The growing popularity of the Discord messenger poses a real threat to Stream, according to SuperData analysts. If Steam ceases to be a platform for user communication and remains only an online store, large companies will leave it in order not to share their revenue with Valve.
For a long time, Steam has dominated the PC market – it is both the main online gaming store and a communication platform for players. Most major publishers and indie developers depend on the service.
However, the Discord messenger, focused on the gaming audience from the very beginning, is gradually becoming the main place for players to communicate. As of May 2018, 130 million people use the messenger, 19 million launch it daily. Discord is especially popular with young gamers.
The popularity of Discord, Steam and Valve among gamers under 34 years old (orange columns) and older (purple columns)
Why is the age of the players important in this case?
The fact is that among the new generations of gamers there are much more of those for whom games are a part of social life. According to opinion polls, 75% of players aged 13-17 primarily appreciate games for the opportunity to communicate with their friends and make new ones. It’s just inconvenient for them to communicate both in Discord and on Steam, so the Valve service is gradually losing its communication role.
If Steam’s popularity continues to decline, major publishers will take advantage of this opportunity and go to alternative sites – most likely, to their own, as Electronic Arts once did by creating the Origin platform. Similar steps have already been taken by Ubisoft, Activision and Epic Games.
SuperData believes that in the near future Steam will remain the main platform only for independent developers and small companies that cannot afford a full-fledged own store. However, even here small teams have options. For example, we recently wrote about the initiative of the company Xsolla – it announced a service with which you can independently publish and promote a product without posting on Steam.
Also on the topic:
- Valve has refined the social functions of Steam on the model of Discord
- A gaming hub resembling Steam has appeared in Discord
Source: SuperData