In my opinion when I buy a game on Steam then Steam is the first party launcher for me.
Doesn’t matter if the game is developed/published by EA, Rockstar, Ubisoft, or whatever.
I’m paying money to Steam, I’m getting game files from Steam, that makes it first party launcher.
Other companies are taking advantage of their role as developer/publisher to insert their own launcher to force me to create an account on their service.
But on Reddit (🤮) I see people calling Steam as third party launcher.
Am I wrong or redditors are wrong?
I would disagree. I think Steam’s definition is reasonable. The launcher you are intentionally using (i.e. you bought the game there and initially launched it from there) is the first party. Any other launchers are third party.
Now, if you’re looking at the game’s product page on the publisher’s website, that changes things. In that case, I’d say they’re justified in saying something like “available on these third-party launchers: Steam, GOG.”