It’s a convenient storefront and discovery system (too an extent). Some games I play rely on its backend services. It’s never screwed me over or antagonized me. They also have really good Linux support without having to think to hard about it. They’ve done a huge amount of work on that front that would still even fit me even if I stoped using steam and I do legitimately appreciate that. I kind of get the feeling that the hardware was an excuse to do Linux support, like it seems to me that people there want Linux to be a viable gaming platform even if the business case is pretty niche.

I don’t like that I don’t own the games, I don’t like the DRM, but there isn’t really an alternative on that front, except for GOG but they generally don’t have the games I’m interested in, which are normally smaller niche titles in categories that GOG isn’t focused on. The fact that they have a majority market share makes me nervous about them getting sold or going public and their practices changing. But them being the biggest kid on the block seems like a net positive given that the people liable to take their place are so hostile to consumers. Like the biggest critics of valve from within the industry (Tim Sweeney for instance) seem like they’re just angry that don’t get to be steam but more consumer hostile.

I’m not going to defend everything they’ve done, I’m not going to say they’re without sin, but the biggest issues with them are universal to the entire industry.

Valve fanboys are a loud minority. Back before Valve was forced to implement a decent refund policy many of these assholes would argue against it and defend Valve’s shitty policy. Obviously all those people went silent after Valve changed their policy but it’s a great example of how their fanboys will defend them against any criticism.

My guess after doing some self-reflection as a Steam customer… Because there aren’t really any truly comparable alternatives, so until that becomes the case people with thousands of dollars of game licenses in Steam are paranoid about the idea of needless exodus away from the platform, as they don’t know how secure their purchases would be in the long term under that scenario. Competition risks stability. So they kneejerk downvote criticisms out of that paranoia. I think it’s far more that investment self-interest emotion than say, fanboyism of Valve.

Wow thank you, I get piled any time i mention that while steam is the least evil, they’re still evil and a corporation, and the millisecond they go public or gaben kicks the bucket, they will be epic lite, ran by a Blizzard CEO. Mark my words.

Centralization is NEVER good

Because it too frequently props up opposing platforms who are objectively worse for customers as a comparison, and turns out to be Tim Sweeney in a mask. One monopoly’s existence doesn’t justify introducing competitors with worse business models just so their CEO can get their cut of the middleman action. I care about outcomes for end users, and most of the complaints I see about steam aren’t reflective of my lived experience with the platform, nor are they accompanied by actual ideas for improving the model.

there are so many companies to be hated for a reason, they have their share of bad things but it’s so minuscule. It’s not the problem that people bring up those topics, but sometimes it feels people want to hang them while just accepting what the real big tech does.

Just because Steam offers a DRM option doesn’t mean that it’s mandatory:
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/List_of_DRM-free_games_on_Steam
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/The_big_list_of_DRM-free_games_on_Steam

The contribution to Linux development offsets the DRM.

Can’t speak for others but they haven’t enshitified and I feel that their offering is fair. So while there are fair criticisms to level in my mind they are still more good than bad.

I have a steam deck and play on pc too, and steam sync it’s really convenient. And i like how after i finish a game, I can delete it to save space, then come back 2 years later and my save files will still be in the cloud, without me thinking about it too hard

Yes, I know there’s syncthing, and I use it to sync save files of 1 game, but urghh it’s complex to set up

I’m one of the people that appreciate Steam, but doesn’t trust it because their good will can disappear at the drop of a cent. There’s no guarantee they can’t and won’t go evil.

They don’t want to moderate the rampant Nazis in their forum and games you “buy” are just actually loans. If steam shuts down today, every game you bought is gone. So I’m taking precautions and buying from stores that do provide games without DRM.

Steam isn’t perfect and won’t ever be. It’s pretty, but won’t always be. I can criticise the bad parts because I’m not some fanboy cuck.

Lets see:

• Good prices if you are a bit patient and want to support devs
• seamless linux integration nowadays - Proton is a blessing!
• DRM is the decision of the publisher - not required by steam in any way - and the offered standard DRM is so weak that it doesn’t really exist while also respecting you as a costumer (no hardware binding, no limited activations and so on - if a game has that, it’s the publishers bad decision)
• steam workshop is the easiest way to get into modding by far
• autoupdater for all your games (and mods when using workshop)
• integrated overlay offering guides and discussion forums
• steam input is awesome and powerful, while not being overly complicated, and also works on non-steam games (the overlay does too - opening a game wiki in the overlay is pretty handy)
• switching between offered builds/betas takes 3 clicks
• steamworks making multiplayer easy - rightclick your friend and invite into the running game
• discovery queue is a pretty good feature - i tend to run one or two every month just to keep up on whats new and up my alley
• creates a news and patchnotes stream out of your library and store follows, making sure you always are informed even if a game isn’t currently installed, for example when you are waiting for some specific feature / content in a game
• easy managing of your installed games with a good overview of used space and when you last used that 80GB behemoth of a game
• Steam inhome streaming is pretty good and readily available, and also enables mixed remote/local couch gaming; i prefer moonlight/sunshine, but it’s deffo more involved than clicking on the “Stream” button.
• Family sharing makes my library availabe to 5 other people free of charge

Don’t get me wrong, i am someone who collects game repacks in large volumes, so i am completely fine with piracy as it is. but i also want to give game devs that have created something special financial security so they can continue doing their thing. That means games that i actually want to continue playing after testing them out sooner or later land in my library, at a price point that i a) can afford, since i am a small time pensioner and b) that i perceive as fair for the product in comparison to how much joy the game brought me. My wishlist is primarily a “reminder to buy because they deserve it” list. In some cases this can even result in paying the full new release price (Baldurs Gate 3 e.g, and CP2077 - this has more to do with my fandom towards the pen&paper RPG tho, and i am happy that the game has evolved to something where i can say i am proud i paid full price)

Steam does a lot of good stuff, and they remembered that the third world exists. It’s annoying looking at prices on other stores and seeing a game cost 10 - 20% of my country’s average monthly income.

As to your actual question - because most criticism of steam I see here appears to be rooted in wishful thinking rather than any actual logical consideration.

I very much am of the opinion that piracy is a usability & accessibility issue. I believe that if someone spends a lot of time on a quality product that I very much enjoy, I should pay for it. If I don’t, the gaming industry will be based solely on the dummies that don’t know how to pirate properly, and will thus be filled to the brim with trash. I’m not going to do moral grandstanding on a piracy subreddit if people disagree, this is my personal view. I remember not having any money. I still don’t have much really but enough to support some of the creators I like. I still pirate some games that I may enjoy, but do not want to support the terrible corporations that churn them out.

Steam is one of the best ways to buy games in existence. Would I prefer them to not have DRM? Sure. Would I prefer a few other things, like not allowing third party launchers, kernel level anti-cheat, or any Ai generate content? Sure. But the fact remains, they’re one of the last companies that seem to remember UX matters. They also are dumping money into rapidly improving Linux as a whole, especially for gaming. If they were not so good, I would not give them money. It is really as simple as that.

I pirate everything but software, partially because there’s actually a malware risk there and partially because steam actually has a lot of value compared to the official methods to consume other types of media. I pirate video because even though I have a dv monitor and surround sound it’s nearly impossible to get the streaming services to actually give me the full quality I pay for because their drm is so broken, and there’s no way to actually select what quality stream to use or to download it.