Kevin Karhan 
And for everyone who thinks #GabeN wasn't 'shitting his pants' due to #Windows8Bing, checkout the #SteamMachine & #SteamOS history...
YouTube
@FuturisticRobert @fuchsiii I think that's the fundamental unfixable problem of publicly traded corporations because they are legally mandated to maximize ROI for shareholders at an exponential rate they'll inevitably hit a ceiling.
- Even if that means they run out of humans and businesses that ain't already buying all their stuff and subscribing to everything.
- This is why #Microsoft stopped caring about #consumers as they basically "owned" the #desktop with #WindowsXP and until they killed #Windows7 & #Windows10 any other OS was a *"statistical #RoundingError"...
- All for #Linux to win is to not #enshittify at the same or faster pace than #Windows11...
- This is why #Microsoft stopped caring about #consumers as they basically "owned" the #desktop with #WindowsXP and until they killed #Windows7 & #Windows10 any other OS was a *"statistical #RoundingError"...
Per contrast, #Valve (which is owned predominantly by #GabeN and only has marginal amounts of (non-traded!) stocks with it's employees) is also doing great without #enshittifiying #Steam.
- Mostly because #Steam can't afford to mistreat it's customers longterm, as being convenient for said users is what sets them apart from any other store...
- The only reason they pivoted to Linux is because #GabeNewell realized the frontal attack #Windows8Bing and #Windows10S are on his company and that it's a horrible gamble to not assume #Windows trying to monopolize #Apps and #Games #distribution wouldn't cull Steam.
- Not that they like #OpenSource, because their #BusinessModel is diametrically opposite by virtue of selling access to #CCSS. It's just that they know that Microsoft could otherwise choke them to death so fast and brutal that they'd end up bankrupt faster than #Gawker when #PeterThiel decided to literally "sue them into bankrupcy"...
Which makes Gaben propably the only publicly known #billionaire that isn't hated.
Gabe Newell on Video Game Piracy (Full Version, HQ) (2009)
@tezoatlipoca @FuturisticRobert @whatdidmarksay So for the most part, people genuinely want to pay for good stuff, they just want to be confident that they get what they asked and paid for.
- In fact, Valve even has provisions in place for the unlikely case that they were to fold, with insurance in place to at least provide people DRM-free downloads of their library and backups for a time.
- By contrast: I'm pretty shure everyone who blew money on #UbisoftQuartz got 100% shafted…
And that's how a (non-public) corporation gets loved by it's customers: By not being an asshole!
- But apparently that's too much to ask from #EA, #Ubisoft or even #EpicGames, who (despite having the ability to change it!) actively choose to disregard said lessions and be openly hostile towards paying #Gamers, espechally those #LinuxGamers.
- Not that #Valve are #OpenSource champions, far from it. They merely knew with #Windows8Bing & #Windows10S that neither #Microsoft nor #Apple are their "friends" or "allies" and that they need to be independent from both if they want to survive.
In the end, not #Steam is deciding if, where and when someone buys a #Game, but they shure as hell know how to be a nice store people enjoy to shop and browse...
How Steam Became The Only Good Monopoly In Existence
@adr same...
I just know that "#Valve is not #Sony" and that they ain't fighting a war of 5 fronts nor willing to subsidize a product like Sony did with the #PS3 which at launch costed them at least $800 to build.
- Valve isn't trying to win the HD format war with a new & proprietary media they control, (nor sabotage their competitors on the console front) but unshackle themselves from #Windows and #macOS in favour of a platform they have more control (or at least their biggest competitiors don't have an iron grip!)...
#GabeN may not admit to it but #Windows8Bing and #Microsoft's attempts at killing off 3rd party game and software stores made his blood freeze and boil at the same time because just as #GabeNewell was ex-#Microsoft and they usually botch their initial attempts, he knew that #Windows10S and #Windows11 would come and try to choke Steam out of the platform.
- #Steam going #Linux and investing billions into that endeavour is a longterm strategy not because Valve likes #OpenSource and profiteering from #free & #unpaid #community #labour, but a matter of survival similar to how Microsoft had to react to the #RedRingOfDeath and sucked up U$D 1,150,000,000 in costs or #Xbox & #XboxLive would've died with the #Xbox360's launch models.
Cuz remember: Whilst Valve is not a publicly traded company, they still are share-held and thus has to further the interests of said shareholders.
- It's just that GabeN is the biggest shareholder and his Superyacht even when at port needs maintenance and crew to keep afloat and legally seaworthy. His interests do align more with his customers than the execs at #Nintendo which nowadays are some Japanese Corpo Suits and not #Gamers, so they don't have any shame charging €200+ more outside of #Japan for the same hardware.
In the end, Everyone from #AMD to #Valve to the #Retailers selling the #SteamMachine and Steam Gift Cards are doing this for the money. #HappyConsumers are a nice side effect but in #capitalism, #monopolies (and Steam is effectively a monopoly by market share) don't have consumers' interests in mind.
- They ain't a Public Roadworks, Drinking Water, Electric Grid / Postal Service / Phone Utility Company with state control and/or oversight breathing down their necks for every price increase or terms change. It merely happens that said shareholders don't expect the company to constantly increase revenue and profits in the short term.
The Most Over-Engineered Console
@StarkRG And also #SinglePlayer #games can actually be played #offline and people can actually use #Steam for #IndieGames even on #EDGEland-style throttled, mobile Internet unlike the #XboxOne at launch...
- Basically #Valve knows their customers VERY WELL and isn't friendly because of their "goodness of their own hearts" but because they need the goodwill of their #customers more than customers or #developers need Steam.
Similarly #SteamOS didn't get started because Valve "likes" #OpenSoure but because they saw #Windows8Bing and #Windows10S and realized that #Microsoft and #Apple trying to re-monopolize #SoftwareDistribution is an existential threat to the Company and they'll have to adapt or face extinction.
Don Mattrick No Internet? Buy a 360 LOL E3 2013
Kevin Karhan 
@Natanox @heiseonline kommt drauf an...
#Gaben hat die Weitsicht zu erkennen, dass #Microsoft ab #Winfows8 versuchte, den #Softwaremarkt und damit auch #Spiele zu remonopolisieren.
Siehe #Windows8Bing, #Windows10S & #WindowsRT...
Würde #Apple nicht dad gleiche mit #macOS & #AppleArcade versuchen wie Microsoft mit #XboxGamePassPC und #MicrosoftStore und stattdessen macOS nicht hart an die Hardware koppeln, an #Linux würde dort keiner denken.