Steam has 70 per cent of PC pie

By Robert Purchese Published 20 November, 2009

Digital rival says Valve's streets ahead.

Brad Wardell, boss of Stardock and digital distribution platform Impulse, reckons Valve's Steam is miles ahead of any competition in the PC gaming download market.

"Our estimation is that Steam - as the current market leader - enjoys approximately 70 per cent of the overall digital distribution market with Impulse at 10 per cent and all others combined at 20 per cent in terms of actual dollars generated per month," wrote Wardell in a company report this week (spotted by Gamasutra).

Wardell also feels Valve is beginning to monopolise on its position by integrating Steamworks tools into games at an early development stage and essentially locking them out from other digital distribution platforms.

"Another trend we have seen in the past year has been Valve’s successful work with getting Steamworks licensed as a DRM solution by major publishers. Once a game requires Steamworks, it is effectively cut off from us, which limits our content," he said.

"The problem is that it is not practical for us to install a game that in turn requires the installation of a competitor’s store and platform in order to play it."

Wardell said Valve and other competitors had "a significant headstart" signing regional distribution content, but admits that getting content quickly is "an ongoing challenge".

Impulse and Stardock found fame with Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords and Sins of a Solar Empire.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (52) 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Bravestinsane #1 2 years ago

    Well i use Steam never had any issues with them, as long as they don't turn into pricks and rack up prices because they have the largest market share i will continue to use them all.

  • cianchristopher #2 2 years ago

    I'm only buying games on Steam in the future (hold on, hold on)....

    I won't be needlessly wasting money on overpriced games - I'll get em on a weekend deal type thing!

    Of course, by the time they're on a weekend deal, they'll also be cheaper elsewhere - but if the difference is only €5 or €10 and the game looks great, then the ease and convenience of Steam does it for me.

    I don't want them to have a monopoly though! MONOPOLY = BAD

  • Widge #3 2 years ago

    Another big fan of Steam here. Can't fault the service. Efficient, stable, good deals on games.

    Did not like my experience of getting Stalker off D2D.

  • mcmonkeyplc #4 2 years ago

    It's great when it chuffing works!

  • JahB #5 2 years ago

    I used to buy a lot on steam, until they introduced their ridiculous 1$=1€ conversion rate. Haven't bought anything off them ever since, simply because I won't pay the same or more than I would pay for an actual physical copy.

    If they can sort this nonsense out, i'll reconsider. But since stuff like this makes them oodles of money, i doubt they will.

  • davisorle #6 2 years ago

    Personally I started using Steam cause I was forcd since i got access in Counter Strike: Source Beta. I was iliterally forced to use Steam and ive bought only recently a couple of things of them and I seem to be using more and more digital copies of software cause Im out of space for physical.. Yes, you literally cant even imagine the thousands of pieces all the way in my storage room downstairs :/ So in a way im still forced to use Steam and even more, just not cause of them no more :p

  • Artemus #7 2 years ago

    @Bravestinsane

    They don't need to rack up prices. It's already too pricey as it is. I can usually get a retail copy of a game for at least £10 cheaper than the Steam equivalent.

  • f00b_inc #8 2 years ago

    I think I'm the same, started using Steam as I seem to remember it being mandatory for CS:S back in the day… always sort of had it on my system since that and HL2/Eps1+2 but never bought another game on it until Monkey Island SE was going cheap and then the L4D2 deal. Would never pay the full prices on it but it's worth keeping an eye on when the rare good deal pops up.

  • hiddenranbir #9 2 years ago

    The steam works going into the games core is really bad for store-neutrality.

    Imagine the ability to tie a game to your email address and then being able to choose which platform to download it from.

  • RexRunti #10 2 years ago

    Wardell also feels Valve is beginning to monopolise on its position by integrating Steamworks tools into games at an early development stage and essentially locking them out from other digital distribution platforms.

    Is he baiting the EU or something?

  • Horse #11 2 years ago

    Actually I don't mind paying a slight premium over physical copies for downloaded games if I'm guaranteed being able to download them again as many times as I need too (which is hardly ever more than once). Beats having physical copies lie around gathering dust. I'm too much of a pack rat to sell them on once I'm done, plus I never finish half the damn things anyway.

    EDIT: meant to add that I've used Stardock/Impulse, Gamers Gate and Steam in the past, Steam is my least favourite of the three as it's usually the most expensive - Impulse give you a proper €/$ conversion rate at least!
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 16:36

  • Seoh #12 2 years ago

    I really like steams weekend/midweek deals i've bought many a game on it.

    I've also had problems with sites like D2D especially where the selling point is early access or a midnight release and them messing it up. Steam on the other hand typically overestimate so i've usually had games before i expected to get them.

  • icematt12 #13 2 years ago

    Yet, it might not be long know until some EU group steps in so that Steam does not monopolise the market. Kinda like they did with MS and Windows. Steam is far from perfect, so other companies could create an equal or better product.

  • FogHeart #14 2 years ago

    If you like a Valve game, you're gonna have Steam installed. It's the same 'using one product to leverage another' scheme that we object to whenMicrosoft uses it.

    Microsoft uses it to heap dung upon us - here's windows, have IE with it, and your homepage is MSN, look at the adverts here it means more money for us.

    Although Valve use their games to leverage a quality product on us, shouldn't we object on 'philosophical' grounds? Don't we want a level playing field where digital download services have your equal attention and you can judge each one?
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 17:01

  • curtlikesmeat #15 2 years ago

    Never been a fan of Steam sorry, I don't like having to connect to the internet to play single player games (the main annoyance came from when I HAD to get an internet connection to play Half Life 2 on release, as at the time I didn't have access to one).

  • the_mtfr #16 2 years ago

    @Bravestinsane the point is, as a gamer you won't feel this problem. But the other digital distribution platforms will feel it as they will be locked out. And this is a dirty means of eliminating competition (of Steam).

  • StooMonster #17 2 years ago

    Yeah RABicle, in my PC's system tray Steam takes a massive 9,588K memory and uses 00% of CPU cycles ... the program's overall resource footprint gets more and more cumbersome.

  • sarcasmoidosis #18 2 years ago

    In terms of smoothness, usability and prices Impulse > Steam. But their game list is so small. I'm still a "gimme the box" kind of person, but when the retail CE of Dragon Age was delayed, Steam started winking at me more and more.

  • sneetch #19 2 years ago

    I agree StooMonster, I've just finished playing L4D and after exiting it's using a massive 9.7m of memory and eating up a frankly ridiculous 0.0% of my CPU too! I know I could have simply told it to exit steam after I finished playing L4D2 but if I did that then what the hell could I complain about? You can appreciate the bind I'm in!

    It's easy to point a shaky finger and scream "monopoly!" This talk of Steam "monopolising the market" because other companies use the Valve DRM and that DRM requires Steam is a bit daft and smells of sour grapes. They could consider it Steam having an exclusive, like, you know, the exclusives Impulse enjoys. If they could get a big game to pick their DRM and so ihave it nstall their software including their store then I'm sure they'd have no problems with the whole thing.
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 18:31

  • UncleLou #20 2 years ago

    In terms of smoothness, usability and prices Impulse >

    Prices, yeah, sometimes. Smoothness and usability seems terrible to me. I am using it, but I don't like it. There seems to be a major update every bloody time I am launching it, and the whole thing feels sluggish and unintuitive to me.
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 18:31

  • wayn3h #21 2 years ago

    I'm surprised it's as low as 70% actually. Every PC gamer that I know uses Steam. Never even heard of these other services!

  • smelly #22 2 years ago

    This is interesting.. especially with the amount that people complain about DRM!

  • Sunyavadin #23 2 years ago

    I always buy hard copies cheaper than Steam offers, so there's no point to me using it. Take how my mates were recently coming in their pants and racing to buy Stalker a couple of months ago on Steam when it was a fiver. Despite the fact I was able to buy it new on Amazon for £2.

  • hiddenranbir #24 2 years ago

    Spaaaace Rangers 2 is in top 6 in the customer survey Stardock had, hell to the YES

    Usability of Impulse is improving constantly, hence all those frequent updates. Very easy to grab their ear and give feedback. I managed to fix a pricing error within 15 minutes. Not to go all Windows 7 tv advert but Impulse was my idea!
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 19:48

  • UncleLou #25 2 years ago

    This is interesting.. especially with the amount that people complain about DRM!

    I've never complained about DRM, so I don't feel addressed, but just for the record: Steam and DRM like activation limits is not the same thing. The world isn't black and white. It's perfectly reasonable to complain about some forms of DRM, but to still use Steam.
    Edited by 1 at 20/11/09 @ 20:09

  • Diomedes #26 2 years ago

    THe PC pie is very ,very small ....wonder wich numbers we are speaking but in the Chart Track numbers for October the PC software sales are about on par with the PSP so there you go ...

  • cairbre1977 #27 2 years ago

    I wont be embracing digital distribution until it is cheaper than retail at the moment I find it is alot cheaper to actually buy the psychical product be it from amazon, play or a high street shop than to download it from Steam or any of the others.

  • skuzzbag #28 2 years ago

    Exactly, there is no financial benefit from using steam despite them claiming there would be years ago. This is hardly surprising though.

    I'd still rather buy game physically and have the option of selling it later. If they stop this I'll just concentrate on console games excusively

  • Xeopuppy #29 2 years ago

    The more developers using Steamworks the better...

    Steam IS the future...

  • dsmx #30 2 years ago

    I don't understand what that 70% is based on, steam doesn't release absolute sales figures.

  • jambo74 #31 2 years ago

    @dsmx

    Perhaps they do under a 'no publish' or else reason

  • dsmx #32 2 years ago

    You really think a don't publish or else policy works on anything? There's been almost no new news in the tech industry that wasn't leaked weeks before for years. I hardly think anyone could keep a secret about steam sales longer than 30 seconds.

  • Bravestinsane #33 2 years ago

    @the_mtfr

    I understand competition is good but rivals to steam there is none, there all crap. If they made a better service i will use them until then...

    @Artemus

    I never said they should rack up prices i said they shouldn't do that because that would make them pricks and i would stop using them. Perhaps you should re-read what i said.

  • skuzzbag #34 2 years ago

    The other main reason I stopped using steam was because I would want to drop into a quick online game for 10 mins and then steam would want to update for 15 mins. So it just ruined gaming for people who don't have unlimited time to spend.

  • UncleLou #35 2 years ago

    I understand competition is good but rivals to steam there is none, there all crap. If they made a better service i will use them until then...

    Gamersgate uses no client, has less crowded bandwidth, and is often cheaper. Nothing crap about it all.

  • TheApologist #36 2 years ago

    Steam=good for now
    Steam*Monopoly=bad in future

  • stooeh #37 2 years ago

    @JahB

    Are you in not in the UK then? I remember when regional prices first came things were way too expensive. Then when GBP pricing came along it was not so bad. I hear things are bad on the continent though.

    As for buying games, I hope steam do not get a monopoly but I can't help feel that if they do I will be partly to blame since I use steam almost exclusively...

    Weekend deals are just too tasty

  • steviepunk #38 2 years ago

    Can't say I've ever had any real problem with Steam (but then, I've never tried to play a game without my internet connection), but I do have to say that I really like Impulse as a platform. when I want to play Gal Civ, or Demigod, the games just load, unlike playing Steam games. It's really annoying having to wait a minute for Steam to load and login me in before I can actually get at my game!

    I still prefer the buy the boxed games though, but these platforms are very good for picking up some well discounted games from time to time!

  • makeamazing #39 2 years ago

    You can play your games on steam offline too.

  • JonFE #40 2 years ago

    Back when Half Life 2 was released, I wasn't connected to the internet. So in order to install the game, I had to left my PC switched on overnight, on a pre-paid dial-up connection. Of course it *was* HL2 and you *could* enjoy the single player campaign without being connected, so all was forgiven.

    By the time the Orange Box was released I had moved to ADSL, so I didn't think twice. I also started paying attention to (and taking advantage of) the various offers. Currently my Steam collection counts over 30 games and to be honest I'm satisfied with their service. They are reliable and fast. The 1$=1€ currency rate has bothered me as well, but it's not actually forbidding when you buy something on offer.

    The only other digital delivery service I've used (apart from indie developer's own e-shops) is direct2drive during their latest 5GBP sale. In my experience, while the actual transaction was fine, I had trouble downloading the 5GB install file I purchased because it was really slow, so once more I had to leave my PC switched on overnight but this time on a 11 Mbit ADSL line. I don't know if that's a common problem with d2d though...

  • IronCladChicken #41 2 years ago

    @JonFE
    Why did you need to leave your PC connected all night to install the game?

  • Sharzam #42 2 years ago

    i installed impulse last night as i wanted to compare some prices with steam and a couple not on steam, and to be honest the price was either the same or so little difference doesnt matter. So as steam has alot of extras like the friend lists, achievments, intregration etc i would rather have all my gaming in 1 place so that means steam. As far as iam concerned as long as it works iam happy.

  • Trikk #43 2 years ago

    I'd never buy a game from a company that knowingly sells broken games for a year, calls their customers liars when they bring up the problem, threaten the press, and finally decline commenting on the issue when the whole deal is exposed.

    Stardock and Impulse will hopefully crash and burn and Brad Wardell end up as a janitor at a real game company.

  • JonFE #44 2 years ago

    @IronCladChicken:

    If you're asking about Half Life2, the installation disk I had at the time had to be decrypted during the installation and that was taking very, very long over the 33.6 Kbps dial-up connection I was using. Not to mention that Steam's servers were kind of busy as well...

    In d2d's case, I didn't want to install their download utility so I had to download the 5GB file with my browser. I wasn't sure if the download would be resumed if interrupted, so I did it in one go but the download rate was really slow (~150 Kb/s).

  • UncleLou #45 2 years ago

    Stardock and Impulse will hopefully crash and burn and Brad Wardell end up as a janitor at a real game company.

    It's amusing how, for any game and games company, there always seems to be at least one hater with serious nerd rage, often fueled by conspiracy theories and hyperbole. \o/

  • Zephro #46 2 years ago

    Getting away from which is better arguments and some conspiracy theories, it's a good thing for PC gaming.

    PC gaming has gone to the dogs in recent years, say around 2000 the PC games were lightyears ahead of anything on Xbox or PS2, they were innovative and cutting edge in every way. Just look at the amount of retrospective articles from that time for things which were PC first and foremost.

    Nowadays we have things like MW2 without dedicated servers, noone develops graphics engines which wouldn't run on a 360 or worse, controls that won't map to a damned gamepad. I want complicated controls and lean keys damn it!

    Having a "platform" standardisation and protection from piracy will mean publishers feel far safer investing in the PC market again, until that happens it's just stuffed. Windows for Games sure as hell isn't doing that job is it?

    Until someone really gets out there and makes downloadable PC games cheap, piracy free and a big market again we'll never see another Thief, Deus Ex 1, Baldur's Gate, NOLF, etc.

  • Trikk #47 2 years ago

    It's amusing how, for any game and games company, there always seems to be at least one hater with serious nerd rage, often fueled by conspiracy theories and hyperbole. \o/

    Same argument Brad Wardell used to deny there was any issue with his obviously broken game for a whole year before coming clean and admitting that he had been lying all this time.

    "There's people calling every game broken on the Internet so that means our game works! Our customers just hate us, we are really awesome and none of our games have any issues!"

    You obviously don't follow the gaming industry so why even bother to reply to my comment with your baseless fanboy drivel?

    Impulse are incompetent, they hide their incompetence by attacking the press and their customers. If you are actually dumb enough to give them your money and expect a working product in return, then Brad Wardell and me will have a proper laugh at you.

    By all means, go ahead and suck up to a guy and a company that continually attacks their fans and gamers in general, not to mention other companies and services (like in this "news" piece).

  • UncleLou #48 2 years ago

    Can't say your reply surprises me. Fits in perfectly.

  • sneetch #49 2 years ago

    @UncleLou

    In fairness now, UncleLou, simply dismissing Trikk's claims because you claim "he's just a hater" doesn't really lend any weight to your "he's just a hater" argument.

    Edit: my point is that although he is angry he may very well have good reason to be.
    Edited by 1 at 23/11/09 @ 12:32

  • UncleLou #50 2 years ago

    Except that I know exactly what he's referring to. And it certainly doesn't warrant the particular piece I quoted.

    And before I a get called an "Impulse fanboy" again (how idiotic is that in the first place), read my post on the other page.

  • sneetch #51 2 years ago

    @UncleLou
    Except that I know exactly what he's referring to. And it certainly doesn't warrant the particular piece I quoted.

    And before I a get called an "Impulse fanboy" again (how idiotic is that in the first place), read my post on the other page.

    Sorry mate, I'm not trying to imply you're a "fanboy" of any sort just playing devil's advocate, I don't know the case in question and I've only bought about 4 games from Impulse (their $ prices tend to be good, where the game can be bought in Europe) but I've seen a lot of justifiable anger that has been dismissed out of hand in the past.

    Not saying his level of anger is justifiable, a "go die in a fire" level of anger never is.

  • Balfa #52 2 years ago

    I like the steam software. I've never had problems with it. But it sounds like Valve are heading for their own version of the Intel-AMD court case (Intel just settled out of court by paying AMD $1.25 billion) by abusing their market lead. If they're found to be offering further incentives to developers (beyond just, hey our product is great, why not use it?) to get them on board, or even just by crossing markets by having, say, a patch/update automator tool along with a retail tool to sell more (which they're obviously already doing), they could be leaving leaving themselves vulnerable to a lawsuit.

    The first poster said that as long as they don't do things like raise prices, it'll be fine, but that's not true. Their virtual monopoly will stifle competition and innovation (as monopolies always do) and even if prices aren't raised, you can bet they're still being kept artificially high.