this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2024
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I still don’t understand how they’re a monopoly. It’s weird that so much attention is given to Steam and Valve while Microsoft and Sony don’t get any for owning the platform, store, multiplayer infrastructure, and development studios like Valve.
Maybe I just have a superficial understanding of “monopoly,” but Valve isn’t acquiring competing storefronts and studios nor is it prohibiting others with frivolous legal challenges. Valve hasn’t done anything for decades besides sell games; it’s not their fault Sony and Microsoft fail at making their consoled attractive enough for devs to make exclusives. Many good games are on GOG and have zero DRM.
And FWIW, I hate games and Valve. I just think it’s difficult to make a winning case compared to Amazon with its hostile pricing policies, and it allowing counterfeits to push sellers into joining its retail programs.
You can be a monopoly without being an illegal monopoly. Monopoly is when one company has an outsized market share, an illegal monopoly is when they use that market share to stifle competition.