I think it’s just priorities, those other companies weren’t interested in making a launcher, they were interested in tying their customers into their eco system.
Steam started out like that in appearance at least, nobody really wanted it and it was kind of forced on you if you wanted to play HL2 but since Valve seemed to understand the value in a platform like steam and actually work at making it good it became pretty good.
At this point it’s actually kind of hard to fully appreciate how much work has gone into steam. Not just the basic stuff like chat and forums and a store with a functioning search, or the banal stuff like inventories and trading cards and points I still don’t understand, but also the stuff most people don’t see like all the stuff for developers launching a game on steam and managing sales and keys and betas. Not to mention all the experiments they’ve done along the way to try and figure out what the best way forward is.
Steam is kind of a huge undertaking and unless a company is really invested in competing with it they’re simply not going to be able to.
echo64@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Steam sucked, really bad. For 8 years, maybe? Maybe more? It takes time to build something, but consumers demand everything immediately.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
Image
GIF from that period.
AnneBonny@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
I wish I had a use for that.
JimmyMcGill@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I mean steam sucked for 8 years like 20 years ago. Technology wasn’t the same as it is. They revolutionized the pc gaming scene and I’d argue that even that Steam version was better than the current EGS version. Was it uglier? Yea maybe but it did the job. You could install, manage and launch your games, cloud saves and it wasn’t bloat or spyware. The Steam just kept getting better even if with a messy ui in some places. They do a ton of shit that generates them no direct profit but that makes using Steam a no brainer. And gamers respect and value that even if not all of them.
Heck I’m sure that they very quickly came up with a functional shopping cart at the very least.
Rose@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Steam has been offering third-party titles since 2005 but still had no shopping cart as of 2008.
JimmyMcGill@lemmy.world 6 months ago
So 3 years? How long did that take epic? About the same time almost 2 decades later?
mammut@lemmy.world 6 months ago
wildginger@lemmy.myserv.one 6 months ago
… Because years later, steam got good.
Epic started out shit, and then used their fortnite money to impro… No, wait, sorry, they used their fortnite money to buy exclusivity of games people had already preordered from other stores.
Starting out shit and then slowly improving is one thing. Starting out shit and then kicking your customers in the teeth is completely different.
JimmyMcGill@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Yea no
People complain because the EGS launcher is shit and not getting better in any meaningful way. Plus all the anti consumer shit that they do.
EGS didn’t come out last year. Heck GOG galaxy is fairly decent and it’s not even required and they have a fraction of the budget. And guess what a lot of people like and support them.
JimmyMcGill@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I mean steam sucked for 8 years like 20 years ago. Technology wasn’t the same as it is. They revolutionized the pc gaming scene and I’d argue that even that Steam version was better than the current EGS version. Was it uglier? Yea maybe but it did the job. You could install, manage and launch your games, cloud saves and it wasn’t bloat or spyware. The Steam just kept getting better even if with a messy ui in some places. They do a ton of shit that generates them no direct profit but that makes using Steam a no brainer. And gamers respect and value that even if not all of them.
Heck I’m sure that they very quickly came up with a functional shopping cart at the very least.
AnneBonny@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
Origin is still bad and so is whatever Ubisoft’s launcher is called.
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
Origin is now the “EA App” and Uplay is now “Ubisoft Connect”
AnneBonny@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
they change the names because they suck
Lime66@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Ea app is origin without linux compatibility
cottonmon@lemmy.world 6 months ago
It’s kind of funny. I feel that the rebranding was because those launchers sucked ( a common marketing tactic.) The thing is though, the EA App still sucks so it doesn’t do anything for its reputation.