> It wasn't healthy if you were a developer, and were forking over a monopolistic 'PC game tax' to Valve.
You can sell directly though your own channel and give steam keys. Afaik without paying the 30% steam tax. Those keys don't count for stuff like reviews, to prevent abuse. But this seems like a reasonable trade-off for all parties involved. I'm happy to use the launcher of my choice, dev is happy to avoid the tax, steam is happy to make more likely to use their storefront.
I mostly agree with you and would welcome competition. But I don't see benefits for me if stores compete based on their library of exclusive titles.
You can sell directly though your own channel and give steam keys. Afaik without paying the 30% steam tax. Those keys don't count for stuff like reviews, to prevent abuse. But this seems like a reasonable trade-off for all parties involved. I'm happy to use the launcher of my choice, dev is happy to avoid the tax, steam is happy to make more likely to use their storefront.
I mostly agree with you and would welcome competition. But I don't see benefits for me if stores compete based on their library of exclusive titles.