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Jawa

@jawa

I asked Claude what enshitification of Steam would look like: Steam is the biggest un-cashed enshittification reserve on the internet. The lock-in is already built. Your library isn't portable. There is no export button, no way to take 800 games somewhere else. Valve just… hasn't leveraged it, because it's private, profitable, and run by a guy who doesn't need to. Here's what cashing it in looks like: - Ads in the client, the library, the download screen - Store placement sold to the highest bidder instead of earned by what you actually play - The refund window tightened to "at our discretion" - Regional pricing killed, family sharing quietly degraded - Cloud saves and Remote Play moved behind Steam Plus, $6/mo - Your playtime data sold back as an analytics product None of that requires a technical change. It requires one ownership change. Steam's restraint has never been structural. It's one guy's preference, and preferences don't survive acquisitions.
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