Interesting article and eye opening, I agree with Feathered_IV when it comes to the choice between Ubi and Steam.

Hasn't steam reached a 40% or 50% market share on PC sales (excluding MMos & games on facebook & the like) in the US?

For years, retailers there (and also in europe) have favored consoles for shelves space.
Then they realized that Steam had taken a big chunk of PC market and that some of the boxes they sell have steam.


We're in some kind of loop here, retailers in the US do not order PC "boxes" except for big titles, and they also complain about steam.

My guess is that one of the reason for having steam is to insure a launch in the US; even if some here do not like steam and don't use it, it is the reality of their market. Making boxes while retailers won't take them is a risk (inventory); worth taking for a niche game?

This just confirms for me that traditional bricks and mortar retailing is dying out. If I can't get my hands on the CE, I'm definitely going to buy from Steam.

That is a very good article.
I must admit that I didn't like Steam a couple years ago but grew to really love it.
Many games have I purchased through Steam. Games that would never be found in stores today. I've even purchased some new titles and get them the same day of release. I don't have to wait for shipping and I don't have to drive to the store to get it.
There are no discs to get damaged or lost and if you ever have to reinstall your OS, Steam has all of your games ready to download again whenever you wish.

To be objective there is a downside.
It's no biggie, but if my internet goes down, I am not able to play my Steam games as you need to log into Steam.

Weighing the good and bad, the good is far greater and Steam (and other similar companies) are here to stay.

You can play fine with steam in offline mode. So there's no downside :rolleyes:

+1 same here but im happy to add to the sale figures :grin:

I guess they got it they wrong way around.:confused:


Anyway - Steam seems to be the perfect distribution channel to revitalize the PC games market.
Downside is:
-Medium-term we will not be able to buy PC games in a physical form anymore.
-Retailers are reduced to console market only.
-It potentially could kill games magazines for PC titles as they are regarded outdated too(it's all digital and you can reach your customers directly on steam)

Steam could grow to a huge and powerful platform, that scares me a bit.
Time for the Naturalpoint haters to chime in - we're witnessing the birth of a monopoly...

And you can always just forward the CD key in the collector set to a friend in need for them to download it from steam if you buy it digitally beforehand.
Unless you plan on flying on two accounts! :)

Thanks for posting this, puts everything into a little more perspective. +1

Steam = the facebook of gaming.

Look at the date of the article ;)