this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024
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It's because they have a near monopoly and take a huge cut of developer's revenue
Is 30% on average "huge" considering the platform and total number of averages monthly users? I know that number does move around a bit as well.
I guess considering the ease of use for users and the fact that other platforms exist, they might be considered a monopoly only because nothing else of quality has shown up. It's not like they're buying out competitors and paying politicians to create laws and expectations to give them a competitive advantage. They're literally just better than the other shit. Except arguably GoG which is solid in its own right, though not in the same ways as Steam.
Being a monopoly or near monopoly doesn't mean that they're automatically underhanded
Last time I checked, Epic Games has plenty of money to compete. Monopoly implies competition is actively being stopped. Valve hasn't done much to stop competition other than making a good product that people use.
Epic Games also takes 5% of all games that use the Unreal engine, unless you use the Epic store.
No it doesn't. Anticompetittive behaviour is a seperate issue. One often imployed by monopolists, but seperate nonetheless.
They don't. No other platform will provide all of the benefits Steam provides for only 30% OR LESS of every sale.
30% is a huge cut. Epic takes 12%
When valve was establishing steam, 30% was justified. They had to invest in the product. They took a risk. They don't have to now and they are profiteering.
Epic has admitted they're taking a loss at 12%. Also, Epic's store is shit, complete barebones, barely works as a way to buy games.
And valve have admitted they're making more profit than anyone else in the space. I'm not saying they shouldn't be allowed a profit, I'm saying there's an argument that they (and Apple via the Apple store) are taking too much from the work of others
And that argument is idiotic, as proven by the fact that even bribing people to their shitty Epig Store, Epic can't compete with the value Steam provides.
Differently from Apple, Steam hasn't put any barriers in place to stop competitors nor have they forced exclusivity on publishers for their platform.
Irrelevant. Being good and popular doesn't make them not a monopoly
Yay, I've found another illiterate person!
"possession or control of the supply of or trade in a commodity or service."