According to one analyst, Steam will remain ahead of the competition on PC for a long time
, by Thibaut
This month, Steam broke yet another record by reaching a peak of 43.5 million concurrent players. This is an absolutely mind-blowing achievement that once again proves the dominance of Valve’s platform, something that is expected to last for a while.
That’s the view of Emmanuel Rosier, director of market research at Newzoo. In his view, while alternatives like GOG, Battle.net, and the Epic Games Store exist, Steam is a step ahead of its direct competitors. So much so that publishers who had chosen to leave the platform to create their own launchers have ultimately returned. The social aspect of Valve’s ecosystem also plays a major role in this success.
*"Steam is difficult to avoid, I would say, at this point in time. 10 or 20 years ago, the big publishers decided to have their own platform distribution on PC, and then they almost all went back to Steam.
"So yeah, for me it's a pendulum, and I don't see, right now, the big publishers moving back to, 'Yeah, we're gonna get out of Steam, we're only gonna do our platform.' I don't see that happening at this moment.
I think the strength of the Steam store at this moment is more on networking in the sense that you have your friends there, you have all your library there, and that's kind of difficult to come in and say, 'OK, now start purchasing my game on another platform. That's difficult, because initially it creates some friction for the players. So any competitor to Steam needs to come with something that is going to make it a better experience than Steam. Otherwise, it's very difficult to get the player to migrate."
Rosier added that this trend, which is very favorable to Steam, will continue as long as Valve remains independent and isn’t publicly traded.
Source: gamesradar.com