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Valve hasn’t released anything of note since this has been published. So I guess we should take these as anti patterns. Valve is more of a hat generation compan

Valve hasn’t released anything of note since this has been published. So I guess we should take these as anti patterns. Valve is more of a hat generation company than a game company so it seems like no one should take any game related advice from them.

pjmlp 1y ago
I bet when current management leaves, as usual happens in these cases, those that worship Valve and Steam will see yet another big corporation, this if it doesn't eventually get acquired.
- scheeseman486 1y ago
  What management? Gabe doesn't have any direct involvement in the running of the company at this point, in spite of being the majority owner. It's an open question what happens if he leaves or dies but it doesn't seem likely that he'd do anything to intentionally sabotage the company, like sell it off. It's more likely that ownership will transfer to a trusted party or to the employees.
  - keyringlight 1y ago
    At this point I think Valve is more likely to be disrupted from an outside influence rather than within, I think a lot of their actions are about keeping the ship steady. If someone does come along as an upstart in a new market as valve did with digital distribution versus retail/physical, the old is unlikely to be instantly irrelevant and obsoleted, and even then you get new markets like mobile appearing over their lifespan where both are healthy side-by-side.
    - HighGoldstein 1y ago
      To disrupt Valve's business you'd need an offering as good if not better than Steam, something several companies already tried and failed, and on top of that you need to convince everyone with buy-in to switch to your business, another monumental task. While people are happy with Steam it'll be impossible to challenge Valve as a digital distributor.
      - pjmlp 1y ago
        Assuming everyone at current Valve's management stays there forever, as immortals. People keep forgetting our time is limited and nothing lasts forever.
        scheeseman486 1y ago
        I thought I made it clear with the rhetorical question, but there is no management at Valve due to it's flat structure. At least not in the traditional sense; it's staff are self organizing. It's true that entropy will be the end of us all but while there are definitely things that may end Valve, "management" leaving isn't going to the thing that does it. It might be wise to learn about the company you speak so definitively about, I suggest reading the pamplet.
  - ChocolateGod 1y ago
    I would actually be intrigued to know how many companies have shown interest in acquiring Valve over the years that we'll never know about.
  - pjmlp 1y ago
    Whoever takes over, when who is at the wheel is no longer among us, or capable to keep doing their work. Nothing lasts forever.
- BoredPositron 1y ago
  Why would Gabe give up his controlling stake if he steps down? Valve is a private company.
  - asimovfan 1y ago
    Because he is a mortal?
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
opan 1y ago
Steam Deck and Proton are pretty major, IMO. Even if you exclude the Deck itself for being hardware, SteamOS and all the associated UI/UX is pretty nice.
- tstrimple 1y ago
  I don't disagree with this at all. But Valve will forever be the company that cannot finish Half Life 3. They are the company who spends WAY more time and engineering effort on selling more fucking hats in TF2 than releasing actual quality games.
Almondsetat 1y ago
HL Alyx and Dota 2 aren't of note?
- jsheard 1y ago
  Dota 2 is of note, but that was a pretty safe project being a straight remake of an already popular mod with the mods developer at the helm. Their major titles since 2012 were: CS:GO (remake of a remake) Dota 2 (remake) Artifact (flopped) Underlords (flopped) Alyx (good) Counter-Strike 2 (remake of a remake of a remake) Deadlock (early beta, but promising) They haven't completely lost the sauce, but it's rare to see the old Valve show up these days.
  - lomase 1y ago
    Making remakes old popular mods is not a safe project.
  - gverrilla 1y ago
    Cs:Go was a 'remake' of cs 1.6, which was the original cs with a lot of changes and updates, but no remake
  - drchickensalad 1y ago
    I think you grossly undervalue execution. Ideas are cheap. Most developers would have turned those games into weaker money extracting machines that generate one tenth the love from current players
MarcellusDrum 1y ago
Half-Life Alyx, Dota 2, Steam Deck, Index, Proton, CS:GO (released same year as this handbook), and not to mention still dominating with Steam despite the competiton spending hundreds of millions of dollars to not even make a dip in their marketshare.
- natebc 1y ago
  Counter-strike 2 was also just recently released. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike_2
  - Ekaros 1y ago
    Well, I would categorize that more to major version update than actually new release. Say like new Linux LTS release. Lot of things changed even very deep, but it is basically largely same work.
    - mry2048 1y ago
      It’s a complete reimplementation on a new engine with big changes to the tick system, new versions of all the maps, animations, etc. Not too different to CS:GO release vs CS:S with big expectations comparing it with the previous version.
TulliusCicero 1y ago
In addition to the other products mentioned: Deadlock is maybe the best new big budget IP in recent memory, in terms of theme/setting and art style and character design. Particularly after the update a week ago, the game is stylish as hell now. Even the main menu music is a banger: https://youtu.be/WkGDC3idX1E https://youtu.be/WkGDC3idX1E Now, the game isn't exactly out yet, but it is pretty widely accessible, and the core of the game is just fantastic. They really cooked with this one, especially the movement system.
- nvarsj 1y ago
  I pretty much have the opposite feeling about Deadlock after putting 200+ hrs into it (not that much but enough to understand the game). There was a recent streamer that said it best: the game design fundamentally punishes you for engaging with other players. Instead, it rewards you for running around the map breaking static entities (boxes, statues, static creeps, etc.). Which is, frankly, boring. There's just no way imo that will ever be successful in an FPS/shooter. It might work for MOBAs, but I think the idea of a MOBA-first shooter is just never going to get much traction beyond a niche. Maybe Valve will see the light and significantly change things. I'm not sure. The "open alpha" was also kind of a disaster in killing off the first wave of the player base.
  - lomase 1y ago
    Deadlock is a MOBA, not a FPS.
  - TulliusCicero 1y ago
    For gameplay, your explanation isn't totally wrong, but it's not totally right either. Deadlock is a MOBA, so yes, there's more to it than fighting other players. Sometimes team fighting or ganking is the right answer, sometimes farming or pushing objectives is the right answer. It depends on the current state of the game, and your own hero/play style. Personally, I love that kind of depth and complexity, and I would hate for Icefrog to listen to the people pushing for the game to become more simplified and Overwatch-like. We already have Overwatch and Rivals for people who just want to fight all the time, but there's nothing really like Deadlock that combines MOBAs and hero shooters with the mechanical depth that Deadlock has -- especially when you factor in the movement tech. > There's just no way imo that will ever be successful in an FPS/shooter. It might work for MOBAs, but I think the idea of a MOBA-first shooter is just never going to get much traction beyond a niche. It's definitely a risky play in some sense, but arguably less risky than engaging a pure MOBA or pure hero shooter directly, since those have already well established, polished entries. That there's nothing really like Deadlock out there is one of its big advantages, if you like Deadlock's gameplay, there's really no alternative.

pjmlp 1y ago

I bet when current management leaves, as usual happens in these cases, those that worship Valve and Steam will see yet another big corporation, this if it doesn't eventually get acquired.

scheeseman486 1y ago
What management? Gabe doesn't have any direct involvement in the running of the company at this point, in spite of being the majority owner. It's an open question what happens if he leaves or dies but it doesn't seem likely that he'd do anything to intentionally sabotage the company, like sell it off. It's more likely that ownership will transfer to a trusted party or to the employees.
- keyringlight 1y ago
  At this point I think Valve is more likely to be disrupted from an outside influence rather than within, I think a lot of their actions are about keeping the ship steady. If someone does come along as an upstart in a new market as valve did with digital distribution versus retail/physical, the old is unlikely to be instantly irrelevant and obsoleted, and even then you get new markets like mobile appearing over their lifespan where both are healthy side-by-side.
  - HighGoldstein 1y ago
    To disrupt Valve's business you'd need an offering as good if not better than Steam, something several companies already tried and failed, and on top of that you need to convince everyone with buy-in to switch to your business, another monumental task. While people are happy with Steam it'll be impossible to challenge Valve as a digital distributor.
    - pjmlp 1y ago
      Assuming everyone at current Valve's management stays there forever, as immortals. People keep forgetting our time is limited and nothing lasts forever.
      - scheeseman486 1y ago
        I thought I made it clear with the rhetorical question, but there is no management at Valve due to it's flat structure. At least not in the traditional sense; it's staff are self organizing. It's true that entropy will be the end of us all but while there are definitely things that may end Valve, "management" leaving isn't going to the thing that does it. It might be wise to learn about the company you speak so definitively about, I suggest reading the pamplet.
- ChocolateGod 1y ago
  I would actually be intrigued to know how many companies have shown interest in acquiring Valve over the years that we'll never know about.
- pjmlp 1y ago
  Whoever takes over, when who is at the wheel is no longer among us, or capable to keep doing their work. Nothing lasts forever.
BoredPositron 1y ago
Why would Gabe give up his controlling stake if he steps down? Valve is a private company.
- asimovfan 1y ago
  Because he is a mortal?
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]

opan 1y ago

Steam Deck and Proton are pretty major, IMO. Even if you exclude the Deck itself for being hardware, SteamOS and all the associated UI/UX is pretty nice.

tstrimple 1y ago
I don't disagree with this at all. But Valve will forever be the company that cannot finish Half Life 3. They are the company who spends WAY more time and engineering effort on selling more fucking hats in TF2 than releasing actual quality games.

Almondsetat 1y ago

HL Alyx and Dota 2 aren't of note?

jsheard 1y ago
Dota 2 is of note, but that was a pretty safe project being a straight remake of an already popular mod with the mods developer at the helm. Their major titles since 2012 were: CS:GO (remake of a remake) Dota 2 (remake) Artifact (flopped) Underlords (flopped) Alyx (good) Counter-Strike 2 (remake of a remake of a remake) Deadlock (early beta, but promising) They haven't completely lost the sauce, but it's rare to see the old Valve show up these days.
- lomase 1y ago
  Making remakes old popular mods is not a safe project.
- gverrilla 1y ago
  Cs:Go was a 'remake' of cs 1.6, which was the original cs with a lot of changes and updates, but no remake
- drchickensalad 1y ago
  I think you grossly undervalue execution. Ideas are cheap. Most developers would have turned those games into weaker money extracting machines that generate one tenth the love from current players

MarcellusDrum 1y ago

Half-Life Alyx, Dota 2, Steam Deck, Index, Proton, CS:GO (released same year as this handbook), and not to mention still dominating with Steam despite the competiton spending hundreds of millions of dollars to not even make a dip in their marketshare.

natebc 1y ago
Counter-strike 2 was also just recently released. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike_2
- Ekaros 1y ago
  Well, I would categorize that more to major version update than actually new release. Say like new Linux LTS release. Lot of things changed even very deep, but it is basically largely same work.
  - mry2048 1y ago
    It’s a complete reimplementation on a new engine with big changes to the tick system, new versions of all the maps, animations, etc. Not too different to CS:GO release vs CS:S with big expectations comparing it with the previous version.

TulliusCicero 1y ago

In addition to the other products mentioned: Deadlock is maybe the best new big budget IP in recent memory, in terms of theme/setting and art style and character design. Particularly after the update a week ago, the game is stylish as hell now. Even the main menu music is a banger: https://youtu.be/WkGDC3idX1E https://youtu.be/WkGDC3idX1E Now, the game isn't exactly out yet, but it is pretty widely accessible, and the core of the game is just fantastic. They really cooked with this one, especially the movement system.

nvarsj 1y ago
I pretty much have the opposite feeling about Deadlock after putting 200+ hrs into it (not that much but enough to understand the game). There was a recent streamer that said it best: the game design fundamentally punishes you for engaging with other players. Instead, it rewards you for running around the map breaking static entities (boxes, statues, static creeps, etc.). Which is, frankly, boring. There's just no way imo that will ever be successful in an FPS/shooter. It might work for MOBAs, but I think the idea of a MOBA-first shooter is just never going to get much traction beyond a niche. Maybe Valve will see the light and significantly change things. I'm not sure. The "open alpha" was also kind of a disaster in killing off the first wave of the player base.
- lomase 1y ago
  Deadlock is a MOBA, not a FPS.
- TulliusCicero 1y ago
  For gameplay, your explanation isn't totally wrong, but it's not totally right either. Deadlock is a MOBA, so yes, there's more to it than fighting other players. Sometimes team fighting or ganking is the right answer, sometimes farming or pushing objectives is the right answer. It depends on the current state of the game, and your own hero/play style. Personally, I love that kind of depth and complexity, and I would hate for Icefrog to listen to the people pushing for the game to become more simplified and Overwatch-like. We already have Overwatch and Rivals for people who just want to fight all the time, but there's nothing really like Deadlock that combines MOBAs and hero shooters with the mechanical depth that Deadlock has -- especially when you factor in the movement tech. > There's just no way imo that will ever be successful in an FPS/shooter. It might work for MOBAs, but I think the idea of a MOBA-first shooter is just never going to get much traction beyond a niche. It's definitely a risky play in some sense, but arguably less risky than engaging a pure MOBA or pure hero shooter directly, since those have already well established, polished entries. That there's nothing really like Deadlock out there is one of its big advantages, if you like Deadlock's gameplay, there's really no alternative.