't consider it a monopoly at all, personally. Keys can be purchased all over the place, but sometimes from cheaper outlets. But Steam keeps things tidy, and allows everything to work, and work well. More so than any other PC launcher. Especially with the amount of things that it does, and provides. It's been around long enough to solidify its functionality as much as possible. It may not be perfect, but it's the closest thing to it. No other launcher has come close IMO. We're just seeing so many of those launchers folding and going back to Steam, which to be fair, we all knew would happen. I mean, a lot of them were garbage.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I wouldn't consider it a monopoly at all, personally. Keys can be purchased all over the place, but sometimes from cheaper outlets. But Steam keeps things tidy, and allows everything to work, and work well. More so than any other PC launcher. Especially with the amount of things that it does, and provides. It's been around long enough to solidify its functionality as much as possible. It may not be perfect, but it's the closest thing to it. No other launcher has come close IMO. We're just seeing so many of those launchers folding and going back to Steam, which to be fair, we all knew would happen. I mean, a lot of them were garbage.

Fair points.

But when it comes to a "monopoly" I think sometimes people's and government's interpretation of it means nothing except one simple fact. Market share dominance. For sake of example, let's say Steam has 75% of the PC market. GOG, Epic, resellers have the rest.

Just the fact they got 75%, is simply going on a single metric good enough to classify them a monopoly begging to be broken up or reprimanded by government?

 

[Hendrick's]

It's not a monopoly, it's not even very good. Just seems like no one else can come close to it for whatever reason.

 

[Topher]

It's not really a monopoly. Everyone is selling keys. cheapshark is your friend. cdkeys too

But even though these keys are sold by others, they still come from the same source: Steam.

Fair points.

But when it comes to a "monopoly" I think sometimes people's and government's interpretation of it means nothing except one simple fact. Market share dominance. For sake of example, let's say Steam has 75% of the PC market. GOG, Epic, resellers have the rest.

Just the fact they got 75%, is simply going on a single metric good enough to classify them a monopoly begging to be broken up or reprimanded by government?

Being a monopoly isn't necessarily illegal. The problem comes into play when a monopoly uses their dominance in the industry to remain a monopoly. The litigation brought forth during the browser wars were about Microsoft utilizing their OS dominance in incorporating Internet Explorer into Windows. They were already a monopoly in the OS space. I don't think anyone could point to comparable behavior from Valve.

It's not a monopoly, it's not even very good. Just seems like no one else can come close to it for whatever reason.

What is it about Steam you find not very good?