I think it is rather pessimistic to suggest that PC gaming would've died off if it wasn't for Steam.Īs you said, we should not finger-point. We were told that it was to keep us all safe from piracy, but evidence indicates that piracy isn't much of a factor. This isn't probably the right thread for it, but I don't accept wholesale that Steam had much to do with keeping PC gaming alive. I know Steam gets credit for "saving" PC gaming but I've never been able to pinpoint where exactly it pulled PC gaming from the brink, nor what PC game companies died off specifically due to the decline. F2P, DLC, online-required, key verification, loot boxes, and pretty much any other practice that sliced at our game ownership began on PC. Other than charging for online multiplayer, though, most of the exploitive practices in Gaming first gained foothold in the PC market. The mainstream console gamers have enabled equally-terrible practices like yearly releases (Madden). The problem isn't Steam, but publishers who want to nickel & dime their clientele, you know the same publishers who also release their games for consoles.Ĭlick to expand.The aim wasn't to sling at the users but at the market. Steam isn't spyware and most games you buy on there can be downloaded and played offline. The problems that are plaguing the EPIC store and always-online games have nothing to do with Steam. Not to brush aside the problems with digital storefronts, but Steam single-handedly kept the platform afloat during a time when the gaming industry at large considered consoles the dominant platform and declared PC-gaming for dead. So what's the point in instigating a mud-slinging contest between different platform users? As far as I'm aware, many of the same problems that are plaguing the PC platform, are also plaguing consoles. You know that I usually have great respect for your posts, but this hot take isn't really helping the discussion. These issues concern us gamers in an equal manner and we should also treat them as such, rather than engaging in useless platform wars. In that regard I find your finger-pointing a little bit silly. Let's face it, the golden age of consoles (NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1, Xbox, etc.) where you bought a physical copy and owned a complete game are long since over. When it comes to 'games as a service', most consoles seem to be heading in a very similiar direction. Most PC users have always been very vocal about always-online games, but this has nothing to do with Steam. Sure, certain retro games might get a re-release only to force you into buying the same game again and again. On Steam I can play games that are literally decades old, which cannot be said for consoles. Not to mention that most consoles aren't even backwards compatible. I bought console games that required you to download additional files in order to play them. When it comes to "owning your games", please tell me how the situation is any better on consoles? I bought games that literally refused to play without connecting your console to the internet in order to update the firmware. The problem isn't Steam, but publishers who want to nickel & dime their clientele, you know the same publishers who also release their games for consoles. Why on earth would any sane or self-respecting developer attempt to target this audience? And yet Epic Store was taking them for a ride, too. Less than a week ago, PC gamers were singing the praises of the Epic store because it was bloodying the nose of Benevolent Daddy Steam. Why? It's not like they're a loyal market that avoids using key-stealing alternative websites as long as it's a better deal. PC gamers want 90% deals and the ability to pirate "try it out", but they also want the biggest AAA titles with no DRM and no exploitive business practices. That should tell you what the true purpose was all along. Over time, this DRM got worse even as the profits in the PC market soared. Benevolent Daddy Steam was a good idea at the time and benefitted gamers in some respects, but it was always for the purpose of DRM. So I'm intimately familiar with how PC gaming has changed over the years. exe before I owned my first console (I did have a Game Boy, though).
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