It’d be impossible to create a competitor in this day in age, because what made Steam win out is that it was the first and that it hasn’t acted like a greedy dick trying (too much) to monetize their platform dominance. Arguably, GOG is a better platform because it is much more against DRM, but when you get right down to it, gamers don’t really care enough about those issues to put a dent in it even if the loudest voices do, so I doubt Steam’s success has much to do with being a ‘democratic platform’.
You’re ignoring a ton of stuff Valve has done. Look at what they’ve done for Linux gaming at a bare minimum.
If all you’re doing is buying games for Windows, Steam doesn’t offer much more than GOG.
But if you’re playing those games, well, that’s a different story.
Not to mention that Steam lets you use keys bought from other platforms.
Valve tried to Android their gaming platform under SteamOS, yes. They really didn’t do it for Linux. Rather, they know Linux distros can’t really complete with their specialized house advantage for gaming, in the general consumer sense.
It’d be impossible to create a competitor in this day in age, because what made Steam win out is that it was the first and that it hasn’t acted like a greedy dick trying (too much) to monetize their platform dominance. Arguably, GOG is a better platform because it is much more against DRM, but when you get right down to it, gamers don’t really care enough about those issues to put a dent in it even if the loudest voices do, so I doubt Steam’s success has much to do with being a ‘democratic platform’.
You’re ignoring a ton of stuff Valve has done. Look at what they’ve done for Linux gaming at a bare minimum.
If all you’re doing is buying games for Windows, Steam doesn’t offer much more than GOG. But if you’re playing those games, well, that’s a different story.
Not to mention that Steam lets you use keys bought from other platforms.
Valve tried to Android their gaming platform under SteamOS, yes. They really didn’t do it for Linux. Rather, they know Linux distros can’t really complete with their specialized house advantage for gaming, in the general consumer sense.