Epic Games and Valve have battled for control of the PC gaming market for years. Beyond Epic CEO Tim Sweeney’s repeated criticism of Steam’s revenue-sharing model, former Epic engineer Kiaran Ritchie recently posted a lengthy thread on X, formerly Twitter, arguing that Steam’s dominance is inseparable from players’ attachment to their existing game libraries.
Ritchie laid out his argument in the post below:
Epic has recently been using AI-assisted development to improve the Epic Games Store launcher. Sweeney has claimed that the new version starts faster than Steam, but Ritchie’s argument suggests that performance upgrades alone may not be enough to change players’ platform preferences.
Epic has spent years challenging digital platform fees, including taking Apple and Google to court. Steam, however, presents a deeper obstacle because players have years of purchases and established habits tied to the platform.
via： IGN