Steam didn’t win by doing nothing. Steam won by having useful features that people like, and also by not being a publicly traded company beholden to its stockholders.
I remember people were very skeptical of steam when it was new. But then they just kept making it better without charging the customer. Cloud backups. The steam overlay. Forums (ok they suck but that’s a separate issue). Chat. Remote play.
Meanwhile, Microsoft was busy jerking off to Xbox.
Yes absolutely, Wine is the necessary basis of the technology, and if Proton weren’t forked from it, it would have been a lot less open, maybe even exclusive to steam itself like steam input is.
People weren’t just skeptical. They fucking hated it. It was seen basically the same as Uplay or origin or epic games launcher. Just bloatware garbage that the company is forcing you to install to play games.
But then they made it good, unlike all those others, and the reputation recovered.
I feel like it’s a good time to be a non-publicly traded company these days. No private equity coming for you, no incoherent demands from investors who can only see one quarter into the future.
Has Valve ever put out statements about their intent to leverage ai/nfts/crypto? I mean they kind of invented their own with the CSGO marketplace and that has all of the problems you would expect, but the fact that they don’t thoughtlessly chase every trend to impress the stockholders is a pretty big indicator of their stability.
My understanding is that Gabe’s son is prepared to take over and largely understands the philosophy behind what made Steam work / doesn’t intend to change strategy, so gaming might still be ok for a good while.
Capitalism really does feel a lot like feudalism sometimes. Or like capitalism, if left long enough on its own, eventually just becomes feudalism again.
I dunno! As a teen though, I really loved the idea of balisong. I have never lost my enjoyment of them, but I’m a lot more cautious now because I heal much more slowly.
They accepted bitcoin as a payment method at some point but I don’t recall them making a big deal out of it before quietly dropping it due to volatility.
Steam didn’t win by doing nothing. Steam won by having useful features that people like, and also by not being a publicly traded company beholden to its stockholders.
I remember people were very skeptical of steam when it was new. But then they just kept making it better without charging the customer. Cloud backups. The steam overlay. Forums (ok they suck but that’s a separate issue). Chat. Remote play.
Meanwhile, Microsoft was busy jerking off to Xbox.
Steam Input is massive. Literally the only thing it doesn’t facilitate is remote touch screen support.
Steam Input is huge, and Proton is even bigger.
Also thank you to the countless volunteer Wine devs over the years :)
Yes absolutely, Wine is the necessary basis of the technology, and if Proton weren’t forked from it, it would have been a lot less open, maybe even exclusive to steam itself like steam input is.
People weren’t just skeptical. They fucking hated it. It was seen basically the same as Uplay or origin or epic games launcher. Just bloatware garbage that the company is forcing you to install to play games.
But then they made it good, unlike all those others, and the reputation recovered.
I feel like it’s a good time to be a non-publicly traded company these days. No private equity coming for you, no incoherent demands from investors who can only see one quarter into the future.
Has Valve ever put out statements about their intent to leverage ai/nfts/crypto? I mean they kind of invented their own with the CSGO marketplace and that has all of the problems you would expect, but the fact that they don’t thoughtlessly chase every trend to impress the stockholders is a pretty big indicator of their stability.
The biggest threat to Valve is that as far as I know, the bus factor on the whole damn operation is 1.
I worry that when Newell dies, the vampires will swoop in to worship the line and ruin it all.
My understanding is that Gabe’s son is prepared to take over and largely understands the philosophy behind what made Steam work / doesn’t intend to change strategy, so gaming might still be ok for a good while.
Love to rely on the personal virtue of the lord’s son very
coded, yet somehow still better than stockfuckers.
Capitalism really does feel a lot like feudalism sometimes. Or like capitalism, if left long enough on its own, eventually just becomes feudalism again.
I am cautiously pessimistic, but I have hope that if his son takes over, he’ll have the same ethos. Please. C’mon, please. Help
does gabe junior also like knives?
I dunno! As a teen though, I really loved the idea of balisong. I have never lost my enjoyment of them, but I’m a lot more cautious now because I heal much more slowly.
They accepted bitcoin as a payment method at some point but I don’t recall them making a big deal out of it before quietly dropping it due to volatility.