I can’t deny that Steam has a large marketshare over the digital video game distribution market, and that it could abuse its position, and that the 30% distributor cut is steep. All true. Is it currently abusing its position? Arguably yes and no.
Looking through the evidence document provided in the video, the alleged link between decreased % of multihoming indicating the enforcement of a PMFN is weak IMO. Steam’s support for Linux, its own Steam Deck, good customer service, return policy, family sharing and remote play are major reasons to be a Valve patron, not always about price.
The evidence at 9:05 in the video that suggests Valve says they “stop selling them altogether” was in response to a Steam Key inquiry. The other quotes were related to removing it from the front page and sales feature pages (not delisting but not there unless you search for it). That’s not delisting but perhaps it is anti-competitively deranking it. I’m not sure what the rules are though, like a grocery store doesn’t have to put a product at the front of a store when a rival has a steeper sale for it, but they could ask for the same discount while offering to make it similarly visible. Overall it’s not nearly as serious as OOP makes it seem.
I can’t deny that Steam has a large marketshare over the digital video game distribution market, and that it could abuse its position, and that the 30% distributor cut is steep. All true. Is it currently abusing its position? Arguably yes and no.
Looking through the evidence document provided in the video, the alleged link between decreased % of multihoming indicating the enforcement of a PMFN is weak IMO. Steam’s support for Linux, its own Steam Deck, good customer service, return policy, family sharing and remote play are major reasons to be a Valve patron, not always about price.
The evidence at 9:05 in the video that suggests Valve says they “stop selling them altogether” was in response to a Steam Key inquiry. The other quotes were related to removing it from the front page and sales feature pages (not delisting but not there unless you search for it). That’s not delisting but perhaps it is anti-competitively deranking it. I’m not sure what the rules are though, like a grocery store doesn’t have to put a product at the front of a store when a rival has a steeper sale for it, but they could ask for the same discount while offering to make it similarly visible. Overall it’s not nearly as serious as OOP makes it seem.
30% isn’t actually that steep when compared with buying physical media; big-box stores tend to run with a number around 30% for their mark-up.