Overview
- Larry Kuperman, a Nightdive veteran who helped build GameStop’s Impulse, is reflecting at GDC on why Steam prevailed over early rivals.
- He argues Valve won by turning Steam into a social hub that people returned to because of its community features.
- He says Steam lowered barriers by letting third parties publish for a modest fee, with Steamworks noting a $100 charge per app.
- Kuperman says this reach and discoverability kept many indie studios in business when retail shelves shut them out.
- He says competitors did not displace Steam, naming the shutdown of Impulse, Amazon’s failed push, and GOG’s role as a smaller specialist store.