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Valve "played capitalism so well they broke it" and now Steam can't be replaced
(www.gamesradar.com)
this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2026
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The secret is to not be a public company ran by a board of directors who actively enshittify the crap out of anything they touch.
Valve is privately owned by Gabe who unlike the CEOs that usually get selected by these boards isn't a complete psychopath.
Gabe specifically said in an interview that he would have never been able to hire and retain the talent Valve currently has had it been a public company. The board would have demanded layoffs and outsourcing to countries where labor is cheaper with zero fucks given to product quality, reputation or long term growth.
And dedicate years of work into improving Linux compatibilty to future proof the company? A board of directors would have shut that down immediately.
Let's hope that Valves next owners also understand that and that they are not some investment firm looking to deconstruct it for parts.
Valves non gabe leadership is the exact kind of insane that would make it public for a quick buck, Chet Faliszek has talked about it extensively