The Steam monopoly[0] is problematic for indie game devs.
You absolutely have to list your games there because many people will refuse to buy your game anywhere else even if you are listed on more player-friendly DRM-free platforms like GOG or itch.io. Yes, I get that players want to use one launcher for everything but with DRM-free, you know what? You don't need launcher! Just download and play!
For the hefty 30 percent cut they take from devs, I would at least expect them to do some basic curation. They allow so many asset flips and general trash games to flood their listing making it very hard for players to find good indie games.
Plus, censorship is a bit of a hit or miss. You see some very sexually explicit titles on steam but then again even relatively harmless stuff can get you flagged. This creates an insecure situation for devs in certain niches and not just erotic. For example Visual Novels can be easily flagged for having a certain art style. Artistic freedom and monopolies never mix well.
[0] (Please no "Actually, it is not a monopoly...". Yes, I am using a broader definition of monopoly on purpose. )
> You see some very sexually explicit titles on steam but then again even relatively harmless stuff can get you flagged. This creates an insecure situation for devs in certain niches and not just erotic. For example Visual Novels can be easily flagged for having a certain art style.
This seems a lot like intentional obfuscation of precisely what that "relatively harmless stuff" or "certain art style" is because you know it's going to sound a whole lot worse if you actually explain it.
I'm fairly pretty sure the actual answer here as to what's likely to get you flagged is: "drawn/animated characters that look like children in explicit or highly suggestive settings", maybe with the lip service of calling them 18 in text, maybe not.
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That content is in a legally risky area of it's own AFAIK and is a massive political/PR risk in a way that other content is not.
Yeah, no I am talking about games with LGBTQ+ content being flagged by trolls. I am talking about any game portraying high-school student getting automatically flagged. Certainly not whatever messed up stuff your are thinking about.
Obviously any games where children are portrayed by a sexual manner wouldn't and shouldn't be tolerated on any platform but it is silly to say, we can't have children in games at all or that certain art styles should be banned.
If I as a game dev have to list my games on steam due to their overwhelming market dominance, they have a monopoly. Whether people like to use a platform or not is not even relevant for the question of monopolies.
I use the term monopolistic to describe companies that have such a overwhelming market dominance that free market effects barely apply anymore. That is not the legal definition but a more useful definition that is popular in more progressive circles as it can be used to actually describe actual real world companies in the 21st century.
You absolutely have to list your games there because many people will refuse to buy your game anywhere else even if you are listed on more player-friendly DRM-free platforms like GOG or itch.io. Yes, I get that players want to use one launcher for everything but with DRM-free, you know what? You don't need launcher! Just download and play!
For the hefty 30 percent cut they take from devs, I would at least expect them to do some basic curation. They allow so many asset flips and general trash games to flood their listing making it very hard for players to find good indie games.
Plus, censorship is a bit of a hit or miss. You see some very sexually explicit titles on steam but then again even relatively harmless stuff can get you flagged. This creates an insecure situation for devs in certain niches and not just erotic. For example Visual Novels can be easily flagged for having a certain art style. Artistic freedom and monopolies never mix well.
[0] (Please no "Actually, it is not a monopoly...". Yes, I am using a broader definition of monopoly on purpose. )