this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2025
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Devs are still free to sell their game outside of Steam and charge whatever price they want for that version
Alan Wake 2 didn't make its money back for a year despite being a huge game on the second-biggest service.
Steam doesn't care about other stores because other stores do not matter. They can let other stores sell Steam keys, and it still doesn't threaten their untouchable market share.
Not and keep their listing in Steam they can't.
You can though
Steam’s “most favored nation” contracts with devs explicitly prohibit this
I provided the example of Krita in another comment.
You're only required to match deals outside Steam if you sold Steam keys. I haven't found any other clause online.
I think you're not allowed to "sell" it for free with the same version and features. Which should be unsurprising.
You can, and plenty do
Steam’s “most favored nation” contracts with devs explicitly prohibit this
And yet it happens
Krita is open source but paid on Steam
Same with Aseprite. You can buy it from their store or Steam. If you're cool enough you can compile it yourself and get the full program for free.