'No Amount of Competition Will Ever Unseat Steam' – Former Epic Games Engineer Rails Against Valve
Epic's rivalry with Valve isn't anything new, but while it's usually CEO Tim Sweeney taking shots at Valve, an ex-engineer posted a long list of problems Steam has caused in the industry.
Epic Games has long been in a rivalry with Valve, but recently an ex-engineer has criticized Steam, the biggest PC games marketplace, for causing problems in the industry. Kiaran Ritchie, an ex-Epic engineer, posted a lengthy Twitter thread detailing his criticisms of Steam's 30% cut that Valve takes from game sales. Ritchie acknowledges that even if a competitor were objectively superior, Steam users would still find it problematic and a threat to their investment.
He asserts that competition in this space is uninteresting to most Steam users, as they prefer the convenience and reliability of Steam and its associated services, such as sales, cards, and achievements. Despite Epic Games' efforts to create a faster Epic Games Store, Ritchie remains skeptical that it will make a significant impact, as Steam users are content with their current setup.
The ex-engineer concludes that no alternative store will ever replace Steam's dominance, as users are simply happy with the convenience and features Steam provides.
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