Not really. More like hostage to distribution. If you list your game on Steam, you can't list your game for a cheaper price anywhere else on the internet.
People put up with that because they still come out ahead by listing on Steam.
People put up with that because they still come out ahead by listing on Steam.
If you're using a completely different distribution system/client like itch.io or the epic store, you're allowed to list them for cheaper.
This is the dominant reason that the Epic store isn’t taking off, because Steam is enforcing network effects. Devs can’t switch and so customers won’t switch.