GamersGate: 'We're Not Afraid Of Steam'

Valve's Steam platform may be miles ahead of the pack when it comes to digital gaming distribution on the PC, but competitor GamersGate believes that the behemoth's appeal is 'peaking'. In an interview with IndustryGamers, GamersGate CEO Theo Bergquist said that Steam is "peaking now while the market is still very hardcore". With GamersGate seeing recent Christmas holiday sales up 72 percent, he believes it has the momentum to eventually overtake Steam. "To be honest, we're not afraid of Steam" said Bergquist. "One of the reasons we have such great growth is because many gamers out there don't like Steam and see GamersGate as a better alternative." "Once digital sales are superior to physical sales, we believe Steam will have a harder time remaining number one". He went on to predict "Steam's marketshare will shrink in the future" and suggested that "GamersGate is well-positioned as one of the digital distribution platforms that has strong momentum to gain marketshare." When questioned on the effects the current economy is having on sales, Bergquist said he was not worried. "Despite the bad economy, we haven't seen a decline in sales. It's almost the opposite. I don't think the bad economy has had a great influence on entertainment products of our type." Bergquist's comments come just months after the Steam platform reached 30 million active accounts, representing a 178 percent growth year over year. Six million unique gamers access Steam every day, while as many as three million are simultaneously connected at peak times.