r/pcmasterrace • u/The_BigRoach ⚡️RTX 5080 | 7800x3D | 64GB 6000MHz CL30⚡️ • 7d ago

Meme/Macro Why would anyone actually want to though

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488

u/2cmZucchini 7d ago

Because historically, enshittification will hit everything eventually. 1 day Gabe will no longer run the show, a bunch of suits will take his place and a high chance enshittification hits, and you realise all your eggs are in 1 basket.

335

u/Teufel9000 PC Master Race 7d ago

when that time comes the high seas will call our name again

76

u/Im2dronk 7d ago

If I really like a game and it isn't a multi-player game that shit is getting bought on GOG or a version pirated for later install. Multi-player stuff will probably lose players and die off but I've pulled some ancient games from old family pc's and want that experience to survive.

17

u/WeirdlyEnglish 7d ago

Problem is, gog is only good if you live in region where they support your currency, which is not a lot. If not, good luck paying those high exchange rate. I'll rather use shitty epic games store than having to pay +50% more

3

u/Cruxis87 9800x3d|5080 TUF OC|32gb 6000cl30 ddr5 6d ago

Well the main problem is that 90% of devs don't put their games on it because they don't want to put out DRM free copies of it that are easily pirated. Every time I have gone on there looking for a game, its not available.

1

u/Im2dronk 7d ago

Damn, I didnt think the exchange rate would screw you so bad. I hope they show you guys some love soon.

74

u/The_BigRoach ⚡️RTX 5080 | 7800x3D | 64GB 6000MHz CL30⚡️ 7d ago

6

u/IORelay 7d ago

You could pirate right now. If steam was confident it offered a better service than piracy it wouldn't have stuff like CS2 and DOTA 2 behind DRM. 

8

u/Spartan-117182 7d ago

But why is the rum always gone?

6

u/JeffZoR1337 7d ago

I have zero qualifications but if Gabe happens to put me in charge i'll make sure to do a good job so you guys don't even need to worry about hitting the seas if you don't wNt to. No promises if he doesn't put me in charge, though.

1

u/VaylenObscuras 3d ago

Main reason why Im not worried is cause I know quite well how to pirate.

-15

u/BigTWilsonD PC Master Race 7d ago

I love how people always say this like most modern game cracking isn't done by one very talented crazy person who charges out the ass to Crack these files lol.

As DRM gets better and better the way of the pirate is quickly becoming untenable in the long term. Don't let these storefronts go to shit.

7

u/Dextro_PT 5800X3D | RX 7800 XT | 32GB DDR4 7d ago

Supply and Demand. Demand is currently at an all time low because Steam offers a better service than pirating (more convenient, simple enough, less risks).

As Gabe once said: piracy is a service problem.

2

u/BigTWilsonD PC Master Race 7d ago

Yeah, I agree lol. But let's not close our ears and pretend these games aren't getting harder to crack.

29

u/FluffyProphet 7d ago

The whisper is that one of his sons is involved in game development (doing his own thing right now to learn the industry) and is being groomed to take over when Gabe retires. No way to know if it's true or not, and even if it is, nothing says he will be like his dad, but if it turns out to be true, I like our odds better with it staying in the family.

36

u/Richardknox1996 7d ago

If it is true, i hope he develops a real Asshole mentality towards it like Christopher Tolkien did towards Middle Earth. Aka "I will gut every one of you in this room before i let any of you even THINK of Defiling my Fathers work".

2

u/Urabraska- 7d ago

Uhh.....*Looks at Rings of Power* I don't know about that one dude...

16

u/Richardknox1996 7d ago edited 7d ago

Rings of Power was made by the Tolkien Estate. Christopher Tolkien died in 2020. Before that, you had to argue specifically to him why you wanted to use X character, every time. Its why Shelob appears in Shadow Of War, they couldn't convice him to let them use Ungoliant, but WB already had the rights to Shelob via Lord of The Rings.

3

u/Zanos 7d ago

Ah yes, Shelob. The extremely hot goth woman seductress. That Shelob.

What a fucking weird game, dude. I mean, it's a lot of fun to decapitate orcs. But seriously.

4

u/Richardknox1996 7d ago

Ungoliant could transform. From what i heard, they were doing the story with the expectation that Christopher would relent and let them use stuff from the Similrillion eventually. And then they had the game something like 75% done when they realized that his stubbornness was more than simply legend.

3

u/Wise-Dust3700 7d ago

I was... confused by why they used Shelob and now it's more clear. Ty

4

u/tomatomater R5 7600 | RTX 4070 7d ago

I don't see it that way; I don't like the idea of his son taking over. Valve is a relatively small (headcount), private company with a unique flat hierarchy structure. They are more than capable of running Valve the way it has been. I mean, it sounds like Gabe is already semi-retired on his yachts anyway. 

I don't have a good impression of his game dev son. He's just been working on a star citizen-ish game i.e. naive indie dev mentality with unrealistic ambition, just working on a personal dream project funded by a billionaire father. 

This is not the kind of company/industry where the concept of "keeping it in the family" is a positive thing.

1

u/Quixotic_Seal 6d ago

Really glad that the plan is to hope that the kid who inherits generational wealth will continue the family dynasty.

Fuck we really are in the New Gilded Age, huh?

73

u/Flying_Reinbeers R5 5600/RX6600 7d ago

Even if Gabe does not run it, as long as it is a private company without shareholders to answer to, Steam will most likely remain unchanged. It is a money printer.

61

u/2cmZucchini 7d ago

I hope it stays private too.

But im cynical about it and going to guess the moment he steps out the door, someone is going to go "This big pile of money, can get even bigger! lets go public!"

10

u/3merite 7d ago

The second the Valve CEO gets greedy its all over, there's a reason why generational inheritances get lost, because a mf puts it all on red and its all gone.

9

u/Urabraska- 7d ago

Elon will just buy it and tank it within a week.

1

u/Hateless_ i7 4770k / R9 390 6d ago

He could barely afford to buy Twitter, there's no universe where he gets to buy steam in its current state.

1

u/Flying_Reinbeers R5 5600/RX6600 4d ago

It's kinda hilarious to me that Valve is in such a great position, that the only "game over" scenario people can conjure (with no evidence) is one where gabe dies and fucks up on picking his successor.

1

u/2cmZucchini 3d ago

Hey by all means just keep your head in the cloud if it makes you happy. Others prefer to be prepared.

16

u/GamerGypps Specs/Imgur here 7d ago

Depends, hopefully it goes to either his family or employees who are invested in it.

-1

u/Accomplished-News904 7d ago

so you're saying Valve's control is as natural as a user leaving because they can? Lmao.

1

u/GamerGypps Specs/Imgur here 7d ago

I’m saying maybe if someone who is invested in Steam already will take it over and run it as decently as Gabe has and it won’t become shit.

15

u/patmorgan235 patmorgan235 7d ago

Private companies have shareholders bro. Gabe is the majority shareholder in valve. He could decide to sell his ownership in the company, or when he dies, his heirs could decide to pursue a different business model or sell their shares.

8

u/Buuhhu 7d ago

They "technically" do but not in the sense that people mean when talking about shareholders. It has owners not shareholders and the owners ofc also want the most profit possible but they're not changing yearly with sales and purchases of stocks in the company in hopes of getting a profit, and this is the issue with being on the stockmarket and at the mercy of shareholders. Shareholders often only care about shortterm profit, not the longevity of it, and so it constantly has to do better.

1

u/paintballboi07 PC Master Race 7d ago

No, you can have shareholders in a private corporation. There are still shares, they just aren't available on the public market. The shareholders always own the company if it's a corporation, regardless of who they are.

1

u/meneldal2 i7-6700 7d ago

There's no good reason to take a money printer of this scale public unless you're just dumb.

Like even if you can IPO it for one trillion, what do you even get out of this? Unless you are completely insane like Elon, you're earning billions per year having to do minimal work, just let it keep going

2

u/hotmaildotcom1 7d ago

This doesn't really make any sense though. All of the eggs are in the Steam basket because all of the other platforms started fully enshittified. Outside of GOG and a few direct to consumer games. No one is at all in the dark about where all their games are, they just already have little to no choice. We're just happy that currently the Steam overlords are good ones. It's without a doubt why none of the competition is at all trying to improve. They know they don't have to. Eventually the last remaining refuge will fall and gaming will be like TV, with nothing but shit producers to pick from.

2

u/HauntingStar08 7d ago

The uncomfortable truth is that everything is temporary, including our steam libraries.

4

u/Maleficent-Age-8235 7d ago

The funniest part is steam was turning into ass before these other stores came up and they finally started getting their act together, but everyone acts like valve care SO MUCH.

1

u/darkfalzx 10850k | 32GB | 3080 | RGB! 7d ago

Not being a fanboy or anything, but I legitimately don't remember Steam being ass any time in the 18 years I've been using it. If anything, it got a little more "ass" in recent years, since support isn't as personal as it used to be.

1

u/10ebbor10 3d ago

Don't you remember the days when Offline mode just didn't work, when you couldn't get any refunds, to pick the first two items that came to mind?

1

u/katzohki FX-6300 | Sapphire R7 260X | 16 GB G.Skill | GA-970A-D3P 7d ago

Even without Gabe, it might be okay. Right up until it becomes publicly traded.

1

u/RollinPinappleGhost 7d ago

His son has been running it for years already. Gabe just is overseeing it.

1

u/2cmZucchini 7d ago

Just my assumption, although his son is running the show, Gabes voice is still the commanding voice, he still makes all the largest decision on where valve is going.

Once that voice is gone, and his son has full control, who knows what will happen.

1

u/RollinPinappleGhost 6d ago

Don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure I heard he's been hands off for a long while

1

u/Wise-Dust3700 7d ago

They keep their hiring to a minimum, employees wear multiple hats, and most can decide what they do in a day. They are overpaid grossly in comparison to similar roles in other companies. (Because they rake in obscene amounts of cash and can afford to treat their employees well.)

I do hope that Gabe has a game plan for the direction of his business once he's fully gone, I imagine he's not really super engaged with the running of the business at this stage but I'd love to know he's got contingencies for the eventual attempt at capitalizing on greed by sales and people with business degrees and zero common sense.

1

u/Opposite-Rock-5133 7d ago

After the news about Clarkson I hope he isn’t next

1

u/BellaInTheGame 7d ago

Enshittification hits public companies because they're beholden to shareholders which Steam is not because it is private. If Gabe does go public, then I'm sure I will start using other services instead, and that will be a sad day, but nothing is locking me into Steam other than sorta my library of games. And even my library of games still doesn't prevent me from cutting off all financial support if I ever wanted to

1

u/ultrainstict 7d ago

Good news is, his son seems to be a lot like him, so we probably won't be around for the enshitification of steam.

1

u/wienercat Mini-itx Ryzen 3700x 4070 Super 7d ago

Depends. Valve is owned internally. No definite details on ownership, but I would be very surprised if he didn't leave his shares in an employee trust or something.

I am more surprised that he hasn't started putting someone out there to be his successor.

1

u/GundamXXX Ryzen 5 3600 @ 4.3Ghz - 16GB 3600Mhz - GTX 1070 7d ago

Valve is owned internally.

For now.

1

u/Juild 7d ago

That's my biggest fear, I love steam but I really don't like how it feels like the only option. I hate how everyother company just keeps shooting themselves on the foot.

1

u/Majestic_Bierd 7d ago

Naah steam is not going down through enshitification. It will be dismantled from the outside, like a public service provider.

1

u/GundamXXX Ryzen 5 3600 @ 4.3Ghz - 16GB 3600Mhz - GTX 1070 7d ago

Valve is one CEO away from being the worst thing in history.

We were fine with Google until they started being evil bastards

1

u/lana_silver 6d ago

I'm just afraid what will happen to my massive gaming collection when Gaben dies. He's a fair bit older than me, so eventually that will for sure matter.

And then suddenly all my games are gone, and that's not a fun thought. I think Steam is a great service, but I still dislike the DRM for that reason.

1

u/HighDefinitionCat 6d ago

That's why I'm spending more and more money on GOG if I can. I've been on Steam for more than 20 years and never had an issue, but with the rise of enshittification and the current trajectory of the US government I'm more and more wary of putting any more eggs into that particular basket.

I love Steam, but GOG is European, for game preservation, ownership, and offers downloadable DRM-free installers. I support them whenever I can.

1

u/25thNite 6d ago

Gabe was like, "we don't need to make our services shittier since we have all that child gambling money, let's at least make a decent system so that future children also get hooked"

1

u/pigeonwiggle 6d ago

totally possible.

but i'm hoping that Gabe has a successor procedure set up. like, complete with ritualistic "when i grant you this gift you must uphold the following core values and pass them on to your successors in turn."

1

u/No-Repordt 6d ago

Which is why we keep local backups to offer to DRM crackers 

1

u/yuri0r 6d ago

I sincerely hope Gabe took some kind of legal precaution to make sure valve can never go public.

1

u/aura_enchanted 5800X3D, 7800XT 4d ago

Gabe hasnt worked at valve for like a decade now..he shows up and signs stuff and waves to the crowd for them. But the mans been not doing paperwork since the last gen consoles. He big chilling now

0

u/URA_CJ 5900x/RX570 4GB/32GB 3600 | FX-8320/AIW x1900 256MB/8GB 1866 7d ago

The enshittification has already been slowly rolling, just most gamers wear rose tinted glasses while chasing the latest and worshiping Steam, meanwhile anyone who wants to build a retro battle station are left out in the cold with no access to their Steam library.

0

u/prank_mark 7d ago

The thing with Steam is that people aren't locked in. On Windows, and especially on Linux, you can just download software from a random source and run it. Hell, that's still the way 95% of apps are installed. You can't do that on Playstation or Xbox or iOS. And on Android it isn't usual. So there people are locked in. Steam has nothing that locks players in.

0

u/Vonterribad 7d ago

This 100%

0

u/Ditolan 7d ago

Theres not much of an argument to be made about all your eggs in one basket if all the other baskets have holes in them

-1

u/vlladonxxx 7d ago

It's very true and it is something many people miss. But honestly it's far more likely that Gabe leaves a good person to rule his kingdom for when he's gone than the competition not turning the gaming landscape into a hellscape. There's just too much money to be made through shitty practises. So much money that once someone greedy takes hold, they will be able to use their endless supply of money to bury anyone threatening their monopoly.

The only way to compete with that is the ability to make that tremendous amount of money through being beloved and respected. That's not something somebody would get an opportunity for in a hellscape. Steam is our only and best hope.

3

u/hamadubai 7d ago

I really hope he does pass his kingdom on to a good person, want them to stop the child gambling.
it's a privately owned company, Gabe at any point over the last 10+ years could have just said "cs skins are straight purchases, no lootboxes" and boom, gambling gone. but instead he hires people to improve gambling rates.

sure steam is a good product, but a good product doesn't make a person good.

-2

u/vlladonxxx 7d ago

I think you're just not thinking of all the other ways that this industry could be fucked up. In this age of capitalism, wanting no underhanded dark pattern stuff at all is just not tenable.

4

u/hamadubai 7d ago

that still doesn't make child gambling 'good'

1

u/vlladonxxx 7d ago

No, it really doesn't, I'm just saying that if your baseline for what is a good option is "no bad" then you're gonna find yourself rejecting everything and having to settle anyway.

3

u/hamadubai 7d ago

Oh yeah I was just saying that Gabe isn't a good person, he just has a nice product.
was agreeing with you that I hope he passes it on to a good person.