I really wish Steam would put their foot down and stop these launchers. They are nothing but a nuisance and add no value for the customer.

Steam having a monopoly is not a good thing for anyone. Competition is good, even if the other launchers are a bit annoying.

Yeah but like, launcher isn't a market. Game Store is the market they're in. I'll happily buy a game from a different store if thats the only place it's offered or even if it's just cheaper there. The annoyance is when they want to be Steam. I don't want to be forced to download another launcher to play a game. If you want what Steam has, create a launcher that offers better services than Steam.

But most games aren’t DRM-free, so the launchers are necessary to verify your account and ownership of the game. Otherwise every store would be GOG, and most publishers won’t use it.

Steam already does that verification.

Yeah, but why should Steam be the only game in town? That’s a very dangerous monopoly.

What are you even talking about? It’s an application that launches a game. It adds nothing of value to the process of opening the game. How is it less of a monopoly to use a launcher to launch a launcher to launch a game?

It’s not just a launcher, it’s a storefront. Uplay, EA-whatever, and Rockstar Launcher are all storefronts where you can buy the games those companies make.

The launcher itself is a UI which lets you “launch” the game. Steam for example, is a launcher and a storefront, as is Uplay.

Having all your games in a single launcher/storefront is bad, as it gives a single company entire control over your games, and monopoly pricing.

Also remember that Steam takes a 30% cut, which is totally unnecessary, and is what directly caused giants like Ubisoft and Rockstar to make their own storefronts. Because why pay a 30% tax just for selling your game, this ain’t the 1990s anymore with CD-ROM pressings.

Fuck Steam and it’s monopolistic, 30% rent seeking bollocks.