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this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2024
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Yeah, I think the big difference between Steam and Google Play and the App Store is that Steam does not own Windows and has actual competition.
I think asking for a cut just because you own the OS is despicable, but Steam is actually providing a service.
Steam does own SteamOS but they also bundle a third party software repo (flathub).
Their Deck is still technically niche and yet somehow I can still pretty much install whatever I want in desktop mode, and can even make links in steam to them. (You can even put Epic on it, but that takes a bit of a work around).
You bring up a good point, why are consoles not being forced to allow other app stores like phones?
Idk, I use a Google Pixel. For the OS I use GraphineOS and for app stores I have obtainium plus Accrescent
The real question with these issues is not whether you can install other software with some effort, but whether you can start a competing app store that, if better than Google's, can outcompete Google.
Right now you can't get the same deal from the makers of Android and phone manufacturers as the Google Play owners, and that is why it's said the market is monopolistic.
Well F-Droid is popular and you can just download apks, thats what epic games did (simply distributing their store as an apk)
Can either of those compete with Google Play on equal terms though?
Not at all, its like steam. F-droid and GOG can provide software but neither can truly replicate the functionality or the full library of software. F-Droid doesnt have a g-pay alternative because its an open source hobby project and they dont have extensive cloud services.
My point is that the difference is that GOG only needs to compete with the feature-completeness and the momentum of Steam, while F-Droid is legally unable to have the same features as Google Play.
GOG could integrate achievements, a good launcher, a mod workshop, the whole community thing, get a lot of games on the platform, and eventually they would be able to offer the same experience to a newcomer as Steam. Existing customers would take time to switch, maybe, but still.
It's a better position where F-Droid is just legally unable to offer a competing service to Google Pay or the Google Play infra APIs. Also, Steam does not come preinstalled on every Windows PC (or even Linux/Mac), while GPlay is the first thing to start up on every Android phone.
All that doesn't stand for the Deck obviously, there it's more similar, still not the same though as I understand.