There is no arguing that Steam is currently the biggest digital games distribution portal, but is this good for the industry given the fact that Valve uses it to publish its own triple A titles?
The aforementioned question was raised by Gearbox's Randy Pitchford who believes that this is unfair and that the gaming industry needs to erect rival services to Steam in order to foster healthy competition.
Valve's Jason Holtman responded to Pitchford's question and explained that Steam's strength, achieved in part due to Valve's games, is beneficial to the whole industry.
"In terms of whether we get too big or maybe our content shouldn't be on the platform, it's just doesn't make much sense. Because the content helps the platform grow," he said.
"There's nothing better in the world for anyone making an Xbox 360 game than the fact that Halo exists. It's awesome, there's nobody saying 'boy I wish Bungie hadn't made Halo' because it sold an awful lot of Xboxes that you can sell your games on."
"Having the content and the distribution that go hand-in-hand make it a stronger platform, make it a platform to reach more consumers with your own game. If you look at any given time on our top-sellers and our marketing, it's clear that [Valve games] are not the only push out there."
"The thing about PC in general is that unlike a closed platform you can make your own. We have a force of openness on the PC that's always pushing on us. If we started doing things that were bad decisions for customers or developers, they can just move and go somewhere else," Holtman, who heads up the Steam business for Valve concluded.
