[itsn0tm3]

I would say that‘s a bit overly simplified, as much as the indie or indie like game scene is thriving, so is the online multiplayer scene. Gaming is huge and just because one thing is big doesn’t mean another is not. Not a zero sum game here.

[wraptile]

Sure but not being able to play 4 games is not an indication of success either way. It's not 2012 when you had to have Call of Duty - you can not have battlefield, cod or fort nite and still never run out of incredible, popular games to play.

[SkiFire13]

If you have a bunch of friends that have battlefield/cod/fortnite and want to play them, they will still do so without you, or at least heavily pressure you into getting them.

[wraptile]

I'm not sure what could that even mean from consumer pov - I'm not going to buy a platform because some of my friends might want me to play a specific game with me?

The pressure to get more games on your platform has never been as low as it is today and has never been this low on Steam itself. You could spend a lifetime with the current Steam library and never feel bored.

From product pov Valve feels very comfortable and I bet they have the data to back up this move with basically unlimited war chest. If anything I feel like Valve is pressuring game developers of these major games here - not the other way around.

[dgfl]

That’s exactly the thought process of every teenager ever, and also most people who want to connect with their friends through gaming beyond their teenage years.

Not everyone experiences gaming the same way.

[skinnymuch]

Yea as a casual I only care about gaming with others. I don’t care about doing it on my own so my consumer behavior depends on social stuff

[SkiFire13]

> I'm not sure what could that even mean from consumer pov - I'm not going to buy a platform because some of my friends might want me to play a specific game with me?

Yeah exactly. Depending how much you care about playing with friends compared to playing at all you might make that choice.

[swiftcoder]

> I'm not sure what could that even mean from consumer pov - I'm not going to buy a platform because some of my friends might want me to play a specific game with me?

That's exactly how console sales worked in the past. I bought an Xbox because all my friends were playing Halo, and I wanted to join in...

The recent phenomenon of games supporting cross-play out of the gate is probably eating into this, but exclusives were a hell of a moat back in the day.