this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2024
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Can you imagine Battle.net beating Steam, then the primary online digital distribution platform ending up being owned by Activision?
I get the icks just thinking about it.
The worst part is it's not that far fetched, we're actually pretty lucky that valve isn't massively predatory and we didn't end up with bobby kotick instead of gaben
The reason Valve is not massively predatory is because they aren't publicly traded and remain a private company.
This is true, but it's not the only factor. Staying private allows a company to not be predatory, but it definitely does not guarantee it - it simply allows the executives to choose. It's the combination of Valve being private and Gaben always staying true to his values despite his incredible wealth that gave us Steam in its current form.
I've known plenty of private companies that were as shitty as a public one, or more. Quality executives are vanishingly rare, particularly at this level of company value.
I'm incredibly wary of what will happen if/when he retires or dies. I hope they have some sort of iron clad succession plan in place.
Public companies can choose that too, they're just mostly run by horrible people.