Amazon has long sought to compete with Steam, yet its efforts often fell short. Ethan Evans, who served as Vice President of Prime Gaming at Amazon until 2020, recently discussed the reasons behind the retail giant’s inability to topple Valve’s platform. Evans remarked, “Just because you are big enough to build something doesn’t mean people will use it.”

Failed Attempts to Disrupt Steam

Evans reflected on Amazon’s numerous attempts to disrupt the gaming market unsuccessfully. He noted:

“As VP of Prime Gaming at Amazon, we failed multiple times to disrupt the game platform Steam. We were at least 250x bigger, and we tried everything. But ultimately, Goliath lost.”

The initiatives included an early attempt at a digital store in 2009 that went nowhere, and a misguided expectation that Twitch users would flock to a gaming store following Amazon’s acquisition of Twitch. Evans mentioned:

“Our assumption was that gamers would naturally buy from us because they were already using Twitch. Wrong.”

Despite the challenges, Evans acknowledged the tenacity of Valve. He stated, “The truth is that gamers already had the solution to their problems, and they weren’t going to switch platforms just because a new one was available.”

This viewpoint highlights a significant oversight on Amazon’s part: assuming that size and visibility alone could attract customers without understanding existing user behavior and preferences. The article serves as a fascinating study of the competitive landscape in the gaming industry.