Generally, i do not feel great in term someone else simply got to much might because it will ultimately result for one single pole able to demand just about anything. In short term this might look convenient but in long term this is a pretty "one sided" thing in which everyone not sufficiently "powerful" may be doing nothing but losing. Because there is simply no equality anymore... you will get the offer "Steam or leave it" and "accept their terms or leave it"... kinda like a hard coded rule enforced by the majority. Because PC gaming is overall at least a 50% force nowadys, when it comes to the important franchises... it can not be avoided by anyone from this industry; and if so.... they are willing to accept a cut in revenue because the consumer support will be reduced a lot.

Yes, even Square Enix as a huge company will have to take care for their actions. Not so long ago a director was suggesting "go get a PS5" because the PC gamers, which basically means "Steam", was demanding a PC copy... and of course "on time". The director, short time after had to spell out a excuse because he was feeling the strong power and that basically no one could go "against" it. However, i highly doubt it will be for the best of all having some sort of "dictator-force" able to make everyone move according to their likings. Ultimately the gamers are not the "master-chiefs" when it comes to this construct... they may notice it as soon as Steam is "stripping" them from their reights, because the true "reins" is still on another spot... but the community is basically "handing out the power, as a symbiotic matter".

To me, the "perfect world" is a world in which every direction and way is considered equally... not a world "few poles", actually one single-pole, are basically dictating everything and all the others simply will have to shut their mouth. This is one of the most non-free condition someone can have... and not even the sheer mass of games can still "make me free" in a environment which is actually a huge "jail"... almost no one can break out of it anymore. Indeed a big controversy that a majority actually is enjoying this sort of jail. Although i never ever had the feeling the majority want to be free; this may be their own perception, not mine... and diversity is usually having many difficultys.

What would i do if i were in charge?
Generally i would consider PC market and console market 2 different matters, both with a high importance and with different gamers, only a handful of gamers using both at once in a regular way (such as myself). So it can be considered mainly different customers with a different approach and both will have to be taken into account.

Ultimately to me, from a economical perspective with some "common sense", i would try to support the 3 "strongest" forces on a certain spot, so the 3 strongest for PC and the 3 strongest for console at least. In this term GoG and Epic can be considered a part of it, aswell Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. All the others... i may try to support them if it is possible from a economical perspective. In many terms it may be possible in term of "special offers" handed out... and in general, there is many special offers possible, especially for the owner of big franchises, so i think the chance for making it happen and trying to support several spots is still possible. However, i do understand when it comes to the first year... the strongest could be prefered because it simply will make it easyer fixing stuff. Although, what i do not get is why they can not spell out a certain release for some platforms, GoG and some others, no matter in term 1 year into the future... simply handing out a clear agreement and trying to build trust with "alternate customers"... this is in my mind critical and important for a healthy economy with many voices and several poles (for each market).

You're saying there's a needle in a haystack, but when asked "where?" you're just pointing to another haystack in a different farmer's field and saying the needle looks like one of the (admittedly many) needles that were found in that one.

Just because Windows' APIs had become an industry standard, MS didn't have to contribute to Wine to balance it up, although they did have to publish improved documentation without a restrictive license. GOG has written a wrapper library that drops into Windows builds to replace Steam's DLL, seems the same thing as Wine to me.

MS detected when Windows was running on DR DOS and behaved differently to when it was running on MS DOS, which was a prohibited action. The equivalent here would be if Steam added code to their SDK that detected the GOG wrapper library, but AFAIK Steam haven't done that.

So, exactly which actions are Steam taking, which they couldn't do if they were a monopoly?

It was a reply to the post that I quoted, it's about a different topic than your previous statement.

Excuse me, did you notice i was quoting you?

Apparently you will only see the stuff you want to see. Although this is kinda comparable to a huge mass of people, so you are in a well accepted spot. Obviously, you may not try to follow "another needle" because the matter seems that strict to you, there can only be a single valid focus, the one with the highest "legitimacy". This is kinda the behaviour of some single pointed fate, which i do clearly not enjoy.

Indeed, it is important trying to boost alternate ways. Vulkan is a good alternate option, but not at the refined spot DX is today, thanks to its "trust" from the industry. I would enjoy a second OS support aswell, for example Linux at least, which is indeed still a hard fight for the users actually using it. Actually, the PS5 is using a Linux-distribution... and is running pretty well using it, so it is indeed possible; it simply will need more support. Both, Linux and Vulkan is basically the "equivalent" of GoG if we try to compare it. Still, without enough of support from the industry, GoG themself clearly lacks the power of "breaking away" from the well etablished-rule: But even Steam, which got way higher power, is not truly interested... although Linux got some big boost.

Given Steam IS a monopoly, in that it has monopoly power over a market. I'm not entirely sure what you are asking.

Doing X in a competitive market doesn't mean you doing X as a monopoly is okay and doesn't have an effect on competition.

You don't have to be twirling a villainous moustache and plotting nefarious deeds in order to be subject to antitrust regulation.

Microsoft was subject to dozens of lawsuits and interventions, they were forced to have a member of the securities committee added to the board of directors.

The opening up of their APIs was one of the biggest actions Microsoft had to undertake to promote competition. I don't know if you've coded commercial systems on Windows, but this was a huge undertaking for Microsoft. Hundreds of complex interconnected systems, vast swathes of their lucrative Back Office products all had to be made open for Microsoft's competitors.

The game industries reliance on Steamworks is exactly like commercial software's reliance on MS API's were in the 90's. Its the exact same needle in the exact same haystack.

Do I really have to say something to that?
You start with: "it wasn't a "freely made" choice to choose Steam (and playing games on Steam)" - only to end with:
"I made the choice to not use Steam (and not to play the games bound to Steam)".
That's two statements which are the exact opposite.
What is it now? All the others had been forced to use Steam - yet somehow you managed to escape the "Steam-Enforcement-Troopers"?

Free will is a thing, you know.
And it works in both directions.
You chose to not use Steam - others chose to use Steam.
Was anyone forced to either join Steam or to ignore it?
No.
Despite what many here apparently think, everybody had the same right to choose what is more important for them:
playing games (bound to the Steam platform), or making a statement against the DRM that came along with it (and forego the Steam-bound games).

Now, granted - you may not have liked, that you needed to make that choice...but sometimes we have to decide which of two "evils" is the lesser one for us...and then act accordingly.

For some that was accepting Steam - for you it was foregoing some games.
Free will - it's a real thing - not just a biblical concept.

Again: free will is a thing.
You saying "there is no real choice when it comes to "take it or leave it"", is like saying: "when you ever get offered cocaine, you have to snort it - there's no way around that".

Now, I have been offered a variety of drugs in my life - and I always declined to take them.

Free will. Making a choice. Everybody decides for themselves.

Sure! And "if wishes were horses, beggars would ride" and "shoulda, coulda, woulda".

I let you in on a secret:
Just because the majority's choice hasn't been to your liking, doesn't make the majority's choice any less of a choice than your own.

++++++++++

You and so many others here make the grave mistake of thinking:
"I don't like either of the choices offered to me (in this case: accepting Steam or forgoing some games), therefore there exists no choice at all!"

That's closing one's eyes to the RL facts.

Sometimes it's just that the only choice available, is to choose the one option (out of two (or more) disliked options), of which you think, it will be slightly easier bearable for you, than the alternative(s).

That's life.

And there's no use arguing it could be better, or trying to do anything to make it better

Suck it up and accept it

Finally, someone said it. Absolute delusion to believe GOG is in even the same universe as Steam or EGS sales or market share. Didn't GOG only make 3 million USD in one year? That's barely enough to pay for operating costs.

"Didn't GOG only make 3 million USD in one year?"
IIRC that was 2021 when the consolidated a number of losses, a big one being the operating costs of the Gwent infrastructure which were being moved out of GOG. If it was 2021 it means GOG made 142 Million more USD than Epic did in that period. Epic are running at huge losses at the moment.

Epic won't start to make a profit till 2025, it will be 2035 before the break even, so yeh, GoG actually not that bad off.

And 8% user Share isn't insignificant

The devs and publishers have the power to release their games on Steam (only)...and you have the power to reject buying their games there.
Reminder: the customer's power is in his/her wallet.
And the money is all the devs/publishers want, so...who has the bigger power?
We're still talking about video games here, right?
Not the climate change or human rights?

Sure. If there are such options (= all liked) on offer.

But - according to your last post - there was no "all liked" alternative option for you to choose from, when Steam came up, right?

According to you:
- people who chose Steam (against your wishes) had no other choice, and
- people like you, who chose to ignore Steam, also had no other choice.

So...what have your hypothetical "other cases" in which it is "indeed possible to choose options that are all liked" to do with this particular discussion?

BTW. Sometimes people don't answer because... they can't figure out what the heck you're talking about. But since you're angry that I didn't respond...

I still don't understand what you are saying. It makes no sense to me. The situation is IMO much more simple than you're making it.

From what I have seen, my guess is that in some cases (probably mid-level publishers) Steam is keeping GOG off of release advertisements. Is this simply payments for the illusion of exclusivity? Is this contractual? We will certainly never know, but this type of thing is commonplace.

When a game releases a video showing solely "Steam" as the release platform...

... but...

... the publisher responds to an email saying the game will release (same day) on GOG...

... and...

... GOG is NOT shown on the advertisement...

You can rest assured that the publisher DIDN'T simply forget to put "GOG" on the ad.

The timeline of your events isn't exactly clear, but if you only ask the publisher about a GOG release, AFTER you saw the video already, then maybe the promotional material (like a YT video) was simply created already, before a contract with GOG came to be?

That stuff (trailers, etc.) usually isn't made in the last second.
There can be months inbetween creating these trailers and the release of the game.
And a lot can change in "x amount of months".

And I'm pretty sure editing the trailers to show another store, is not top priority, in the final days of a game release.

Unfortunately its actually quite possible they do

Follow people like Mike Rose (No More Robots) or Jake Birkett from Grey Alien Games you'll see the obscene effort required to pre-market and "game" steams ranking system. Indies and small Pubs need to ensure on release day, Valve's algorithms choose to put their game on the Steams front page. So that's wishlist, views and forum interactions.

Part of GOG's sales pitch is your game will get guaranteed exposure via the store page and GOG's social media.

So yes, unfortunately I can see why some devs put GOG advertisement on the back burner.

I also suspect there maybe some kind of NDA thing going on with GOG, that devs can't say "coming to GOG" until they've passed Curation. No proof on this, its just odd how some devs say "No plans yet/We'll see" when asked about a gog release and 2 days later its on GOG (which is too quick to submit, test, and sign off contracts ETC)

First of all, if a monopoly is gained through apparently pro-consumer action, the monopoly might be perceived as benevolent, but it still destroys the market and its competitors. It's still a very bad thing.

Second, that whole social media shtick of Valve's is anti-consumer, in my opinion. All these achievements, game cards, customer levels and the like remind me of something you'd cut out of the backside of a cereal box. Valve infantilizes the end consumer.

Oh, it definitely once was, fifteen years ago or so. Times have changed though.

As I said above, Valve could supply DRM free installers to their customers tomorrow (without asking their business clients first of course) and that step would actually not make anything even an ounce better than it is today.

Valve does not chain its customers to Steam via "DRM". DRM can be circumvented. They bind their customers' virtual gamer identity and sense of self worth to the Steam platform. That works a thousand times better than DRM! Their customers can not leave because they have their entire trophy shelf on Steam. Elsewhere, they'd be nobodies. That's one problem.

The other is that Valve has thrown one such infantile extrinsic reward system after another on the market and has been so successful at that that their customers expect, no, demand such extrinsic reward systems wherever they buy whatever games. Consequently, today's games are less fun to play, less inherently rewarding because of the myriad of extrinsic reward schemes the developers feel forced to implement. So that actually fucks with good game design. Thanks, Valve!

Here, take this dude:
https://twitter.com/moinsyyed1985/status/1635879215835774976

This is still one of my top 5 games of all time.
He hates its guts because "getting a plat is so inconvenient".

GOG does achievements and a whole fucking lot of other pathetic social media crap because Valve has formed PC customers' expectations wholesale. That's a hell of a problem.

Please, don't get me wrong on this: If GOG stops supplying DRM free installers, I'm out of here.
But if Steam started supplying DRM free installers, I'd still spit in their face furiously.

Timeline:

2022 -- GOG announces Wild West Dynasty "coming soon"

2022 -- Toplitz Productions releases "The World of Wild West Dynasty" Video with Steam
logo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twYjB4Iqycw)

Feb 14th 2023 -- Toplitz Productions releases "Wild West Dynasty: Development Blog # 5 - Starting in Early Access" with Steam logo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uURbRFVZX0)

Feb 15th 2023 -- Toplitz Productions answers my query that Wild West Dynasty is releasing in Early Access on GOG

Feb 16th 2023 -- Wild West Dynasty releases in Early Access on both Steam and GOG.

Feb 16th 2023 -- Toplitz Productions releases "Wild West Dynasty Early Access Release Trailer EN" video with Steam logo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj8wIYywxig)

post-Feb 16th 2023...

... there are 3rd party Wild West Dynasty videos online that have the GOG logo, but not one of Toplitz Productions' (the publisher) released videos displays the GOG logo.

Also, if you go to the Toplitz website and visit the game page (https://www.toplitz-productions.com/wild-west-dynasty.html), the "wishlist" link only goes to Steam. No mention of GOG.

Well, I do not share that opinion. Having worked in film industry advertising, everything on a release poster or advertisement is contractual. Mistakes do happen, but are rare. I can imagine the game industry is quite similar. And... seeing that I have found a few other instances like this (of GOG's logo not being on official publisher ads), I tend to think this is a Steam vs GOG issue behind-the-scenes... and not simply "we forgot to add GOG to the poster."

If you follow the timeline I posted prior, this doesn't seem the case.

When you have a majority of the consumer base already predisposed to Steam and publisher's don't even show GOG as an alternative...