Steam, created by Valve Corporation in 2003, has evolved from a simple digital distribution platform into a behemoth that commands a near-monopoly over the PC gaming market. Its journey to dominance has been marked by strategic decisions that have allowed it to outmaneuver competitors and win over both gamers and developers, who now either willingly or not use Steam as their go-to platform. While once players had no shortage of options, today, companies like Ubisoft - one of the world’s leading video game publishers, are finding themselves increasingly dependent on Steam’s leading position. The recent shift in Ubisoft’s policy led to the announcement stating that from now on major titles like Assassin’s Creed: Shadows will be published on other platforms like Steam from day one. But how did we get here? Why is Steam so crucial to the success of even the biggest publishers, and how does it relate to Web3 gaming?
Dominating the Market
Steam's monopoly has largely been forged through its massive user base built over time, mainly through comprehensive offering of gaming entertainment. As of 2023, Steam boasts over 120 million monthly active users, making it the most popular PC gaming platform by a considerable margin. In comparison, competitors like Ubisoft Connect are far behind, with a fraction of Steam’s users and often less robust ecosystems limiting their future growth. Diving to see what’s the key to Steam’s success, we can spot the combination of several factors:
- Ease of Use and Accessibility: Steam's user-friendly interface and extensive library of games make it the go-to platform for players. Valve has continuously invested in improving its interface, adding features like cloud saves, achievements, and in-game item trading, making it more appealing to users. While some say Steam’s interface can even be quite “archaic” compared to other platforms, it provides the ease-of-use for many users since most novel platforms are not so easy to navigate.
- Developer-Friendly Policies: From the start, Valve made Steam a welcoming platform for game developers, offering them once-competitive revenue splits (initially 30%, though competitors have begun offering better rates). Steam’s Greenlight and later Steam Direct initiatives allowed smaller indie developers to publish games, growing its library rapidly and creating a diverse ecosystem. This created a mechanism where young developers have quite limited options if they want to reach a wide user base, making Steam the leading choice despite its controversial revenue tactics.
- Steam Sales: Legendary for its aggressive pricing during major sales events, Steam has cultivated a culture where players eagerly anticipate the platform’s seasonal sales. This culture makes Steam an irreplaceable platform for gamers looking to expand their libraries at discounted prices and developers to boost their sales even months and years after a game's release.
- Community and Social Features: Unlike competitors, Steam built a strong community infrastructure. Players can create groups, share reviews, post guides, trade in-game items, and participate in discussions. These features create an ecosystem where players spend time even outside of gaming, enhancing user retention, and even have a financial incentive with item’s secondary markets.
- No Real Competitors: Although companies like Epic Games have made strides by offering developers better revenue splits and acquiring exclusive titles, Steam’s user base and established brand loyalty keep it firmly in the lead. Many gamers are resistant to shift platforms, especially with their vast libraries and years of account history tied to Steam, making the natural forces of gravity favor the current leader over anyone else.
Ubisoft’s Changing Stance
Ubisoft’s relationship with Steam has been complex to say the least. For years, Ubisoft attempted to carve out its own digital marketplace, Uplay, later renamed Ubisoft Connect and while it provided a home for Ubisoft’s growing list of titles, the platform never achieved the same level of success as Steam. Initially, Ubisoft adopted a staggered release strategy, where games would launch on their own platforms first, followed by Steam after a certain delay. This was partly an attempt to establish their platform and build a devoted user base but also a way to avoid Valve’s 30% cut.
However, the reality of Uplay's player base didn’t match the vision. Despite being a major publisher, Ubisoft’s platform lacked the scale and stickiness of Steam leading to the situation where their ambitious releases, such as The Division 2 and Far Cry 6, performed better once they were available on Steam, showing that even the most loyal Ubisoft fans preferred the convenience and features Steam offered.
The data backs this up. According to industry insights, Steam controls around 75% of the global PC games distribution market. Comparatively, Ubisoft Connect commands a much smaller fraction of this and games that launch exclusively on Ubisoft’s platform often face lower visibility and diminished player engagement. For a global publisher like Ubisoft, missing out on the Steam audience can be costly so it’s no surprise that they are shifting back toward Steam for major releases like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, ensuring that their most anticipated titles are available on the platform from day one, especially seeing how their recent release of Star Wars Outlaws did not meet the expectations in terms of player’s interest.
In a rapidly evolving gaming landscape, it has become increasingly clear to companies like Ubisoft that their own platforms can’t compete with Steam's unmatched player base and comprehensive ecosystem. Thus, “bending the knee” to Steam is no longer a choice; it’s a necessity for launching new titles successfully and reaching wide audiences. The gravitational power of the giant cannot be overlooked, and this simple rule works not only in the traditional gaming industry, but also in the case of its Web3 sibling.
The Gravitational Pull Toward Web3 Gaming
Just as Steam dominates the world of PC gaming, Telegram is positioning itself as a central player in the Web3 space, especially with its blockchain initiative known as TON (The Open Network). In a similar fashion to how Steam drew in developers and players with its robust ecosystem, Telegram’s expanding blockchain infrastructure and web3 gaming ecosystem is becoming increasingly attractive for Web3 game developers. This gravitational pull is reshaping the future of blockchain gaming, particularly within the emerging Web3 gaming space, which blends decentralized ownership with immersive gaming experiences.
Telegram, with over 900 million monthly active users, has steadily built an ecosystem that goes far beyond messaging. With the introduction of TON, its proprietary blockchain network, Telegram has the infrastructure to support the next generation of Web3 games and decentralized applications (dApps) built on top of the existing user base. TON ecosystem is designed to handle high throughput which is a key factor in Web3 gaming and user-facing dApps that need low fees and a fast, scalable architecture to offer top-tier user experience. This sets it apart from many blockchain networks that struggle with high gas fees, slow transaction speeds, or other issues making the use of them far inferior compared to its Web2 competitors.
The core strengths of TON within the Web3 space mirror the competitive advantages that Steam has in traditional gaming, and these can be summarized as follows:
- Massive User Base: Just as Steam’s vast player base makes it a must for game developers, Telegram’s massive audience makes it a compelling hub for Web3 games. Developers know that building on TON provides direct access to millions of users already familiar with the platform which is something they will not find anywhere else.
- Ecosystem Integration: Telegram has integrated TON into its ecosystem seamlessly. From wallet infrastructure and payments to NFTs and marketplaces, the potential for gaming projects is enormous. This way, developers can build games that use Telegram’s built-in payment systems, taking advantage of TON’s low-cost, high-speed transactions.
- Community-Centric: Web3 gaming thrives on community engagement, and Telegram, with its channels, groups, and bot systems, already offers a robust framework for building gaming communities. Developers can leverage Telegram’s existing social structures to create thriving ecosystems around their games without the need to build them from scratch.
- Decentralization and Ownership: A key aspect of Web3 gaming is the idea of player’s direct ownership of in-game assets and tokens stored on their wallets. With TON, developers can create games where players truly own their in-game items such as tokens, stablecoins, and NFTs, trade them in decentralized marketplaces or send between wallets, as well as carry them across different games and platforms, adding another layer of interoperability.
Web3 Gaming Future with Elympics
As we look toward the future of Web3 gaming, companies like Elympics are uniquely positioned to ride the wave of future innovations. With Telegram and TON providing the blockchain infrastructure, developers have the tools to build fully decentralized, highly engaging gaming ecosystems while Elympics, with its focus on competitive Web3 gaming, can tap into TON’s scalability and Telegram’s vast user base to bring blockchain gaming to the mainstream. Just as Steam reshaped the PC gaming landscape, Telegram and TON, together with pioneers like Elympics, are shaping the future of Web3 gaming, one that will likely draw developers and players alike into this burgeoning ecosystem.
As more gaming companies bend to the realities of Steam’s dominance, and as Web3 developers flock to TON, we see a new era of gaming emerging - one where central hubs define success from day one.
Join the Revolution
If you haven’t joined the Elympics Bot yet, here’s your chance to do so.
The Elympics Bot on Telegram represents the next step in our mission to revolutionize gaming through web3 technology. We’re excited to bring these games to our community and can’t wait to see how you’ll master the challenges they present.
Ready to dive in? Sign up now at t.me/elympics_bot and start playing today. Every game you play, every point you score, and every connection you make is a step forward in the future of gaming with Elympics.
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