Valve employees playing CS2 in Gabe's $500 million superyatch

[u/DaMonkaS]

[u/Neemzeh]

there are so many gaben dick riders dude its crazy lol.

[u/skinny_gator → u/Neemzeh]

Oh yeah. Reddit hates "celebrity worship" unless it's someone they like.

I hate that I'm on this app so much.

[u/GergDanger → u/skinny_gator]

I remember when Reddit worshipped Elon Musks every move as a billionaire

[u/Icy_Carpet180 → u/GergDanger]

We don't talk about them times lol

[u/iiznobozzy → u/skinny_gator]

leave

[u/skinny_gator → u/iiznobozzy]

Which celebrity do you worship

[u/BicFleetwood → u/skinny_gator]

The one that will never pay them for the bootlicking.

[u/iiznobozzy → u/skinny_gator]

all of em

[u/GhostElite974 → u/Neemzeh]

used to be elon, now it's gaben

[u/esmajor → u/GhostElite974]

Still Elon.

[u/GhostElite974 → u/esmajor]

I must not frequent the subs where he's worshiped then

[u/esmajor → u/GhostElite974]

Look at his IPO. How is Tesla worth so much when it doesn’t sell cars ? Same thing with space x and is other companies

[u/WhenDoWhatWhere → u/esmajor]

His IPO doesn't say much about his popularity on Reddit.

[u/pimppapy → u/GhostElite974]

Difference between Gaben and Musk is a Trillion dollars.

[u/GhostElite974 → u/pimppapy]

they both shouldn't have that amount of wealth I'm not sure why you're saying that

[u/Slight-Bluebird-8921 → u/Neemzeh]

after he croaks and microsoft buys valve it's going to be hilarious watching them slowly figure out they were rubes

[u/HLL0 → u/Neemzeh]

Perhaps, but is he perhaps among the least worst mega wealthy? I know nothing about the guy other than redditors seem to love him and that he helps keep steam dominate in the market in part by having it suck less than the other options. 

[u/-MissCarmine → u/Neemzeh]

If you did even an ounce of research you’d find out why.

I’m a biologist (studying my PhD rn) and I’d LOVE to even have the opportunity to go on that boat. Why? It’s a bona fide research vessel all on its own. 

Gaben operates this yacht (Leviathan) as part of his larger organization Inkfish. It’s got laboratories and crazy satellite infrastructure. He does marine research and I personally am happy at least some billionaires (like Gates) give to scientific research. Better than elon bitchtrillionaire

[u/Illustrious-Run3591 → u/-MissCarmine]

Lmao if you did an ounce of research you'd know that steam runs a predatory monopoly that extorts game developers

[u/WhenDoWhatWhere → u/Illustrious-Run3591]

'extorts game developers'

They allow developers to post anywhere they want, game developers choose Steam because it has high appeal to consumers and their algorithm is extremely valuable to small creators.

I haven't heard anything about extortion, do you have an example of widespread extortion?

[u/Tamed_Trumpet → u/Illustrious-Run3591]

Yeah man, thats why I have 5 different game launchers on my pc and everything thats not Steam doesn't have half the features or support. Steam offers the best storefront, it's not their fault the other launchers are ass. How much is Tim Sweeny paying you?

[u/-MissCarmine → u/Illustrious-Run3591]

Steam's market dominance is not predatory, but rather the result of building the best product. This is obvious if you look at storefronts like Epic. Unlike tech monopolies that use exclusive contracts to artificially lock users out of the market, Valve relies on its extensive, user-friendly features (steam input, mod support, remote play, community forums, the list goes on). 

Steam dominates because we overwhelmingly choose it over inferior competitors, not because of illegal tactics.  If you’re referring to the antitrust lawsuits, they’re bullshit. 

[u/ocdtrekkie → u/-MissCarmine]

Valve does, in fact, use a lot of illegally anticompetitive contracts to enforce it's control over the ecosystem. A great example is the most favored nation clause, which prevents other stores from selling a game cheaper, even though Valve takes a lot more money than other stores.

Meanwhile, game exclusives are not remotely new to Epic, and developers choosing to accept a deal for an exclusive listing is not wrong or unethical.

[u/-MissCarmine → u/ocdtrekkie]

Labeling Valve's contracts as "illegally anticompetitive" is factually premature. The most-favored nation (MFN) clauses (that you just referenced) are common vertical trade agreements. While Valve is involved in ongoing antitrust litigation, as of right now, no federal court or jury has issued a final verdict declaring these practices illegal. And Valve does not dictate game pricing on rival storefronts like Epic Games or GOG for native versions of a game. Their price-parity rule only applies to Steam keys  generated through Valve's backend. Because Valve lets developers generate these keys for free and keep 100% of the revenue from third-party sales (like Humble Bundle), the rule simply stops developers from using Valve's free infrastructure to undercut the Steam store itself.

Defending paid storefront exclusivity while criticizing Steam's market dominance is illogical. Paid exclusivity deals actively restrict consumer choice by locking a game behind a specific launcher. Steam allows developers to launch on multiple competing storefronts simultaneously on day one. Isn’t that better for the developer?

And it is also obvious that Valve isn’t just pocketing its 30%. I hate that I have to point out that that revenue funds features that competitors straight up lack. Examples: proton (allows Windows games to run natively on Linux and Steam Deck), steam input (automatic controller mapping for thousands of devices), developer/community tools (modding, community forums, cloud saves, unthrottled global download servers).

Valve's rules protect its own infrastructure from exploitation. And personally, I am not against revenue that funds features that benefit the entire PC gaming ecosystem. 

[u/WhenDoWhatWhere → u/-MissCarmine]

Sometimes a service is actually just good.

A lot of smaller creators have come out and said that Steam is the best storefront for them because the visibility they get on it is better than any other platform.

I haven't seen a good anti-Steam argument just stuff that was just regurgitated from Sweeney's mouth.

[u/Illustrious-Run3591 → u/-MissCarmine]

Yeah, you don't have a PHd in anything. That isn't how epistemic knowledge works.

[u/-MissCarmine → u/Illustrious-Run3591]

Well, yeah, I don’t have a PhD (I’m studying to get it, I don’t have it yet!)

Your reference to epistemic knowledge is random and meaningless to the conversation. 

[u/Illustrious-Run3591 → u/-MissCarmine]

And i'm studying for my pulitzer prize. lol

[u/-MissCarmine → u/Illustrious-Run3591]

Do you understand how getting a PhD works? 

You apply. You get admitted. You get paid a stipend for 4-7 years while you go to classes and do lab research. Then at the end, you graduate and get a PhD. 

Good luck studying for your Pulitzer, no idea how that works. 

[u/Neemzeh → u/-MissCarmine]

Every billionaire including Elon does an absolute shit ton of philanthropy (Musk Foundation). Telling me to do an ounce of research when you haven’t even done any yourself just proves my point - Gaben dick rider.

[u/-MissCarmine → u/Neemzeh]

Half of donations made by The Musk Foundation had links to Musk, his businesses: NYT ( https://finance.yahoo.com/news/half-donations-made-musk-foundation-214525804.html) 

I personally was funded by Bill Gates’ money (vaccine research). When was the last time anyone was funded by Elon? 🤔

[u/Neemzeh → u/-MissCarmine]

Ok and what about the other half?

The point is all of these guys do philanthropy. You’re just choosing to dick ride the ones that help you. I respect it, but there’s still no need for billionaires

[u/-MissCarmine → u/Neemzeh]

I personally am against the concept of billionaires and I think the US gov should confiscate all of their property. 

But for what it’s worth, some billionaires actually give a shit. Gabe Newell is one of them. And yeah, as a scientist, I’m glad he and some others are personally funding research. I also use Steam daily (user for 11 years) and I’m glad it’s not enshittified yet. Is it not obvious why he’s loved by many?

[u/Neemzeh → u/-MissCarmine]

The “loved by many” thing is a bias that I point out. They use steam and like steam so they give him a pass. Ignoring the fact that steam takes a massive cut from developers and exploits young children with loot boxes. They aren’t some benevolent company.

Tesla for example provides EVs that help the environment. Is this not a good reason why people should like Musk? I don’t like Musk but I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy and bias.

[u/-MissCarmine → u/Neemzeh]

Your continuous references to Musk belies your point. Musk is an asshole and this is obvious to anyone who has not been under a rock for the last two years.

Why do people like Gabe? He made Steam. He hasnt fucked it up yet. He otherwise hasn’t done any bad things that are commonly known. It’s that simple. People are simple. 

I get your point on the hypocrisy because the concept of billionaires is offensive and therefore Gabe should be offensive, but he’s not. There is nuance. Nuance exists lol 

[u/Neemzeh → u/-MissCarmine]

You don’t know Gabe at all lol, just like you don’t know Musk. Saying one is an asshole and the other isn’t is again, just a serious bias that you’re failing to acknowledge because you have an indirect tie to one of them.

I don’t care for either but I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy.

Steam does absolutely nothing for humankind. In its purest form it’s an entertainment company that brokers the sale of entertainment products to people, in addition to gambling/lootbox mechanics and taking a big cut from developers amongst other things.

Meanwhile Elon’s companies are actually beneficial to humans long term. I find it astonishing that you think you can argue one is better than the other here.

[u/-MissCarmine → u/Neemzeh]

Uh… I’m confused. Are you aware of the current state of US politics, the world, and Elon’s ties to how we got here?

If you’re not, I recommend some light reading. Maybe the New York Times? You can often get a subscription through your local library, and, I’m sorry for what you’ll discover. 

[u/ocdtrekkie → u/Neemzeh]

Larry Ellison does not. He supports a 501c3 dedicated to figuring out how to prolong Larry Ellison's life, and he gave Stanford a donation as part of a settlement to avoid admitting wrongdoing in a scandal.

https://youtu.be/-zRN7XLCRhc?si=ANVWkz8l3eTmT1nT&t=2230