PixelBoy: But you can't blame Steam/Valve for that.
They aren't doing anything to prevent developers/publishers using some other platforms, like competing stores or social media for that very purpose.

If they choose to use Steam forums, then it's their choice, and it is in fact they, not Valve, who is creating the problem.

All developers could simply just stop using Steam forums and go to Reddit or whatever if they wanted to.

PixelBoy: I suppose there is some irony in the fact that Steam is actually a great counter force to Microsoft.
They offer a place to buy games, which is not Microsoft store, and they also support Linux as an alternative to Windows (more than GOG does, to add to the irony there).

ppdouble: I think censorship is bad at any forum, they should just delete spam, but if you provide best service then you should not be afraid of concurent services...

paladin181: They've shut me down for linking in a giveaway. Pretty sure their policy is no links to other stores.

pds41: You're not comparing like with like. In "amplifying" this, you've created an entirely different scenario to the one you got into trouble for.

Examples:

You can own a Samsung phone if you work at Apple. You cannot go into an Apple store and tell customers to go next door and buy a Samsung instead and expect to not be removed from the store.

You can enter an Adidas shop while wearing Nike clothes, but you cannot expect to be allowed to tell customers in that store that your Adidas trainers are better and they should go next door and buy trainers there instead. Again, security will remove you.

With your example about working for Lenovo, then they won't care if you use a laptop from HP. However, if you posted on social media about how much better your HP laptop was than Lenovo ones, then you might discover that you've breached the terms of your contract and get fired for misconduct.

Ultimately, don't confuse using different products with going into a store and actively advertising a competitor - which is kind of what you did. As much as I don't like Steam, I understand their response and can't criticise it.

PixelBoy: But you can't blame Steam/Valve for that.
They aren't doing anything to prevent developers/publishers using some other platforms, like competing stores or social media for that very purpose.

If they choose to use Steam forums, then it's their choice, and it is in fact they, not Valve, who is creating the problem.

All developers could simply just stop using Steam forums and go to Reddit or whatever if they wanted to.

PixelBoy: ---
I suppose there is some irony in the fact that Steam is actually a great counter force to Microsoft.
They offer a place to buy games, which is not Microsoft store, and they also support Linux as an alternative to Windows (more than GOG does, to add to the irony there).

lupineshadow: Stop calling people dude and stop trying to play the fanboy straw man to ridiculous arguments.

Steam were well within their rights to delete OPs post on the Steam forums. They didn't have to but they chose to.

It's not censorship - it wasn't a general comment about GOG or even comparing the merits of the platforms, it was inciting people to lobby for a publisher to release on a rival platform, which would be to the direct detriment of Steam.

Grargar: Ah, my old nemesis... false equivalence. Ve meet again.

breakercode: If all of this is right, why they allow CDPR to have their own games, Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 (which are massive hits) on Steam but Valve don't do the other way arround with Portal and Half Life despite being old games ? :o

Grargar: Completely irrelevant to what I said, but I'll answer this one. Valve is under no obligation to bring their games here, just because a sister company of GOG brought Witcher and Cyberpunk to Steam. In fact, CDPR is also not obliged to bring their games to Steam, but they do it because they don't want to miss Steam's huge userbase.

breakercode: Two weights two measures, understood. Just stay cool please...

neumi5694: Heh, that's how you react if you can't find nothing wrong within a post and still want to be against it ^^

He's absolutely right, you know. No one forced CDPR to go to Steam - except the market.
Cyberpunk and Witcher were huge successes, true. And most of the revenue (on PC) was generated on Steam.
He have to stay realistic when it come to GOGs market presence.

Would I like to see Half Life here? Sure. But it ain't gonna happen.

Shadowstalker16: No game store cares about censorship.[...]

breakercode: Sorry but for me is not correct to allow one company to do a good thing like GOG, and others just to be greedy as Steam.

PixelBoy: And I have never heard of Steam doing any paid exclusive deals, like Epic does. Maybe they do, but at least not the same way as Epic.

amok: that;s because they are businesses, not governments.

DoomSooth: How many thousands of exclusives does Steam have?

Shadowstalker16: A business should be even more invested in trying to steer an industry away from a path that's unprofitable and dangerous to travel in the long-term.