Aww, Dude. You got Steam Copium hocked into your veins.
GeneralEmergency
If they killed competition they did a terrible job as there is more now then ever
There were so many more platforms, now lost to time from G*mer who never knew any different and think 4 is a lot. IGN even had one.
Loot boxes came from MMOs
https://www.vg247.com/the-harsh-history-of-gaming-microtransactions-from-horse-armor-to-loot-boxes
but the first shot at them on the Western side of things was Valve's Team Fortress 2. In June 2011, Valve transitioned the game to a free-to-play business model after the launch of the Mann-conomy update in 2010, which introduced crates and item trading. MMOs that fell on hard times, like Star Trek Online and Lords of the Rings Online, switched to the model when they went free-to-play as well.
Sell now fix later, EA and Ubisoft.
Steam early access, and greenlight.
Which one killed competition with anti consumer practices in the 2000's?
Which one popularised micro transactions?
Which one popularised loot boxes and gambling?
Which one popularised the current "Sell now, fix later" model
Which one bricks older titles because of it's DRM requirements
(The answer is Steam btw, I know I'll need to spell it out for G*mers)
I was listing all the bad things Steam does and never mentioned Epic. That's on you projecting so much.
Monopolies are defined by having a large enough market share, even if that ain't the dictionary definitions you Steamboys cling so tightly too.