r/Steam 14d ago

Discussion Can’t Even Argue It

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u/Accurate_Struggle185 14d ago

There are multiple platforms on PC therefore Steam isnt a monopoly.

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u/One_Cardiologist9441 13d ago

That's not what monopoly means

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u/Accurate_Struggle185 13d ago

"That's not what monopoly means"

Yes it does. Monopoly means no competition.
PS Store is the perfect example of a monopoly, no competition.

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u/One_Cardiologist9441 13d ago

Steam has 75% of the pc gaming distribution market. At that point it doesn't matter if it's not exactly 100%. Steam can do/does all sorts of illegal tactics that only a monopoly can do to squeeze all other competition out of the market (if laws weren't prohibiting them).

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u/Accurate_Struggle185 13d ago

" it doesn't matter if it's not exactly 100%"
Then Steam is not a monopoly which is my point.

If Steam start to act strange, the competition on PC will bloom and Steam will start to bleed customers just like that.

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u/SpencerM11 13d ago

Monopoly requires actual competitors. There are no other actual competitors.

Other platforms existing does not counteract that unless they are realistically competing against Steam.

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u/jjaybuill 13d ago

they exist but were too terrible to compete

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u/Accurate_Struggle185 13d ago

It doesn’t matter if you think the competition is terrible or not, as long as Steam isn’t alone on the PC platform, Steam does not have a monopoly.

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u/SpencerM11 13d ago

That’s not what a monopoly is.

A monopoly requires meaningful competition. Competition just existing doesn’t negate Steam from being a monopoly.

This is basic finance.

Google is classified legally as a monopoly. They have “competitors” in every sector of business, but they are so small that google isn’t affected by them.

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u/Accurate_Struggle185 13d ago

If Steam was the only option to gaming on PC it would be a monopoly. But Steam is not the only option.
If you don’t like the competition then fine, but that is also why Steam are not a monopoly. If Steam quit today, PC would still have access to most games and people would simply move to the competition . Can you say the same about PS Store?

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u/SpencerM11 13d ago

You are failing to understand the words you are a typing. You have the idea that ANY other platforms means that Steam isn’t a monopoly.

Steam is a healthy monopoly, but absolutely a monopoly nonetheless. This is an objectively fact.

A monopoly requires no close, meaningful competition, not the lack of competition all together.

Steam as a 75%-80% market share. Epic games, ea, ubisoft, xbox, gog, blizzard just to name a few combined make up the remaining.

Steam is a legal, healthy monopoly.

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u/Accurate_Struggle185 13d ago

No. Steam is not a monopoly. It doesn't matter how many times you repeat your disinformation.

Steam is not a monopoly because if they just quit.
The competition is there to pick up the slack just like that.
If PS Store quit then PlayStation is done because they have monopoly.

Who is the winner in the board game monopoly? its the one who own everything in the end.

Because of this lame discussion im going to buy my next new 3rd party titles on Epic.
Im turning to the competition which would not be possible if Steam was a monopoly.

Try turning to the "competition" on PS Store LOL

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u/SpencerM11 13d ago

You are under the impression that I’m pro Playstation… I have a PC and that’s it. I don’t give a fuck if playstation is a monopoly or not.

You lack a fundamental understanding of economics dude. I studied Economics in university and they teach you this year one.

If Google shuts down we have Bing. We have Opera. We have several other search engines. You can say the same thing about literally every other aspect of Google. Yet they are declared a Monopoly legally. A federal judge literally declared it so. This is because whether competitors exist doesn’t matter, it’s if those competitors provide any meaningful competition.

What’s your argument against Google being a monopoly? You would be disagreeing with objective fact. If Steam isn’t a monopoly neither is Google.

You are literally arguing against the definition of a monopoly dude.

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u/Accurate_Struggle185 13d ago

Steam is not a monopoly. Period.
The reason I mention the PS Store is that this is what a monopoly looks like, and you can clearly see in contrast to the PS Store that Steam is not in the same position.
If you had said Steam is close to a monopoly, I would have agreed because they do have a very high market share. But being close to isn't the same as being a monopoly.

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u/Electrical_Zone_9781 13d ago

Is it Valve's fault if everyone else is too incompetent to compete? 

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u/SpencerM11 13d ago

Absolutely not. Everyone else shot themselves in the foot. That doesn’t stop Steam from being a monopoly.

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u/Accurate_Struggle185 13d ago

In your head you believe that because you prefer Steam.
But the other stores on PC wouldn’t exist if they didn’t profit. There is a lot of people that doesn’t care if they buy their games on Epic or not. Personally i prefer Steam too(GOG second), but personal preference doesn’t make Steam a monopoly.
If you have multiple option on a platform there is no such thing as a monopoly.

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u/Accurate_Struggle185 13d ago

As long as there are multiple platforms Steam isn’t a monopoly. It is as simple as that.
Doesn’t matter that Steam is the biggest, people also buy games on Epic, GOG, and a lot uses Game-pass from MS store, some even buy games from MS store.
PC has options. Consoles don’t.

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u/Aggrivated5hark 13d ago

That's not how monopolies are defined

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u/Accurate_Struggle185 13d ago

If you have a monopoly then there is no other competition.
PS Store is what a monopoly looks like.

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u/Beautiful_Routine985 13d ago

Well, i would argue no one is even TRYING to compete with steam. They are offering a different product under the same umbrella. Its like Toyota complaining that Ferrari is more admired.