I'm usually totally against huge corporations on principle, but there's definitely one that I can't criticise and maybe even like, Even though I don't buy any of their products.
this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
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Asklemmy
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I love steam and valves hardware products, but the thing is, I'm not the primary customer in their business model. Steams product is digital shelf space in one of the most popular digital arcades, access to which they charge their real primary customers: independent game devs and publishers.
Whatever their activities are outside that, even the much appreciated proton and contribution to Linux gaming, is in the context of capturing more gamers on their platform, making their product an irresistible choice for their customers to release their game on, despite the steep per-purchase cut Valve takes.
That's not an entirely...erhm...nice business model imo. It's remarkabley like Amazon, but at least Valve didn't put a bunch of local bookstores out of business becoming the juggernaut they are.