But I can play them without Internet (mostly).

Steam isn’t perfect. But it’s the best we have for now. And the trend currently is only getting worse.

The thing is that Steam doesn't have a history of shutting down a significant fraction of games they have available by themselves. Hence people don't criticize them.

Also you can (not saying that you should, I personally don't trust Gabe) put some tust in a private owned company if you trust the owners.

In case of public companies they are forced by law and major shareholders into making shortsighted decisions and prioritizing profit only.

The reason for that fanclub is that publishing a game on Steam does NOT require you to use any DRM at all. That’s a choice every publisher makes for themselves.

Furthermore, the Steam DRM itself is weak af (as in “circumvention has been automated”) and as non-invasive as it gets (a simple licence check). All of this is in line with their public stance (“Piracy is a service problem”).

I pirate more shit than i could ever play, but still buy games on Steam (But only the stuff i really want to keep playing like Baldurs Gate 3, or small indie titles that are just gems (i have to namedrop ΔV: Rings of Saturn and Star Valor here, because i come back to them ALL the time)