Steam as a platform has done amazing things for gaming and independent developers. ~70% of the revenue from steam games goes to the developers. This was absolutely unheard of in the past.
edit: I was totally wrong about trading used games. My bad.
> Does Steam Trading mean I can sell my used games?
> No, only games that have been bought as a gift, and thus have never been played, can be traded. Once the Steam Gift is opened and added to your game library, you won’t be able to trade it again.
IIRC, Valve negotiates a different cut with each developer, and requires them to keep their terms secret. I would not be surprised if Activision ended with more favorable terms than your average indie studio.
Steam is terrible for most indie developers compared to android, iOS, windows store or Xbox (if we include indie games). All of these charge for entry, but only steam makes it a lottery with terribly bad odds (via greenlight)
I like Steam because of its selectivity. I can buy a game on Steam with a certain level of confidence that it will be a professional product. There's nothing wrong with selectivity on Steam because it's not the only option. That's not the case with the app stores on iOS or Windows Phone.
edit: I was totally wrong about trading used games. My bad.