156 réponses à ce sujet

[NKKKK]

EA has tried "over the years" to buy out Valve, the New York Times
reports. These talks, had they ever reached negotiation, would have
valued Valve at "well over $1 billion," NYT says, which is most likely a
ridiculous understatement.

Valve is a private company controlled
by founder Gabe Newell, who doesn't release any of its financials, but
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter estimates Valve is worth $2.5
billion today.

Newell says it's likely Valve's employees would scatter and the company would "disintegrate" before it would be sold.

"It's
way more likely we would head in that direction than say, 'Let's find
some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years
to have our employment agreements terminate,'" Newell says.

That's REAL artistic integrity

[Dominus]

Gabe has a genuinely strong comprehension and understanding of his customers, and you can tell in most interviews with him. Valve's one of the few gaming companies where I never asked "Why the heck did you do that?".

And on the other side of the fence...

[NKKKK]

DominusVita wrote...

Gabe has a genuinely strong comprehension and understanding of his customers, and you can tell in most interviews with him. Valve's one of the few gaming companies where I never asked "Why the heck did you do that?".

And on the other side of the fence...

Extensive mod support, a genuine friendly deameanor, actually takes their time with games. It's now wonder there's not a lot to complain about in regards to them.

[Cyberarmy]

Well i can complain for not having Half Life/Episode 3... Now after all that waiting lots of peope wont be satifsifed easly. As a common mistake, they all going to think HL3 took 10 years to make...

Well i really cannot complain about Valve. They only take beta process a bit seriously but this is also a good thing form another point of view.

[milena87]

I like this man, he's an interesting mind

[Loerwyn]

Why do people go head over heels for Valve?

Gaben's just stated that he would let 100 (or is it 300 now? I forget) people lose their jobs before letting themselves be bought by EA. So, aside from the worrying implication there, he's basically just stuck two fingers up at a company that Valve have distribution deals with. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, EA and Valve have a partnership. EA produce and distribute retail copies of Valve games and have done since The Orange Box at least (EA UK were responsible for the poor PS3 version of The Orange Box, though that begs the question of why Valve didn't do it in-house in the first place). Excellent business decision there, Gaben, especially with the controversy about EA and Valve in recent years (and, for the record, I do not agree with Valve's stance on the sale of DLC through Steam).

And let's go back and look at Valve's practices. Constant delays (at least EA tend to warn you of them, no?), mass merchandising deals (nope, not Valve selling out there), a consistent inability to stick to announced schedules and then the inability to talk about those delays, rehashing of the same few properties again and again, absorption of studios and then running with the IPs they create whilst either losing the studio or the creators (Left 4 Dead and Portal), EULAs and License Agreements that aren't consumer-friendly (as I believe this happened recently with regards to Steam), expensive cosmetic DLC (Portal 2, I'm looking at you), issues that have remained in their software for years (I believe CS:S might still have some problematic bugs, but I could be wrong on that one, but Steam has had a number of issues for years and still constantly grinds to a halt during big sales), lack of consumer-friendly features (hello inability to not download DLC packs or patches)...

So Valve are still the good guys? I disagree. Better than EA, perhaps, but hardly free from blame or guilt.

P.S. Michael Pachter? Still? That guy doesn't know anything.

Modifié par OnlyShallow89, 11 septembre 2012 - 12:18 .

[Aggie Punbot]

For all the faults Valve has, treating its customers like criminals is not one of them, which is more than I can say for EA Games.I still can't quite grasp just why they feel the need to treat their paying customers so disrespectfully when a product is not received with 100% satisfaction.

Modifié par TS2Aggie, 11 septembre 2012 - 12:36 .

[Loerwyn]

TS2Aggie wrote...

For all the faults Valve has, treating its customers like criminals is not one of them, which is more than I can say for EA Games.I still can't quite grasp just why they feel the need to treat their paying customers so disrespectfully when a product is not received with 100% satisfaction.

Steamworks? Hardly a better option than Origin, all things considered.

[jackofalltrades456]

EA has been trying buyouts like this even when Trip Hawkin( the founder) was running the show. They're always attempting to buyout their chief competitors. They even tried a hostile takeover of 2k a few years back, who is their main rival for sports games. It really isn't surprising that they'll try the same thing with the creators of Steam.

[J0HNL3I]

I like this human

[Lord_Valandil]

Wise man.

[bmwcrazy]

OnlyShallow89 wrote...

Steamworks? Hardly a better option than Origin, all things considered.

Considering that Steam lets you install the non-SecurROM games on as many PC as you want, instead of the 3 or 5 activation limit that Origin has, Steam is already better than Origin by miles.

For me that is the main deal breaker. The only games I'll ever buy on Origin are the exclusive titles like Battlefield 3.

Modifié par bmwcrazy, 11 septembre 2012 - 03:50 .

[Loerwyn]

bmwcrazy wrote...
Considering that Steam lets you install the non-SecurROM games on as many PC as you want, instead of the 3 or 5 activation limit that Origin has, Steam is already better than Origin by miles.

Install limits are, largely, defined by the publisher. That's nothing to do with Steam unless the DRM in question is Steamworks.

But I can counter with things like Origin only has to run for a few games (Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3 and TOR, I think are the only ones) whereas with every other game you can close Origin completely and still play them.

[RedArmyShogun]

Oh North Korean Kitty Kat Killer, why do you bring up such hurtful topics?

[bmwcrazy]

OnlyShallow89 wrote...

Install limits are, largely, defined by the publisher. That's nothing to do with Steam unless the DRM in question is Steamworks.

But I can counter with things like Origin only has to run for a few games (Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3 and TOR, I think are the only ones) whereas with every other game you can close Origin completely and still play them.

You missed my point. All games on Origin have activation limits. Whereas on Steam, only a few SecuROM titles have such limitation placed on them.

It is a very big issue for me as I have more than 5 different machines to play Battlefield 3 on.

[TobiTobsen]

Wise decision!

[SafetyShattered]

OnlyShallow89 wrote...

TS2Aggie wrote...

For all the faults Valve has, treating its customers like criminals is not one of them, which is more than I can say for EA Games.I still can't quite grasp just why they feel the need to treat their paying customers so disrespectfully when a product is not received with 100% satisfaction.

Steamworks? Hardly a better option than Origin, all things considered.

I'm not a huge fan of steam either but I've had vastly more problems with Origin. IMO steam is better.

Anyway....I respect valve for doing that...in a way. But still if I was in Gabe's position and if the choice was either Valve closes down and 200+people lose their jobs or I sell to EA I'd sell everytime, even though I really really dislike EA I'd still do it for my workers. I'm in no way implying that I think Valve is in enough financial trouble to need to do this, after all they're very successful, I'm just giving an instance in which I think they should.

Modifié par Shadowfang12, 11 septembre 2012 - 04:30 .

[MarchWaltz]

Isn't origin spyware as well?

[Beerfish]

Everyone has their price.

[wafflez]

Gabe Newel > John Spaghettio

[Korusus]

People are completely missing the point. Pretty sure this is a blatant jab at BioWare and the good doctors, which they certainly deserve. It has nothing to do with Steam vs. Origin.

It's not about EA buying out competition, it's about EA buying out innovators in the industry, using them up for all they're worth, then abandoning the lifeless husks down the road. BTW, lol to the poster talking about people losing their jobs. Like EA wouldn't end up firing most of them anyway, and in the meantime they'd have to work under the grueling, soul-sucking conditions that EA encourages rather than what must be the awesome experience of working for an independent company. Have you ever compared, btw, the inside of BioWare's Canada studios with Bethesda's studios? It's an interesting comparison to say the least, and says a lot about how independent companies tend to treat their employees, at least in this industry.

[Loerwyn]

MarchWaltz wrote...

Isn't origin spyware as well?

No, and it never has been. Ever.

[HoonDing]

Gabe Newell > your mom.