And as things are, there is no way they can get it.
One day Valve will stumble, but I don't think that the spoils will go to one of those who made fools of themselves while Valve didn't.
Ambition is a hindrance to trust, that's why from the current crop, the only plausible candidate for a Steam successor is GoG. They give a believable impression of keeping up their business as long as they at least keep a certain niche of the market, while everything else looks like projects of the "displace Steam within x years or be shelved" kind.
Plus, having more than one of these clients is exactly the kind of problem Steam came on the scene to solve in the first place (i.e. inconvenient distribution). Steam has won this for the time being, and shows no signs of slowing down. It's foolish to fight it over NIH syndrome.
Steam has been a godsend to indie developers. It can be a great partner for AAA ones as well.
One day Valve will stumble, but I don't think that the spoils will go to one of those who made fools of themselves while Valve didn't.
Ambition is a hindrance to trust, that's why from the current crop, the only plausible candidate for a Steam successor is GoG. They give a believable impression of keeping up their business as long as they at least keep a certain niche of the market, while everything else looks like projects of the "displace Steam within x years or be shelved" kind.