I don’t think steam has been this boon for gamers either. In fact I no longer PC game because I can’t hardly get access to AAA games anymore without DRM. Of course now consoles are heading that way with requiring installs to on board storage and neglecting to include the game on disc in a playable state.

In my use case, Steam is basically bloatware. I download mods from outside sources, don’t play online with friends, and use better 3rd party platforms for chat and VOIP. It’s a frankenstein’s monster whose primary use case is DRM. That being said, it does provide value that other people care about. We are in the niche segment that cares about game licenses and ownership rather than conveniences.