Adrian Chmielarz, creator of Witchfire and co-founder of The Astronauts, told FRVR that Steam will keep its lead because players see it as more than a store.
Chmielarz argued that Steam’s community hub, written reviews, and forums build a kind of emotional ownership. Players treat their Steam libraries like a home, he said, so buying a title on a different launcher feels like “cheating on [their] home library with some other shop.” That attachment helps explain why Steam continues to pull the bulk of PC traffic even as rival launchers sign exclusive deals.
The Epic Games Store remains more pared back in terms of social and community features. Chmielarz pointed out that Epic lacks some of the user-facing content that makes Steam a gathering place rather than just a checkout page, and that limits how people engage with it beyond purchases.
This kind of platform preference also shapes how developers and players react to storefront problems. For an example of where that split mattered, see our coverage of the indie horror title Horses and its Steam ban, which provoked a much bigger reaction than the same events did on Epic. Witchfire itself opened as an Epic timed exclusive, which Chmielarz acknowledged, but he still sees Steam’s community features as the decisive factor for long-term player loyalty rather than a storefront’s promotional deals.
