this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2023
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[–] li10@lemmy.ml 101 points 10 months ago (39 children)

I generally avoid liking any companies or brands, but it’s difficult to not appreciate some of the things Valve does.

They do things for their own benefit, but it benefits everyone because they don’t try and lock things down quite like other companies.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 11 points 10 months ago (18 children)

Yeah, they've got a monopoly and it sucks, but they don't seem to have a desire to push it to the point of drawing attention. I know why Epic does what it does, because they have to compete with the near complete market dominance of Valve. However, it's not like Valve has used their position to increase prices or anything like that. They also invest in doing things that improve the experience rather than just trying to harm the competition.

I don't like the monopoly, but I do appreciate Valve as a company.

[–] kae@lemmy.ca 36 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I keep seeing "Monopoly" repeated, but I'm having a hard time understanding the logic.

They haven't bought competitors. They don't do anything to hinder others progress in this market, sometime to the detriment of their customers (see: Steam launches another launcher, to launch the game). They haven't openly shown anything anti-competitive, in fact they have stuck to their guns (30% cut) when others have attempted to compete.

What they have done is cultivate the best platform that continues to evolve, add features, and maintain stability. Consumers continue to choose to use Steam overwhelmingly, but outside of Valve's own games, there is no threat of exclusivity or punishment.

It's the opposite of monopolistic behavior. Any company is free to compete, build their own platform, and offer software. It's expensive, and tricky to get right, but nothing is stopping them, Valve included.

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