Rockstar/xbox/epic/blizzard site in order to play it, wtf.
I would pay 1$ if steam created those accounts on some their random ass emails and just let us play
Epic has arguably been the most successful, but the article is clear about that. They have millions (billions?) of dollars to burn to break into the market by giving away free games and paying for exclusivity deals.
Microsoft is an interesting case because they also have Xbox which leads to a bleedover into PC game sales with the same users.
Now here's an idea I've been toying with. Steam has made all the information available for other companies to create handhelds that run SteamOS. I wonder if other AAA publishers, hell, even Epic Games, will use that IP to create their own consoles that are linked to their platforms? It's worked for MS with the Xbox, and the Steamdeck is selling like crazy.
It seems that hardware is the key that unlocks consistent growth for gaming platforms, and even now, Steam basically "owns" the PC hardware market.
Regardless, it's gonna be a great decade for gamers I think because competition has never been higher!
Steam or Epic never needed that. What both of them had was immensely successful games but each utilized their own advantages. Steam used its Counterstrike network effects to grow their platform, CS was also their guinea pig to test their Steam idea in the first place. Epic on the other hand has a Fortnite windfall and it is spending its way to relevancy.
"Crossplatform" even applies to other games on PC, because you cannot use Steamworks on games sold outside of Steam. So unless you are releasing Steam only, it is not a good idea to rely on Steamworks for networking.
Off the top of my head, Deep Rock Galactic is one such game. It was on Steam for about 2 years before being put on the Windows Microsoft Store as part of Xbox Game Pass PC which cannot play with Steam versions of the game.
As a Linux user, at least the last time I tried to play that game, it could not integrate at all with audio input devices, and trying to get accounts to link up with friends via the Microsoft website was either impossible or really clunky. IIRC I had to have someone with the Windows Xbox app invite me to the crew.
They don't even try to do 'cross play' outside of the Xbox / Windows PC ecosystem, and at least my perception based on experience was that other ecosystem isn't baked into the game but as an implicit external dependency (friends list, audio input).
My point is that Steamworks doesn't support being one of those external dependency on games not released on Steam. Xbox does, as seen with Sea of Thieves being released on Steam.
Plenty do bake it into the game, because that Xbox login will not work otherwise on Playstation or Switch. Or even Android or iOS. See Minecraft. But I can't bake Steamworks into games not on Steam, PC or otherwise.
Not like Valve is the only one with this issue though. It also applies to GoG's Steamworks competitor as far as I know.
I don't mind custom launchers that much (although there are a few because how bad they are) because sometimes they have uses or at least just another click but once it requires an account, my blood boils a bit as well
Blizzard games are not sold in Steam.
Not the fault of Steam at all.
That said, the Steam store page does tell you in advance this will be necessary if you know where to look. I don't buy those games, if I want them I'll eventually grab console versions used.
I’ve even made it a personal policy to only buy digital only games through steam.
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/australia-fines-valve-over-...
Had the opposite experience after a game stopped working 3 days after purchase due to its update (forced, if memory serves). Valve refused the refund because I played the game for more than 2 hours before it stopped working. Haven't purchased anything from Valve since.