>popularized free to play
>popularized early access
>popularized drm
>popularized microtransactions
>popularized the loot crate system
>stopped valve from making games
Is this the worst thing to happen to the gaming industry in general? Are the lower prices really worth all these shitty practices?
Free online tho
f2p and early access are great, though
this we should all jump ship to tencent's glorious game network now and not steam !
It could have been worse. It could have been origin as the most popular one, or something even worse.
It's not ideal, but in this anti-consumer nightmare we live in now they have at least SOME accountability. It'd be fine if the devs didn't abuse it.
>are the lower prices really worth
yes
It could have been Uplay.
>375029571
I agree, it really seems like it's the next big thing.
@375029695
that's not how you link you dummy
>popularized free to play
Nah F2P was always popular way before steam was even relevant. If anything I'd say LoL has more influence on that then Valve ever has.
early access is utter shit. It ruins the game's community, or wastes it rather. Most people play a game for a while then they're done with it- you only get that chance once. Wasting it on alpha means by the time the game is done, it's dead because everyone already stopped playing it.
Go rent your games from Blockbuster instead
bad games die
sometimes they start off good, but during EA the devs fuck up with something and it kills the game, a newer same-ish thing appears that does it better and everyone is back on it
example would be PUBG. I don't think that game is going to die unless they fuck up really bad.
probably because it was a shit game
they are the lesser evil
think of what could have been if Uplay or Origin got to the market first
It's also the most well known and best videogame distribution platform in the world.
Without steam you'd have 40 different accounts to play all your games, but with steam you only need 1 or 2
There is obvious twitch bait games like that Conan survival game which brought literally nothing new to the table or some other shitty EA games that are DESTINED to fucking die after a month, you can tell that just from playing / watching someone play them for an hour.
That's not horse armor.
>Removed no CD patches
>Made games cheaper
>Unified online middleware
>Killed securom
Yeah I think in the long run steam was worth it
This. All fucking optional and I don't have to pay to play. Fuck Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo for that.
>invented digital distribution
>invented sales
>helps talented indie devs make a living
>created the best multiplayer FPS
>created the best singleplayer FPS
>allows users to create and add their own content to games
>brought PC gaming to the living room
>doesn't charge us online fees
>trying to make a viable Linux gaming platform
>gives us free trading card and items that can be sold for games
>people still hate him