TY - JOUR

T1 - The steam platform economy

T2 - From retail to player-driven economies

AU - Thorhauge, Anne Mette

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - In this article, I analyse the Steam platform as a configuration of several market contexts. I argue that Valve, the owner of Steam, maintains a classical retail market catering to large game publishers, while the emphasis of Valve’s own game titles is in alternative market contexts based on player-driven economies. I first discuss Steam as a distinct type of platform economy due to its roots in player-driven game economies. I then introduce the notion of ‘markets as fields’ as my analytical framework. Based on this framework, I describe three different contexts of economic transaction: the Steam Game Store, the Steam Community Workshop and the Steam Community Market. I analyse how the approximately 46,500 game titles published on the platform are distributed across these contexts and how these games can be ranked with regard to current player numbers, and discuss Valve’s position as combined platform owner, game developer and game publisher.

AB - In this article, I analyse the Steam platform as a configuration of several market contexts. I argue that Valve, the owner of Steam, maintains a classical retail market catering to large game publishers, while the emphasis of Valve’s own game titles is in alternative market contexts based on player-driven economies. I first discuss Steam as a distinct type of platform economy due to its roots in player-driven game economies. I then introduce the notion of ‘markets as fields’ as my analytical framework. Based on this framework, I describe three different contexts of economic transaction: the Steam Game Store, the Steam Community Workshop and the Steam Community Market. I analyse how the approximately 46,500 game titles published on the platform are distributed across these contexts and how these games can be ranked with regard to current player numbers, and discuss Valve’s position as combined platform owner, game developer and game publisher.

KW - Digital markets

KW - online gaming

KW - platform economies

KW - player-driven economies

KW - sociology of markets

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125811091&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/14614448221081401

DO - 10.1177/14614448221081401

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85125811091

VL - 26

SP - 1963

EP - 1983

JO - New Media & Society

JF - New Media & Society

SN - 1461-4448

IS - 4

ER -