Valve conquered PC gaming. What comes next?
Valve conquered PC gaming. What comes next?
Archive: https://archive.is/2025.07.04-040838/https://www.ft.com/content/f4a13716-838a-43da-853b-7c31ac17192c
People are underestimating how much money valve has put into proton, Mesa and Linux development over the years to make the steam deck work. they had 100+ developers on payroll for years to do that.
Yes. But let's be honest: every store that has arrived to pc to "kill steam" has done what to actually kill steam?
It's like every time someone thinks of creating a steam competitor the process goes like this:
"Hey, let's see what is Steam doing well, what do users love about the store... And do the complete opposite to it in hopes that users ditch steam for us!"
The Linux development is about maintaining a viable option for a store if Windows went walled garden.
I totally give them credit for that, but Steam was also a behemoth before all of that. They've been massive for over a decade at this point, maybe two. Everyone that's tried to be a competitor has come in clearly not understanding the basics of Steam's business model.
How much money did Valve put in? Where do those 100+ devs come from?
Improperly redacted documents from the initial Wolfire case — later hidden — indicated that Valve had only 336 staff in 2021, with just 79 of them working on Steam. We’ve remade it using data reported contemporaneously:
I do have some concerns about what Valve will be like when Gaben passes away. I hope there's a worthy successor waiting in the wings.
Unfortunately we don't need to wait. We have every reason to be skeptical and critical of the way Valve is run now, specifically how they promote underage gambling via Counterstrike.
Whether Gaben personally agrees with that assessment, or whether he's wiped his hands clean of the damage his company has done, the fact is that someone at Valve created this system, and they will still be there.
True. That whole gambling thing is pretty appalling. It's not like they can't make enough money without it, either.
Edit: AND they could turn it off with the flick of a switch.
If you are vulnerable to gambling via lootboxes you are not old enough to play CS. Their parents should be more.invested in their hobby their children spent 70% of the day on
PC-2
Reminder that companies and billionaires are not your friends, including Steam and 6-mega-yacht-owning Gaben.
Next challenge is trying to make Linux more popular outside of enthusiasts for desktop use.
Next? Keep pushing linux so it becomes the standard for gaming. And maybe try again with a steam machine, I think the market is ready after the success of Steam Deck.