13th December 2013, 2:21 AM
Yeah, without so much competition, it's very unlikely that Steam would be anywhere near as good as it is, either in features or in frequency and depth of sales. It's not only Origin that's competing with them, of course; there's also GOG, UPlay, GamersGate, Impulse, Gamefly (remember they bought Direct2Drive), and surely more. Most of those also have sales, some quite deeply discounted. None allow you to return games (with no restrictions) or trade games with others, though, digital resale is still not something we have... but at least it does get much better deals than you see on consoles. Sure, DD console games have sales sometimes too, but not with as many titles on sale, and not with prices cut as low most of the time, either.
But on the other hand, it's still easy to find physical copies of lots of console games (which are not tied to one-time-use keys!), which means easy resale... that is a definite plus.
But on the other hand, it's still easy to find physical copies of lots of console games (which are not tied to one-time-use keys!), which means easy resale... that is a definite plus.