Valve Conquered PC Gaming. What Comes Next? (ft.com)
- Reference: 0178277632
- News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/07/04/0820223/valve-conquered-pc-gaming-what-comes-next
- Source link: https://www.ft.com/content/f4a13716-838a-43da-853b-7c31ac17192c
Founder Gabe Newell has largely retreated from the company's operations, reportedly living at sea on one of his five ships and pursuing side projects like brain-computer interface startup Starfish Neuroscience. The much-anticipated third Half-Life game became "the video game equivalent of Samuel Beckett's Godot" before being quietly cancelled.
Attempts to challenge Steam have failed repeatedly. Epic Games Store, powered by Fortnite's success, "has failed to really impact Steam in any meaningful way," according to industry analysts. Microsoft runs what analysts describe as a "somewhat unambitious store," while EA shut down its Origin launcher earlier this year. Gaming analyst Michael Pachter notes that major tech companies could displace Valve "but nobody cares" enough to mount a serious challenge.
Court documents suggest Steam's revenues will exceed $10 billion next year, leaving Valve with unprecedented profits but unclear direction for a company that appears to have run out of worlds to conquer.
[1] https://www.ft.com/content/f4a13716-838a-43da-853b-7c31ac17192c
Why does anything have to come "Next"? (Score:3)
Craigslist has operated for many years doing the same thing, without changing a thing. Challengers have come and gone, and yet here it sits. Since there's no objective definition on "Maximize profits", it can literally just keep doing what it is doing, responding to or positioning itself to deal with challenges, but why do anything else? It's a good service.
What's next? (Score:3)
They could try releasing HalfLife 3. Maybe.
AI and robotics (Score:2)
And biotech. We have a lot to advance in biotech, we can't cure cancer or dementia. Curing dementia should be a priority given how many old politicians we have.
Re: (Score:2)
The fastest way to waste a lot of money is to invest in areas that are outside your skill set. Unless you have a Warren Buffet like ability to judge investments, you will simply end up spending money and achieving nothing.
The screams of (Score:3)
an MBA who is mad they aren't beholden to shareholder sycophants. How dare Valve succeed without being public?! Line must go up faster!
Remember: it's still DRM (Score:2)
Steam has normalised DRM to the point where fans will defend it or try to breeze past the point. It's not just a happy friendly library, it comes with restrictions. The original animated GIF for Steam, for those with long memories, was not a kind one.
Why does there have to be a next? (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean the answers are already known, Valve already said they are expanding Proton and SteamOS but really this is MBA style brain rot that says you can't just be a company that provides a service and provide that service well and at a reasonable profit. There must be more, you will grow forever.
Re: (Score:2)
nah, this will soon come crashing down as the enshitification of commercial games continues. I already won't buy games as most aren't worth the price and there's free alternatives like Fortnite. if i really want a game i wait until the price seems reasonable and affordable even if that means waiting for years, the side benefits are there's more content, most of the bugs are squashed and the drama is history, it seems unethical to support classist corporations in any fashion especially financially in my view