A look at the “hectic evolution” of Steam, 20 years after Valve launched the beta, as rivals like the Epic Games Store and Itch.io fail to make much of a dent
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell / Rock, Paper, Shotgun :
Context & Ripple Effects
Steam’s history in the coverage includes repeated attempts to extend its PC storefront into Linux and living-room hardware. That arc includes the eventual removal of Steam Machines from Steam’s front page after interest waned.
More recently, Valve described community-driven improvements to Steam Deck in a first-year Steam Deck interview, showing how the company has continued to connect store distribution with its own hardware efforts.
First-order effects
- The retrospective reinforces Steam’s position as the default PC-game distribution venue despite the limited impact attributed to the Epic Games Store and Itch.io.
- Valve retains the immediate advantage of a mature storefront while rival stores face the task of persuading users and developers to change established distribution habits.
Second-order effects
- Rival PC-game stores are pressured to differentiate beyond simply offering another catalog, because Steam’s long-running platform evolution has not translated into meaningful displacement.
- Valve can keep using hardware and platform improvements to support its store ecosystem, as its Steam Deck’s first-year improvements illustrate.
Third-order effects
- If this pattern persists, PC game distribution will remain concentrated around a dominant storefront even as alternative stores and hardware approaches proliferate.
- That concentration can keep attention on the economics and market power of platform storefronts, particularly where developers’ access to customers depends on a small number of channels.
The trend: Steam’s endurance is one data point in the broader trend of established digital platforms reinforcing distribution leadership through ecosystem depth and adjacent hardware.