Imagine how much bigger Halo 5's eSports scene could have been if it was on Steam? Etcetera, etcetera. Killer Instinct might have fared better had it launched on Steam, instead of years after the fact. The same can be said about other quality Xbox console exclusives that hit UWP and Steam, including Ori and the Blind Forest. It certainly wouldn't have achieved its sales success having been locked to the Microsoft Store on PC. There's no real way to measure this, of course, but I'd be willing to bet money that Cuphead wouldn't have achieved its fandom/memetic status without hitting Steam. Memes are the social media equivalent of word-of-mouth, and the discussion revolving around Cuphead certainly helped it reach a bigger audience. Memes and fandom are organic things, and every time a corporate entity attempts to tap into them, it's almost always a cringefest. Perhaps it's also to mock game journalists who describe any hard game as being 'like Dark Souls.' Cuphead's 'learn-by-dying' gameplay is superficially reminiscent of Dark Souls' hardcore ARPG combat, which rewards players for persistence and patience. 'Cupsouls,' is one such meme, a portmanteau of Dark Souls and Cuphead, in honor of the game's difficulty.

Cuphead game steam