Not really, as the people at Crytek will do anything to get their next game published, even if it means selling their IP or game names…

Far Cry 2 wasn’t much of a competitor for Crysis in a direct sense though, so they can get away with all that so far.

@Steam Monopoly.
Valve has come out and said that they basically allow the developers of their game to decide how they want to publish their titles and Valve does not “editorialize” over them.
Newell also has the infamous quote “I want every game on Steam.” For now, I think your concerns over a Steam monopoly being able to dictate the market is a bit off the mark. Like I said, for now.

@Discussion in general.
When I first saw Crysis on Steam the other day I too was excited about the possibility of EA, after looking into it more it seems my initial excitement wasn’t warranted. However, I would love to see the vision of “all games on Steam” become a reality. I also don’t mind competing sources like D2D or Impulse. There are a few games that if they were buyable on Steam I’d get right now, like Spore from EA for example, but for whatever reasons I just don’t feel like getting retail.

I like Steam for a lot of reasons, never worrying about losing the discs, not having to have a disc in the drive, being able to have it on multiple computers. There are also some things I don’t like about Steam, having to have Steam run while playing, losing the physical packaging of a game for the above benefits, and its regional pricing issues.

As the person who conducted the interview that MCV quoted in the piece you linked, I can say no that’s not at all what Doug Lombardi was saying. First off, Valve isn’t currently considering anything–they are theoretically open to acquisition talks generally, meaning they aren’t going to outright refuse them right off the bat, and not meaning they are actually entertaining or soliciting any offers.

Also, he was referring to Valve as an entire company, not Steam. His only point was that someday Valve might be acquired by somebody.

Well, if someone controls a big enough slice of the market they can dictate to publishers what they have to do. I mean there are significant competitors to Wal-Mart (such as Costco) but Wal-Mart still has iron control over a lot of retail markets.

And neither is Wal-Mart a monopoly. If you couldn’t buy a game without going to Steam, or couldn’t buy tube socks without going to Wal-Mart, that would be a monopoly. The DEFINITION of a monopoly is complete control by a seller over a market. Just because you don’t like a company/service or feel that it gets too much attention does not make it a monopoly. Whether or not Valve or Wal-Mart can dictate to developers/producers what to make doesn’t change the fact that the people who produce content/goods can still make whatever the hell they want and sell it wherever they want. Telltale can still keep making Sam and Max games and keep selling them right off of their site regardless of what happens with Valve.

Well, if someone controls a big enough slice of the market they can dictate to publishers what they have to do. I mean there are significant competitors to Wal-Mart (such as Costco) but Wal-Mart still has iron control over a lot of retail markets.

Crysis costing $60 plus tax on Steam? Not for me. I see it for $40 and I never pay tax when I buy through Steam. Is that a European thing?
Washington State thing – that’s where Valve is locate.

Maybe you should read up on the word monopoly?
if the only well known digital distribution site is steam, good luck releasing a new FPS that competes with team fortress.

You evidently have no idea what the word monopoly means. A monopoly on distributing games would mean that if you want games you MUST use Steam. Would you claim that Netflix has a monopoly on movie distribution because they deliver movies to your door and are without peer in that field? You wouldn’t, unless you were an idiot. Save your heavy sighs for when you have a decent point to make.

Crysis Warhead is available on D2D!