There are numerous complaints with Steam. Here are the three biggest that I feel are warranted:
1. Regional Restrictions.
Steam enables developers and publishers to regionally restrict their titles, often to ensure that a game costs US$60.00 in America, US$70 across most of Europe and US$90.00 in Australia and other counties unfortunate enough to not be America.
There is no justification for this type of restriction. Steamworks, Valve's DRM and Developer solution, list this as a feature of the software; prior to Steam, regionally restricting PC titles was all but non-existent, which language being the only barrier.
2. Monopoly.
Any game using a Steamworks title - even those sold at retail - require Steam to install and use. This places an internet requirement on titles that shouldn't have such a requirement. Further to this, these titles also install the Steam Store Client onto a person's computer, ensuring Valve's digital distribution service is popping up on as many computers as possible, regardless of whether or not the person who purchased the game at a store wanted to use Steam or not.
Every single owner of the PC versions of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Civilization V and Deus Ex: Human Revolution (to name a mere handful) are all Valve customers, all with Steam accounts, all using Valve's digital distribution service. They never had an option in this matter.
Valve like to throw around their account numbers. 30 Million, as last advertised. How many of those accounts were forced to be made so someone could just play their damn game?
Furthermore, Valve altered their service Terms and Conditions recently to preclude any developer from selling content directly through any game sold on Steam. Why? This by-passes the Steam service, and Valve doesn't get their 30% cut of the sale. This is why EA no longer have many of their titles on Steam.
Valve have told other digital distribution services that they should sell Steamworks titles, despite the fact that once someone install one - even from another service - they have to install and run the Steam Store Client.
Valve are hypocrites of the highest order.
3. Consolidation.
Valve have reserved the right via their EULA - which you agreed to - to remove any and all licences at their sole discretion from any account on steam with no explanation given. No appeals, no questions, no second chances. All the titles currently on Steam that you own remain the sole property of Valve. How much have you spent on Steam? You don't own or have the right to access a single thing. Nothing. You only get what Valve allows you to have.
In 10 years when Steam is pre-loaded on PCs along with operating systems, when Valve is the biggest player in the video game industry with more control over Gamers, Publishers and Developers than any one company should ethically have, we'll remember threads like these. They'll be linked to often. Accompanied by a smug 'I told you so.'
