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[Draugoth]

As per a GameDiscoverCo newsletter, details have emerged from the suit's discovery phase—both sides' legal teams were able to exchange documents to help build out their cases. One particular email chain between Valve employees stood out, though. Turns out, Valve was making more money per head than just about anybody.

The emails are heavily redacted, but they confirm that in 2018, Valve was perhaps the most efficient big tech company, period. "Since I like to fiddle with numbers, I brought net income into this comparison," writes Valve's Kristan Miller. "... breaking these numbers down as net income/hour/employee shows some interesting comparisons."

Miller proceeded to compare the company's net income (post-expenses cash) per hour, divided by its number of employees (then 350). "This ratio gives a good idea of how much revenue 'survives to the end' for each of these businesses." Comparisons are made between companies like Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook. While redactions mean you can't actually see how far ahead of the pack Valve was, it was still top dog: "Plot twist: Again, we are an outlier."

Source

 

[scarlet0pimp]

Its easy i suppose they dont have massive costs associated with making games they just sell other people products.
So a small amount of people keeping Steam deck ticking over and the rest making sure the servers are good, easy money.

 

[HL3.exe]

Than it's even more concerning to me that they've become so complicit; and barely shipped any games between all these years of making bank with Steam.

While I appreciate the focus on research and development they seem to be heavily investing in, I'd love to experience an ambitious game from them—even if it's not perfect or even rough around the edges. But they seem more inclined to scrap it altogether if it's not perfect or pushing boundaries, than to give it the extra push needed to ship it just to get it out there. There should be enough 'fuck you' money at Valve to at least invest in shipping a game.

It's one of the reasons Marc Laidlaw got fed up of developing and not shipping anything there.

 

[WitchHunter]

As per a GameDiscoverCo newsletter, details have emerged from the suit's discovery phase—both sides' legal teams were able to exchange documents to help build out their cases. One particular email chain between Valve employees stood out, though. Turns out, Valve was making more money per head than just about anybody.

The emails are heavily redacted, but they confirm that in 2018, Valve was perhaps the most efficient big tech company, period. "Since I like to fiddle with numbers, I brought net income into this comparison," writes Valve's Kristan Miller. "... breaking these numbers down as net income/hour/employee shows some interesting comparisons."

Miller proceeded to compare the company's net income (post-expenses cash) per hour, divided by its number of employees (then 350). "This ratio gives a good idea of how much revenue 'survives to the end' for each of these businesses." Comparisons are made between companies like Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook. While redactions mean you can't actually see how far ahead of the pack Valve was, it was still top dog: "Plot twist: Again, we are an outlier."

Source

It's easy. Valve doesn't do shit. They were the first, they enjoy their position. They have the same structure for 10+ years. Lame, old ass, non usable recommendation system, inbred curators, an ancient webpage straight from early 2000s, and the list goes on.

 

[RagnarokIV]

They were the first boys on the scene. You want to get in the club, you go through Valve. Now they just sit around and take a cut of the bar and drugs being sold lol

 

[darrylgorn]

Wait. You can be successful AND pay your workers fairly?!

 

[jakinov]

Wait. You can be successful AND pay your workers fairly?!

The article is about making money for the company not making as a salary. The metric is from dividing profits by employee count. Apple and Facebook likely get paid much much more than Valve employees. You could actually even argue the opposite where maybe you should do less, pay less people and/or have less jobs like Valve does. Not that I'm making that argument.

 

[amigastar]

Let's be honest, Steam was a genius move. No wonder they are successful.

 

[Magic Carpet]

heavily redacted

This is a first in gaming legal news.

 

[Topher]

Let's be honest, Steam was a genius move. No wonder they are successful.

And after all these years, no one is beating them at their own game even on completely open platforms.

 

[Lumpyoatmeal]

As per a GameDiscoverCo newsletter, details have emerged from the suit's discovery phase—both sides' legal teams were able to exchange documents to help build out their cases. One particular email chain between Valve employees stood out, though. Turns out, Valve was making more money per head than just about anybody.

The emails are heavily redacted, but they confirm that in 2018, Valve was perhaps the most efficient big tech company, period. "Since I like to fiddle with numbers, I brought net income into this comparison," writes Valve's Kristan Miller. "... breaking these numbers down as net income/hour/employee shows some interesting comparisons."

Miller proceeded to compare the company's net income (post-expenses cash) per hour, divided by its number of employees (then 350). "This ratio gives a good idea of how much revenue 'survives to the end' for each of these businesses." Comparisons are made between companies like Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook. While redactions mean you can't actually see how far ahead of the pack Valve was, it was still top dog: "Plot twist: Again, we are an outlier."

Source

Use that money to make some damn PC games.

 

[kikkis]

Congratulations on success. What I dont get from some is this valve loves its customers angle. If valve loves you so much why haven't you played half life 3 yet?

 

[Interfectum]

It's easy. Valve doesn't do shit. They were the first, they enjoy their position. They have the same structure for 10+ years. Lame, old ass, non usable recommendation system, inbred curators, an ancient webpage straight from early 2000s, and the list goes on.

 

[Lumpyoatmeal]

Its easy i suppose they dont have massive costs associated with making games they just sell other people products.
So a small amount of people keeping Steam deck ticking over and the rest making sure the servers are good, easy money.

These new cult fanboys that popped up also allows companies like Valve to operate the way they do. A lot of us oldies, if we still represented the majority of the base then developers/publishers wouldn’t get away with half the shit they do; This is also why the games industry is in the state it’s currently in, terrible.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I would hope so… the don’t spend money on much.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Congratulations on success. What I dont get from some is this valve loves its customers angle. If valve loves you so much why haven't you played half life 3 yet?

That's old news, I'm waiting for Half Life Alyx 2.

 

[Hudo]

Would be nice if they used that money to make Half-Life 3 in earnest.
Or at least make Source 2 available to the public so that you aren't forced to use the shitfest that is Unreal Engine 5, or be subjected to the contractual instability of Unity or have to spend years on rolling out your own engine.

 

[YCoCg]

To all those saying Valve doesn't do anything anymore, smh, Valve has done more for Linux gaming than anyone else out there, they've also done more for VR Gaming than most companies by actually releasing a good game that uses VR well rather than a tech demo sold at full price.

 

[NomenNescio]

Between Nintendo and Valve I don’t know which one gets more blows per fan.

 

[Kacho]

All because they nurtured the PC market when no one else wanted to. They've earned every bit of their success.

 

[MDSLKTR]

It's easy. Valve doesn't do shit. They were the first, they enjoy their position. They have the same structure for 10+ years. Lame, old ass, non usable recommendation system, inbred curators, an ancient webpage straight from early 2000s, and the list goes on.

You mad bro?

 

[SoloCamo]

It's easy. Valve doesn't do shit. They were the first, they enjoy their position. They have the same structure for 10+ years. Lame, old ass, non usable recommendation system, inbred curators, an ancient webpage straight from early 2000s, and the list goes on.

And yet there isn't a better alternative. If it isn't broken, why fix it? I've been using it since day one. Obviously it's working out for them, too - so why risk it?

 

[Arsic]

Its easy i suppose they dont have massive costs associated with making games they just sell other people products.
So a small amount of people keeping Steam deck ticking over and the rest making sure the servers are good, easy money.

You forget the money train that is dota 2 and CS2 MTXs.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

Congratulations on success. What I dont get from some is this valve loves its customers angle. If valve loves you so much why haven't you played half life 3 yet?

But they do love me. They just stepped out to the store to buy cigarettes. They'll be back with Half-Life 3 any day now.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

It's easy. Valve doesn't do shit. They were the first, they enjoy their position. They have the same structure for 10+ years. Lame, old ass, non usable recommendation system, inbred curators, an ancient webpage straight from early 2000s, and the list goes on.

 

[LectureMaster]

Gabe god, as always. By the way Steam spring sale just started.

 

[Little Chicken]

Glorified digital shelf. I hope we see more competitors in the space soon, although the way the "community" reacted when Epic dared to open their own storefront was abominable. A symphony of unwashed obesity unleashed.

 

[Topher]

I seem to remember reading about a bunch of layoffs in the industry recently and somehow missed any reference to Valve.

 

[Nvzman]

Congratulations on success. What I dont get from some is this valve loves its customers angle. If valve loves you so much why haven't you played half life 3 yet?

Half-Life Alyx is excellent, why haven't you played it?
Jokes aside, I do wish Valve shipped more games.

 

[Topher]

Glorified digital shelf. I hope we see more competitors in the space soon, although the way the "community" reacted when Epic dared to open their own storefront was abominable.

The community was reacting to Epic buying timed exclusives. Nothing "abominable" about that.

 

[Spyxos]

Cool and all, can i please now finally get Half Life 3 and Portal 3. Valve should have the spare change for these games..

 

[Sentenza]

This is a 5-years-old news at least.
Gabe Newell himself claimed this "point of pride" several times over the years.

Game journalists are always slow to catch up or with the historic memory of a goldfish, somehow.

The article is about making money for the company not making as a salary. The metric is from dividing profits by employee count. Apple and Facebook likely get paid much much more than Valve employees. You could actually even argue the opposite where maybe you should do less, pay less people and/or have less jobs like Valve does. Not that I'm making that argument.

They are also famoustly paying their employee way above the industry average (not to mention with tons of benefits) and "crunch" is something their workers won't ever need to experience.

 

[Topher]

Jokes aside, I do wish Valve shipped more games.

Cool and all, can i please now finally get Half Life 3 and Portal 3. Valve should have the spare change for these games..

Think that is a Valve criticism most can agree with.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I seem to remember reading about a bunch of layoffs in the industry recently and somehow missed any reference to Valve.

Hard to layoff any developers when you don’t make games to begin with

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Not saying it's not true, but always be weary about claims like this.

Remember that any company that uses tons of contractors, or they farm out sales teams to brokerages, marketing teams to third party agencies, or IT to places in India and such will always have employee headcount that is low. All the people I just listed are not employees, despite doing the same work as a formal employee part of the company.

If any of us had a company and we farmed out all work to contractors and third party companies, no matter how much sales and profits the business has, technically the employee count is just one person (you).

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I seem to remember reading about a bunch of layoffs in the industry recently and somehow missed any reference to Valve.

Almost like it's an issue with public companies and shareholder culture

 

[Topher]

Hard to layoff any developers when you don’t make games to begin with

It is easy even if you do when you do so for the sake of stockholders and nothing else.

 

[Sentenza]

Nah. Almost every single word of it is objectively false.
The service has been evolving steadily for years, changing and adding stuff at a pace not even newer stores can keep up with, despise being the most "mature" digital store around.

But it's not surprising that somehow it's the people with virtually zero familiarity with the platform who seem to have the strongest opinions against it.

EDIT - Also, to bring the receipts of my previous post, here's Gabe newell openly stating what's "discovered" in the headline in 2011 already:

Newell: Valve More Profitable Per Employee Than Apple, Google

Valve is now 250 employees strong, and company founder Gabe Newell says it's "tremendously profitable" -- more profitable per employee than Google and Apple, according to media reports.

www.gamedeveloper.com

 

[SmokedMeat]

And after all these years, no one is beating them at their own game even on completely open platforms.

The template is right there to follow.

GoG is the only other one that puts out a great store/user experience . They just lack the game offerings presumably due to DRM free.

 

[WitchHunter]

You mad bro?

Why you think that, elaborate please .

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

they've also done more for VR Gaming than most companies by actually releasing a good game that uses VR well rather than a tech demo sold at full price.

And it's not only Alyx, which is still the greatest VR game of all time without any competition. They also created The Lab which is amazingly free for Steam VR, and is a better introductory set of experiences for the medium than anything else on any platform. And SteamVR itself as a storefront has been critical to expanding the access to VR.

They've done more for gaming innovation in this particular space than any gaming company, and it's not even close.

 

[WitchHunter]

Nah. Almost every single word of it is objectively false.
The service has been evolving steadily for years, changing and adding stuff at a pace not even newer stores can keep up with, despise being the most "mature" digital store around.

That's why you have a 600x337 video window straight from early 2000s. : DDD

EVOLVING! Day by day .

https://web.archive.org/web/20170501203940/https://store.steampowered.com/app/70/HalfLife/

 

[Tams]

It's easy. Valve doesn't do shit. They were the first, they enjoy their position. They have the same structure for 10+ years. Lame, old ass, non usable recommendation system, inbred curators, an ancient webpage straight from early 2000s, and the list goes on.

 

[Topher]

The template is right there to follow.

GoG is the only other one that puts out a great store/user experience . They just lack the game offerings presumably due to DRM free.

Simple fact of the matter is that Steam still offers the most comprehensive storefront, support and community in PC gaming. Like you said.....the template is there and it really isn't hard. So why is it that no other company has come in and beat Steam in everything they do? Epic is barely even trying. Microsoft? lol....no.

I could understand all this rubbish about Steam and Valve if there were a better option and we were all fools sticking with the lesser product. Just isn't the case. Steam beats them all.

 

[Lumpyoatmeal]

This ladies and gentlemen is why gaming is absolute ass right now, you got the fanboys and the haters so now those of us who actually wants to play new videogames (preferably novel ones for me personally) from developers like Valve is shit out of luck.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

That's why you have a 600x337 video window straight from early 2000s. : DDD

EVOLVING! Day by day .

https://web.archive.org/web/20170501203940/https://store.steampowered.com/app/70/HalfLife/

I actually prefer it this way, having a company that doesn't care about pointless innovations or trends. The interface is unapologetically simple and straightforward.

I can't even spend 5 minutes in any other gaming storefront without wanting to turn it off and leave gaming. Even GOG Galaxy feels awkward and heavy in comparison, and it's the only one I'm willing to use outside of Steam.

 

[Topher]

This ladies and gentlemen is why gaming is absolute ass right now, you got the fanboys and the haters so now those of us who actually wants to play new videogames (preferably novel ones for me personally) from developers like Valve is shit out of luck.

I’ve seen plenty of Steam fans say repeatedly that they wish Valve would get back to making games. It is a legit gripe.

 

[Lumpyoatmeal]

I’ve seen plenty of Steam fans say repeatedly that they wish Valve would get back to making games. It is a legit gripe.

They got a whole VR device with some of the smartest developers and there's almost literally nothing, like make something jesus.

 

[StereoVsn]

To all those saying Valve doesn't do anything anymore, smh, Valve has done more for Linux gaming than anyone else out there, they've also done more for VR Gaming than most companies by actually releasing a good game that uses VR well rather than a tech demo sold at full price.

They also have by far the best discovery and review systems. They have by far the best controller setup.

They kicked handheld market for PC into gear (ASUS, Lenovo and MSI only jumped in after Steam Deck) and much more. And they don’t play stupid exclusives games either.

But yeah, what has Valve done ?

Edit: And they allow free key generation for devs as well. That forced other stores like EA and EGS to follow suite.

And they roll in the credit card/other fees into the price.

 

[Sentenza]

That's why you have a 600x337 video window straight from early 2000s. : DDD

EVOLVING! Day by day .

https://web.archive.org/web/20170501203940/https://store.steampowered.com/app/70/HalfLife/

Are you talking about the same video player that gets to full screen/full HD if you double click on it?
Did you really had to pick a game from 1998 to make the point?