By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Zkuq on 28 May 2026
Edit Thread
Cerebralbore101 said:
Zkuq said:

Major publishers already have their own clients and have been keeping their games off of Steam along the years. Most of them are back now, but I'm sure they're not too hesitant to re-evaluate their stance if necessary. Some publishers would definitely adapt and drop DRM, but some would likely adapt by moving away from Steam instead. There might have been a time when Valve could have enforced publishers to not use DRM with much more ease than now, but that ship has sailed a long, long time ago. There is actual real competition on PC, tough as it might be due to Steam's dominance.

That's all a theory, though. We would have to see how it actually plays out. I realize that my comment is also a theory. Anyway, the point is that Gabe talks as if he doesn't do exactly the anti-consumer BS that everyone else does. In fact, I would argue that the unique combination of Denuvo and ONLY having digital copies of games is the most anti-consumer thing any platform can do when selling games. 

Also, notice how nobody has said "F@&K STEAM!", yet over this price increase. If it were Nintendo raising prices by this much the Nintenhater crowd would be coming out of the woodwork not just to bash on the price increase, but to claim that the entire company is the spawn of Satan. 

Also F@&K Game Key Cards and Drift. Nintendo deserves criticism too. But not outright company hatred.

Of course it's just a theory, but I think it's a very reasonable one. I don't really know or much care about what Gabe says, because Steam is generally a very fair platform, especially for its size. I have pretty much zero concerns about Steam right now - my concerns are about the time after Gabe, because we know what we're getting with Gabe based on what is now already decades of experience, but we don't know what's coming after him. GOG is my platform of choice whenever I do have a choice, but for now, Steam is also pretty great. It's not perfect, but overall, it's probably the best gaming service by far.

There's nothing wrong with Steam despite the price increase. The new Steam Deck prices are absolutely insane though, but Steam itself is still great value (can't really beat free with lots of features too). I can't say the same about any console service unless play an insane amount of games so I can fully utilize the benefits of the services - which I don't, so they're just terrible value. Of course that all comes on top of very pricey hardware as well.

Also, Steam Deck's price has nothing with my ability to play PC games. There's a ton of options, including old hardware, both new and used, and even old hardware can play a ton of games. On consoles, there's no such luxury of choice - you eat up the price the console manufacturer has, or you don't play (there's used options too, but in practice their prices are affected by official pricing).