Something that I don’t see mentioned, is that gaben is a mortal being, and there’s no plan as far as we can tell what happens to the company when he retires.
Even if he runs the company “perfectly” until the day he dies, at some point it gets sold off to the highest bidder, and whoever that is will want a return on their investment. Someone will slaughter that golden goose, it’s only a matter of time.
Do you really think it’s just going to be sold off? One of Valve’s biggest strengths is its ability to remain an independent private company. I would hope that Gabe’s succession plan doesn’t change that.
Let me rephrase that. I think it’s more likely that Valve will not sell to the highest bidder and will stay private. Their ability to control their own destiny has driven their success.
Even if it’s not sold off to the highest bidder, a “new boss” usually likes to “shake things up” to be able to “take full control” instead of letting people who already knew how to do the job well just do their jobs. A good new boss gets to know the systems and often sits back and lets the company run as it was before, a bad boss wants “ownership” over it and so throws out all the old ways and institutes their new ways. This results in enshittification.
Something that I don’t see mentioned, is that gaben is a mortal being, and there’s no plan as far as we can tell what happens to the company when he retires.
Even if he runs the company “perfectly” until the day he dies, at some point it gets sold off to the highest bidder, and whoever that is will want a return on their investment. Someone will slaughter that golden goose, it’s only a matter of time.
They should turn it into a worker owned business.
Do you really think it’s just going to be sold off? One of Valve’s biggest strengths is its ability to remain an independent private company. I would hope that Gabe’s succession plan doesn’t change that.
I don’t think hoping so makes it likely.
Let me rephrase that. I think it’s more likely that Valve will not sell to the highest bidder and will stay private. Their ability to control their own destiny has driven their success.
Don’t hope, be prepared. Back up your games.
Even if it’s not sold off to the highest bidder, a “new boss” usually likes to “shake things up” to be able to “take full control” instead of letting people who already knew how to do the job well just do their jobs. A good new boss gets to know the systems and often sits back and lets the company run as it was before, a bad boss wants “ownership” over it and so throws out all the old ways and institutes their new ways. This results in enshittification.