zlacker

>>evolve+(OP)
Everything valve doing for linux is making such a huge impact.

The HL3 memes don't even seem fair to use anymore. I don't even want to un-seriously make joke fun of them at this point. They are just genuinely doing so much for the community.

>>adverb+H53
Valve is one of the few companies regularly seen on HN where the headline is something like "[company] is secretly doing something really great" as opposed to "[company] is secretly doing something evil"

>>levoca+Yb3
People complain about the gambling/loot box stuff, and yeah there's legit ethical concerns there.

But overall Valve just seems straightforwardly less shitty towards the consumer than other major companies in their space, by a long shot.

>>Tulliu+2d3
The major reason is they are a private company with good business. The don't have a need to keep adding to shareholder value ie stock price instead just need to generate a yearly income. We have reached a point where the shareholders are a companies real customers and that is who they all try to attract.Everytthing else a company does is just to attract shareholders

>>xbmcus+EA3
Private or public, they are making stacks hand over fist. Why cant other companies learn that being good to your customers is a winning strategy?

>>aydyn+Sb4
Because it's not, all other things equal.

Valve can be Valve because HL + Steam, in the same way that Google ~2010 could not be evil because search + ad revenue.

The difference is that Google IPO'd and took market capital, and Valve didn't.

Once public investors are onboard, you maximize profits or face lawsuits.