• AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    2 hours ago

    Epic can’t break into the market because of their own shitty launcher, not because of anything Steam has done to lock down the competition.

    Now imagine how hard it’d be for a smaller player.

    Not very hard, if they were willing to create a decent launcher and engage in sustainable business practices (and regional pricing).

    • ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      2 hours ago

      I sincerely doubt that even if another launcher did everything Steam does, it would rival it without huge amounts of money being thrown around. People already use Steam.

      And that’s assuming they get to this point, ignoring that Steam had decades to get there. It used to be ass.

      • Orygin@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        2 hours ago

        Not every company can pull it off, but I’m certain if Epic had invested in their launchers it could have worked.
        A few years in and their launcher has stagnated completely

      • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 hours ago

        I sincerely doubt that even if another launcher did everything Steam does, it would rival it. People already use Steam.

        At that point, you can start grabbing business from steam via promotions and such. You don’t need to rival or outgrow Steam to break into the market, you just need a bit of the market.

        And that’s assuming they get to this point, ignoring that Steam had decades to get there. It used to be ass.

        It’s not even that other launchers have less features than Steam. It’s just that other than GoG, which has a very limited catalog and no regional pricing, there is not a single store that is not actively anti-consumer to a hilarious extent.