For the last two decades, Valve’s Steam has grown into a gigantic hub for distributing PC games. It’s become one of the most important marketplaces in the entire gaming industry. Now, a new poll suggests that a majority of developers believe that Steam has a monopoly on the PC gaming business. But that doesn’t seem to be stopping any of the companies from using Steam.
Atomik Research has shared the findings of its survey, “The State of PC Game Distribution,” through the PC distribution platform Rokky (via GamesIndustry.biz). The survey was conducted in May of this year with responses from 306 industry executives in the United States and the United Kingdom.
According to the results, 72% of all responding executives felt that Steam has a monopoly on the PC games market. The survey participants also acknowledged that Steam sales provide over 75% of their revenue. But only 32% of responding executives said that their companies still support physical media of some form.
The survey notes that 48% of executives’ companies also distribute through the Epic Game Store and the Xbox PC Games store. A much smaller percentage, 10%, uses GOG, while only 8% use Itch.io. However, 80% of responders expect to use alternative sales channels in addition to Steam over the next five years.
In the meantime, success on Steam can provide a huge windfall, especially for the small developers behind RV There Yet, Escape From Duckov, and this year’s indie blockbuster, Hollow Knight: Silksong. Steam recently shared the 50 most-played Steam Next Fest demos, which featured a mixture between large studio titles and games created by smaller devs.
