Steam got so much flak when it first came out because it supported DRM, facilitated the death of physical media, and was generally kind of clunky and buggy. However, looking back, I'm thankful. I think Gabe did truly care about gamers/gaming and was worried about Microsoft's growing interest in gaming. I think he knew that that the transition to digital distribution was inevitable and made it his mission to get a platform out there before Microsoft did, because they would ultimately create something that was not gamer friendly.
Perhaps this is all wishful thinking, but history has proven that Valve was perhaps the best steward we could have asked for in supporting the transition to online distribution. If we look at the alternatives be it Microsoft, Epic, or even GOG, no one has done it better. And, when tested, Valve continues to show they strive to do the right thing. For example look at returns. I never thought we'd see a no questions asked return policy for digital games and yet, with steam, it's a fairly simple process. On top of this, when the policy doesn't work (e.g. games which are broken outside of the return window), Valve again does the right thing and creates exceptions.
Perhaps this is all wishful thinking, but history has proven that Valve was perhaps the best steward we could have asked for in supporting the transition to online distribution. If we look at the alternatives be it Microsoft, Epic, or even GOG, no one has done it better. And, when tested, Valve continues to show they strive to do the right thing. For example look at returns. I never thought we'd see a no questions asked return policy for digital games and yet, with steam, it's a fairly simple process. On top of this, when the policy doesn't work (e.g. games which are broken outside of the return window), Valve again does the right thing and creates exceptions.