Steam Isn’t the Whole World: Game Distributor CEO Says Some PC Gamers Prefer Local Stores — China a Major Factor

“The whole PC market is growing about two per cent; the Chinese PC market is growing about 15 per cent,” Andreev adds, underlining how rapidly some regional markets are expanding compared with the global average.

In the fast-growing regions Rokky focuses on, players often choose local stores because of loyalty programmes, local payment options and embedded social networks. Those services feel familiar and reliable to users — Steam may be available, but it is frequently not the primary choice.

Rokky also published a study claiming that 72% of developers view Steam as a monopoly, a finding that sparked debate about whether Valve meets the legal definition. Rokky’s stance is that multiple regions present meaningful competition to Steam.

“Steam is great, but it is not enough if you want full global revenue,” Andreev says.

Valve has built a “massive marketplace” on Windows with Steam, but Microsoft and Xbox are signalling ambitions to go further: “We’re going to be everywhere.”