Post #2235803

2026-05-01 11:00 UTC

The term monopoly does not apply here. Not only do we lack any evidence of anti-competitive practices, there literally are competitors, they just suck and they are very unpopular.

Replies (3)

@Retail4068@lemmy.world 2026-05-01 11:04

Valve just shipped a controller that only works in steam 🤣

Open ##2236568
@unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 2026-05-01 11:13

A monopoly […] is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service[1]. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic competition to produce a particular thing, a lack of viable substitute goods, and the possibility of a high monopoly price well above the seller’s marginal cost that leads to a high monopoly profit. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly A monopoly is just an observation of the market landscape. Doesnt require ill intent or anti-competitive practices. Steam is just a benevolent monopoly. Until its not…

Open ##2237256
@PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de 2026-05-01 20:24

There is mild vendor lock-in. If all my games are on steam, why would I buy my games elsewhere. Not to mention the steam client contains the steam store and advertisements for games in said store, so anybody in the steam ecosystem is incentivized to stay there. Games bought in Steam aren't trivially launched without launching Steam.

Open ##2432997