Notch: Digital distribution monopoly ‘dangerous’

Having such a dominant digital distribution platform like Steam can be dangerous for the industry, says Markus Persson.

Speaking to GameSpot, the Mojang boss admitted that whilst he loves Valve as a company, the idea of one platform is “a bit scary”, and welcomed competition in the form of Desura, Impulse and Origin.

“I think it’s a bit dangerous to only have one digital distribution platform like Steam,” said Persson.

“I love Valve, but out of principle, I find the idea of one platform a bit scary. So I like that there are others competing – for example, Desura and Impulse, who recently got bought by GameStop. It’s a good thing that there are more.”

Persson said however that EA has some way to go to put Origin on a par with Steam, and suggested the publishing giant needed to focus on the platform as a service, rather than just focusing on releases.

“Origin does a couple things badly compared to Steam – which is impressive since they had eight years to study Steam. They should definitely have a chance to do their thing, but they might want to move away from titles that make people use it and show people why they should use it.

“But I think, in principle, it’s a good thing.”