Games

Imagine thinking that Valve has a monopoly.

Monopoly doesn't mean "Largest market share". It's a real term with a real meaning.

Monopoly:

the exclusive possession or control of the supply of or trade in a commodity or service.

What, exactly, does Valve control? They don't require exclusivity, they don't require their DRM, they don't require the use of their network system. Hell, they don't even require you to to give them 30% if you sell your own key.

Valve is also not a publicly traded company, while this doesn't mean you can fully trust them it does mean they aren't required to seek profit at all costs. This allows then to do things like, support Linux, make their own hardware (twice after their first attempt was a failure), work on Proton, develope games that make them no money, etc.

Itch.io, GOG, EA, Epic, Windows Store, Game Pass, Humble Bundle, personal websites. These are all examples of places you can buy video games on computers.

Timmy Tencent's propaganda is working on you if you think Valve is any sort of monopoly.

Just like I am happy with Apple and Google taking a cut and running their app stores. If these big companies could make their own store, they would. Apple would lose a cut, but that does not affect me as a consumer. What does affect me is a gate keeper keeping terrible practices in check. Making it nearly impossible to cancel a subscription instead of having a handy menu to just turn it off. Having places to put credit cards that are not secure. Collecting personal data nonstop. Etc etc.

A monopoly is a monopoly. Just because Steam is a good store today doesn’t mean they deserve to hold a monopoly over the pc gaming market. So what happens when Valve has crushed every competitor? Gamers and devs have nowhere to go if Steam turns to shit. Eventually there will be a change of guards at Valve’s C-suite when Gaben retires or is dead. There is a good chance that those new execs will hollow out Steam and extract all the value out of it for their own benefit by screwing over the customers and developers. And they can get away with that if there is no competition. Competition is what keeps Valve in check.