In issue 158 of games™ we decided to take a closer, critical look at how Steam is run and how it deals with developers. Mike Maulbeck, developer of Paranautical Activity, has some interesting thoughts on the subject of whether Steam had too much power in the industry.
“There’s no question that Steam is too powerful,” Code Avarice’s Maulbeck tols us. “It’s impossible to not use Steam as a professional developer, and damn near impossible not to use it as a player.”
As we explored its design and influence, he went on to add, “Steam is this incredibly perfect system where everything exists to reinforce its stranglehold on the PC market.”
Maulbeck had a rather public falling out with Valve and Steam last year, which saw his game pulled from the platform, but even so his concern runs deeper than his personal experience of the service.
“I feel like a conspiracy nut talking about all this stuff, but this kinda thing doesn’t happen by accident. Valve are smart. They know exactly what they’re doing.”
You can find out much more about Maulbeck’s story as well as his analysis of Steam and the views of other developers in games™ 158, on sale now.