Leadership problem on the Russian market of digital distribution of video games

Abstract

Over the last years video game industry enjoyed a vigorous yield growth that significantly increased the appeal of the video games digital retail platforms for major game developers. Steam is a world-wide leader in video games' digital distribution industry. This article provides insight into the robustness of Steam's dominating market position in a highly competitive and rapidly developing environment. The research is based on a market analysis, conducted with the use of such online intelligence tools. The authors carried out an online survey among Russian users, with the total number of participants exceeding 4300. Using the methods of cluster analysis, 4 main user segments were selected, later used to assess the market positions of Steam's competitors. These results, compared to and combined with the market analysis, led the authors to the conclusion that Steam's market-dominating position in endangered. Based on the results of the research the authors present the recommendations on Steam's internet strategy concerning the major segment of digital distribution platforms' users.