Why is this point so hard to understand?

It's not, they're making a separate but contiguous point about how the market naturally incentivizes shittier tactics from it's participants, and how Steam, Valve, and Gaben are exceptions to the rule.

The point I'm making is that let's say Gaben did not have the headstart or the loyal player base. What is Steam or Valve? Its customer base or market share? Those are for sale, they can be bought with "free" services, exclusive deals with publishers, or other fuckery. Its team and employees? How would you pay them without revenue if someone else is price dumping the market?

Yes, Gaben could keep the logo with the bald guy with the valve on his head, but that's pretty much it. Everything else he has to fight for, invest in, keep alive. And the opponent, Wall Street, has literally unlimited money.

What I'm saying is that it's not as simple as "just don't sell out". And I'm speaking from experience, not as the sellout guy, but as the employee where the company was sold out from over me a few times already.