Gabe Newell Responds to Microsoft’s Rumored Plans to Acquire Valve

Megalith

Megalith

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There was a rumor going around this week that Microsoft would be buying Valve. This seemed pretty far-fetched, as the company appears to be happy and healthy, but Gabe himself has shut it down: he is not “aware” of any such plan. Many say that the acquisition, if it were to happen, would be “a disaster for PC gaming.”

Then again, we know what a Microsoft storefront looks like. Two of them actually, and they’re both pretty bad. On the Xbox, sales are rare, the interface is awful and cluttered with non-gaming ads, and oh yeah, people still need to pay out the nose every month for Xbox Live Gold if they want multiplayer.
 
There was a rumour many years ago that EA wanted to buy Valve for around $1 billion. I think Gabe responded to the rumour by saying that Valve would rather disintegrate than sell.

I think that anyone familiar with Valve's history and philosophy shouldn've known that Valve's unwillingness to sell to Microsoft would be even greater than its unwillingness to sell to EA.
 
Delicieuxz said:
There was a rumour many years ago that EA wanted to buy Valve for around $1 billion. I think Gabe responded to the rumour by saying that Valve would rather disintegrate than sell.

I think that anyone familiar with Valve's history and philosophy shouldn've known that Valve's unwillingness to sell to Microsoft would be even greater than its unwillingness to sell to EA.
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That was likely before EA started Origin. The valuation on Valve now would likely put them upwards of $40bil depending how you calculate it. Their suspected revenue is above $3.5bil a year. If you use a 10yr revenue valuation that also takes in their IP holdings and market share, they're going to be an expensive acquisition.

The Valve rumor also had MS trying to buy EA. So the rumors seem to revolve around game stores and game IP that can be made MS exclusive.
 
Derangel said:
At this point Gabe is likely a billionaire and he owns 100% of Valve. Any price would have to be far, far, more than Valve and Steam are worth.
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Gabe was already a billionaire many years ago. Forbes currently lists his worth as $5.5 billion.

He was reportedly worth around $1.5 billion in 2012: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-08-gabe-newell-is-worth-USD1-5-billion

Jim Kim said:
Everything has a price, including Valve.
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That depends on what you value. Would you sell your children into slavery and prostitution for enough money?


Also, after you have a certain amount of something, depending on your interests, you aren't going to be swayed by being offered more of that same thing.

And if a person is already doing what they want to in life, why would they sell it for money, which they would only be interested in for the sake of it enabling them to do what they want to do in life?
 
If Microsoft bought Valve, would Steam support be bad and cost $499 per incident?
 
The funny one was that whole steam box thing because he thought windows 8 was the end of gaming. HL3 would have made them more money....
 
Spidey329 said:
The Valve rumor also had MS trying to buy EA. So the rumors seem to revolve around game stores and game IP that can be made MS exclusive.
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The irony being, of course, that if EA really does think MTX is the way towards printing money (and they certainly do) and continue in that direction (they certainly seem to be) plus grab important patents in the field (which they recently have), it's going to make them a tastier target for acquisition even if their valuation (based at least partly on MTX) is bogus. So I guess...yay?
 
He is right about the interface, but wrong about the sales. There are small sales every week, and larger sales once a quarter, just like Steam. Are prices on Steam usually cheaper? Yes, but it is wrong to say there are never sales, and as far as ads go, he should be the last person to talk. Steam is one giant ad.
 
Delicieuxz said:
I think Gabe responded to the rumour by saying that Valve would rather disintegrate than sell.
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He did say something along those lines, yes. He has a history with MS so he knows the industry better than most. On the other hand, we've had ex-Apple developers end up with a rival (Google; see: Nest), although it's never worked out well. I think he's smarter than that plus likes being his own boss...it's why he split from MS in the first place. I also don't think there's very many companies that could probably leverage an asset like Valve, and while MS might be one of them they would never attempt a hostile takeover.
 
I certainly hope valve isn't sold to anyone.. certainly not m$ that is historically REEEEAAALLY bad at storefronts.. nope no thank you.
 
I doubt that, steam is the only thing that gives revenue to Valve. Quite honestly though, I miss games developed by Valve. If it means selling steam to MS so they can once again focus on gaming, then they should.
 
odditory said:
Really? Name one.

Unfortunately he's right about the store in Windows 10 - it's a disaster.
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He was very harsh on the PS3 for some time. I mean rightfully so it was a disastrous launch.

Of course once it turned itself around he changed his tune actually for the launch of Portal 2....whatever happened to steam on PlayStation anyways?
 
the sturggle of the XboneX was to be expected the day they announced that their new console would be an upgrade rather than a standalone, all they did is hand over xboneS problems to xboneX.
the major selling point of a new console is the new gen gimmick, strip that from the console and leave it with old gen titles ( even at 4k ) and you will strip it of any interest for the gamers and developers alike.
so it's no surprise that M$ is running allover the place looking for exclisive.
 
Delicieuxz said:
Also, after you have a certain amount of something, depending on your interests, you aren't going to be swayed by being offered more of that same thing.
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Tell that to all the runaway capitalist in America participating in crony capitalism that are destroying the nation and millions of lives as they chase after more and more money/power/influence than they already have with mergers, buyouts, etc.
 
alamox said:
the sturggle of the XboneX was to be expected the day they announced that their new console would be an upgrade rather than a standalone, all they did is hand over xboneS problems to xboneX.
the major selling point of a new console is the new gen gimmick, strip that from the console and leave it with old gen titles ( even at 4k ) and you will strip it of any interest for the gamers and developers alike.
so it's no surprise that M$ is running allover the place looking for exclisive.
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Tell that to Sony and the PS4 Pro. Granted they handled it differently, have a OS that works and have pre existing dev support.

What I’m saying is the upgrade model can work. The problem with the One X is the fact that it’s still a Xbone. More power only solved one of its issues, and the least important one to focus on.
 
Nolan7689 said:
Tell that to Sony and the PS4 Pro. Granted they handled it differently, have a OS that works and have pre existing dev support.

What I’m saying is the upgrade model can work. The problem with the One X is the fact that it’s still a Xbone. More power only solved one of its issues, and the least important one to focus on.
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Honestly if I was a console only gamer I'd get an Xbox One X for all multiplatform titles, at least the SP ones. If the developers do their job (ha!) it would run better than the PS4 Pro.
 
Flogger23m said:
Honestly if I was a console only gamer I'd get an Xbox One X for all multiplatform titles, at least the SP ones. If the developers do their job (ha!) it would run better than the PS4 Pro.
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I’m not truly console only (I just haven’t bothered using my PC in a year) but having the choices of Xbox One X and PS4 Pro both available to me I’m more inclined to go PS4. The main reason being that the Xbox One is a fucking chore to use. Microsoft screwed the pooch twice on that. It runs poorly. Second reason being that as of yet, games have negligible differences. Not enough to make up for the hassle of playing it on a worse platform despite the hardware.
 
Amazed by the people here who think a billionaire would give up everything for more billions. I mean yeah, I guess a few would, but it's like the thought of people having values other than money once you're already rich doesn't even occur to them.
 
If Gabe is worth upwards of $5 billion, why would he ever consider selling?

Seriously though, with that much cash you'd think he could afford a gym membership. What's the point of being filthy rich when you're going to die at 60?
 
NeoNemesis said:
If Gabe is worth upwards of $5 billion, why would he ever consider selling?

Seriously though, with that much cash you'd think he could afford a gym membership. What's the point of being filthy rich when you're going to die at 60?
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With his money I'm sure he can afford a better doctor then some random forum poster. And that doctor will be able to tell him how healthy he is.
 
Derangel said:
With his money I'm sure he can afford a better doctor then some random forum poster. And that doctor will be able to tell him how healthy he is.
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I'm sure he could! I'm equally sure that you don't need to be a doctor to know that Gabe Newell is obese.
 
NeoNemesis said:
I'm sure he could! I'm equally sure that you don't need to be a doctor to know that Gabe Newell is obese.
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He is. However, his doctor is there to keep him informed of any health issues that being that way might be causing and advising him on solutions, if it is a serious concern. Likely if it does become a big concern we'll see a rapid change in his weight either due to a very strict diet or surgical methods.
 
Anything anyone buys is a disaster, and gaming especially. Getting the impression the industry isn't happy and wants to force consumers to play the way they want you to. Cloud gaming, micro-transactions, and now mergers. Someone wants to fuck this up.
 
Great! That's one Value rumor squashed. Now what about this rumor that I keep hearing about Half-Life 3?
 
Delicieuxz said:
There was a rumour many years ago that EA wanted to buy Valve for around $1 billion. I think Gabe responded to the rumour by saying that Valve would rather disintegrate than sell.

I think that anyone familiar with Valve's history and philosophy shouldn've known that Valve's unwillingness to sell to Microsoft would be even greater than its unwillingness to sell to EA.
Click to expand...

There's a certain pride in keeping something going that you built and that makes people genuinely happy.
 
I don't think Gabe will ever sell VALVe to Microsoft.

Whoever takes over the company after Gabe could/probably will.
 
The amount of money Gabe makes from releasing weapons skins in CS:GO and taking a profit of each sale is enough to laugh your way to the bank calling everyone a sucker. He manipulates that market SO MUCH people do not realize to drive sales. Plus he doesn't NEED the money from the sale. I would keep it just to laugh daily at all the suckers.
 
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