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- Amazon spent over 15 years trying to challenge Steam but failed with multiple strategies, including acquisitions, a Twitch-based store, and cloud gaming with Luna.
- The key mistake was underestimating Steam’s social hub, library, and marketplace strength.
- The former VP stresses understanding customers before big moves—an area where Amazon failed.
Steam remains the dominant PC gaming platform, unmatched by competitors like Epic Games, GOG, and the Xbox app.
In a new LinkedIn post, the former Amazon Prime Gaming VP discusses the same battle. He reflects on Prime Gaming’s fight to take over Steam as the leading gaming platform. According to him, the battle started way before his joining and lasted more than 15 years.
Why it matters: PC gaming is unified under Steam, despite Valve not being a billion-dollar corporation like Amazon. Its success lies in understanding gamers’ needs, unlike larger corporations that often impose their ideas.
In the post, Ethan Evans discussed multiple ways they tried to challenge Steam. The first began with their acquisition of Reflexive PC Store, a PC gaming store they tried to scale but ultimately failed to do so.
Their next attempt was to capitalize on Twitch’s acquisition by building another PC store on the platform. They assumed that if the platform were the biggest way to stream games, players would naturally buy products from them. However, their assumption was way off.
Amazon’s last attempt to enter the gaming realm was with Luna, a promising cloud-based streaming network. However, cloud gaming was pushed way too early, and ultimately, Luna and its competitor, Google Stadia, failed while Steam continued to dominate.
Ethan notes that corporations missed what made Steam unique: a social network, store, and trophy case package. Steam prioritizes its users with features like community pages, chat rooms, and social profiles, setting it apart.
If anything, Steam isn’t going anywhere, and no new corporation won’t dare to compete with the store after these colossal failed attempts.
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[News Reporter]
Shaheer is currently pursuing a Business degree while also working as a part-time Content Writer. With his deep passion for both writing and video games, he has seamlessly transitioned into a role as a Journalist. Over the past two years, Shaheer has contributed as a freelancer to various websites and landed positions on acclaimed platforms like Gamerant. Currently, his role at Tech4gamers is as a Features Writer, but he also covers News occasionally. Shaheer’s favorite gaming franchises are Assassin’s Creed and the God of War series.
Get In Touch: shaheer@tech4gamers.com
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