I've tried to love Itch, EGS and GOG, but the thing that keeps me coming back to Steam is the ability to say "No, I'm not going to play that, stop showing it". The other stores shove unwanted ads in my face every time I visit, and it's always for the same old games I have no interest in. Steam helps me on my quest to find the diamonds in the rough, and every time I check the front page I usually see 5+ games that I'd consider playing.
Anyone else feel game shops should do more to help us find the right games? What's your strategy for finding good games with so much trash out there?
That's really the thing with Steam in general, from a consumer perspective it's a very good and honest service, it actually adds to the experience of playing games instead of being an annoyance.
A lot of other stores feel like only shells made around popular titles to promote more stuff and lock people into using them. More launchers won't solve the monopoly of Steam, you'll just end up with as many as there are streaming services.
That's not the case for GOG and Itch, but there you don't get the same level of experience.
I'd argue that there is nothing to "solve" I mean steam doesn't even have a monopoly, nothing stops people from going to EGS, origin etc. other than their own shortcomings.
But even if we assume Steam has a monopoly, it is not abusive. They are looking out for developers and players alike and they provide a lot of services. I probably wouldn't have discovered half the indie games in my library if steam wasn't good at promoting these smaller games.
I am not saying Steam is the saviour of the gaming industry or anything like that, they are a company after all. But the "monopoly" exists without the utilization of bad practices like exclusivity deals unlike other players in the market.