From 2019, they stopped releasing their games on Steam and exclusively released them on their own launcher and Epic Games Store. From 2022, they slowly began putting their games back on Steam (not as day one releases), and now it seems like they are giving up on exclusivity… EA tried same tactic, failed and back on Steam.
Steam is in a rightly deserved position of good reputation.
I am amazed that they have not entered the “squeeze every dollar out of the good reputation and brand we built” phase that so many companies have gone through in the past decade. I hope Newell can keep it this way for a long time.
They aren’t beholden to Wall Street thus don’t have the artificial Sharks Keep Moving mentality that is the animating force to most enshittification spirals.
From 2019, they stopped releasing their games on Steam and exclusively released them on their own launcher and Epic Games Store. From 2022, they slowly began putting their games back on Steam (not as day one releases), and now it seems like they are giving up on exclusivity… EA tried same tactic, failed and back on Steam.
Steam is the best game management software that happens to be funded by the game store …
They do earn their keep tho JFC but centralizing like that will be down fall of it once Gabe dies or sells.
Start hedging
Steam is in a rightly deserved position of good reputation.
I am amazed that they have not entered the “squeeze every dollar out of the good reputation and brand we built” phase that so many companies have gone through in the past decade. I hope Newell can keep it this way for a long time.
They aren’t beholden to Wall Street thus don’t have the artificial Sharks Keep Moving mentality that is the animating force to most enshittification spirals.
It’s this neat trick called “being privately owned”
Of course, that’s not always the case (See: Elon Musk), but it is a lot of the time. (Valve, Arizona Ice Tea, and LEGO(to some extent))
But seriously tho, unless Gabe has a succession plan in place, im afraid Valve is done for once he’s gone.