Why Does The Internet Worship Valve/steam/gabe?

Shichishito continuing his quest to be crowned the dumbest poster on ffxiah. A strong showing.

FTFY

With this price increase steam deck is not worth it sadly and I used to say it was better than switch 2. Better off waiting it all out

Well I try to give people the benefit of a doubt and provide enough unbiased information for them to at least see where the other side is coming from. Haters gonna hate though.

I got mine and I love it, though more for emulation / lite gaming and watching Netflix / Crunchyroll in bed. The market is going nuclear with prices for memory chips and nvram storage. SD price is higher but so is everything else including gaming PCs.

That seems to be the sentiment over on reddit, too.

Price increase is a reflection of higher hardware prices across the board.

And no one is "switching to Linux" specifically for gaming. If you're not using it already, you're not gaming on it either.

The point is that Valve is selling pre-packaged hardware with Linux preinstalled, specifically to run Steam games. Not games in general, games via Steam.

Valve doesn't give a *** if others use Linux to game on.

They want to sell hardware that does not rely on Windows, has a Windows tax, and requires specific versions of Windows for no reason other than to force everyone to use the latest version of Windows.

If you think MS having a monopoly and forcing every developer to target Win11+ if they want to make new games is a "good thing" for the gaming industry in general, you are a *** idiot, not-sorry.

Having competition is a net positive for the entire industry. And you don't have to believe Linux gaming is real, no one cares what you think.

Steam Deck: "Total Units Sold: Approximately 6 million units in three years." Since 2022.

That's 6 million Linux devices that play PC games. None of those 6 million devices are running any sort of version of Windows, not rely on Windows APIs. PC games that use DX work just the same as PC games that use Vulkan. On the same hardware, same OS, seamless to the user.

Sure, there is a small minority of hardcore enthusiasts that will use the software Valve helped develop to run games on their own desktop Linux. Via the native Steam Linux client. There's a few in here already, myself included.

Valve neither supports those people, nor cares much if they exist. Their goal is to sell pre-packaged hardware that competes with Windows, specifically using their own store. That pushes sales onto Steam, which is where they make money from.

More Steam hardware sold -> more sales on Steam.

More Steam hardware that exists -> more Linux gaming machines that exist.

A market existing for Linux gaming means Linux gaming is real. You don't have to like it, nor agree it is the case. It's true regardless.

If you include Android phones (yes, that's Linux too, MS fanboi), the number of mobile Linux gaming devices out number the number of PC gaming desktops even.

And there is no "Valve version of Linux" btw. It's just regular Linux pre-installed with Steam in big picture mode out of the box. Linux is a collection of software, not an OS in the Windows sense. Linux refers to the kernel, the core of the OS. Everything else is added on top. There are more flavours of Linux than there are of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

Saying things like "a version of Linux" only demonstrates a lack of knowledge, FYI.

If you think USB-C is a good thing and standardizing around 1 thing is good then you're an idiot!! sorry not sorry!!

no, you're the idiot.

linux users are the dumbest mother *** alive. you want games on linxu? fine. prove they should be there. offer literally anything more than microsoft is offering or win people to your cause. until you do that, stop yelling at the *** clouds, no one cares.

Its wild (but really not) how people dont seem to understand that the price of memory and storage tripling over the last few years will be reflected in hardware costs.

32GB of DDR5 memory went from under $200 to over $600 and y'all surprised that the cost of hardware didnt stay the same???

I'd say it's more that they don't want to be at the mercy of Microsoft's not leaning over and saying "gee what a nice platform you have, would be a shame if it stopped working on our new Operation System". Valve doesn't mind distributing games for people who are playing on Microsoft Windows, but they also don't want to rely on the kindness of Microsoft Executives. So we get Proton and DXVK as ways to ensure most games can still run outside of MS Windows.

Building a Wine64 prefix and installing Steam into it is pretty easy. Everything works the same way it does on native Windows.

Most crucial point here. Even if you will never use Linux in its current state, steps that can make it competitive for normal users help to undercut Microslop's monopoly. Since Linux is constantly solving problems and building upwards while Microsoft enshittifies themselves, it's not really that unlikely that at some point in the next decade even normies will game on Linux pcs.

Re: Steam Deck. Pricing is fine, it reflects hardware cost. I see the device as more of a toy for kids. I can't imagine being out and about playing a Steam Deck in a waiting room. There's basically no good posture for playing a handheld in bed (also bad for sleep hygiene). Overall, just have trouble seeing the purpose of buying that amount of hardware for such niche use cases. Can get an ereader for under $100 and that's a lot easier to lug around. But, it might fit others' lifestyles better than mine.

I suppose if you live in a country with proper public transit and have a daily commute, that'd be a great way to get value out of it.

There's also no reason to do so, since there is a native Steam client for Linux with out-of-the-box compatibility for Steam play - playing Windows games on Linux directly via Steam. You do need to enable "Steam Play" to do this.

Running the native Steam client on Linux is a much better experience than messing around with wine and the windows version of Steam.

Steam-for-Linux is the same client used in Steam Deck and later Steam Machine.

Also games just run better on the native Linux Steam client. Saying this from first hand experience with both.

Steam-for-Linux has got to the point where I prefer the convenience of buying games on Steam and clicking "Play" on the Linux client rather than launching the same game directly via wine/proton, obtained via other methods.

I'm not a MS fanboi, I think competition is great. I just always found that linux gaming is for enthusiasts and I don't want to put in enthusiast effort as long as I can have the same or better on windows without needing to learn a new platform and to constantly deal with workarounds. Just like Chanti I think that's the case for most end users, it's just something most linux users do not want to account for.

I know android is built on linux but afaik you can't install a regular pc game on it. Games either need to be made for the OS so you can purchase it on something like the google play store or you need some sort of emulation software which afaik always comes with limitations and higher hardware requirements. Unless I'm wrong comparing android devices to a PC for gaming doesn't hold up.

Phone games have a bad reputation for a reason.

From what I read you can install games purchased from other stores, too. That's probably why they don't sell the steam hardware for a loss like you often see in the console market, at least that's what I read.

However afaik you're still limited in your selection of games, for instance multiplayer games with incompatible anti-cheat systems.

The only reason steam OS exists, according to valve, is cause they got worried after windows 8 release that MS would close the OS and charge steam a fee for the privilege of being available on their microsoft store or get shipped with windows by default. I assume that's what you mean with "Windows tax"?

Afaik that's currently only a worry of valve that this could happen in the future and not a real thing yet. Anti trust laws should protect them from that scenario and MS already faced lawsuits for similar moves in the past and was close to getting split up.

No doubt a shitty move from MS but as I mentioned on a previous page valve also forced the upgrade from CS:GO to CS2 on their user base.

You might argue it's a game not a OS so it's different. However, to a developer like valve a service game is just a platform to sell you more stuff, so not that different to steam, just a layer deeper. As you mentioned yourself steam OS/steam deck are just more alleyways to sell more games on their platform because that's where they make most of their money.

I'm skeptical valve wouldn't behave similarly to MS if steam OS gets in a dominant position but only time will tell.

Valve gets alot of public praise and support because they actually listen to their audience.

There are alot of people at Valve who love games. They make the games they would like to play. They aren't trying to force the market to comply with their board room goals.

This was not such a rare thing 2 decades ago, but today it is. Microsoft, Google, and Apple are all big enough to believe we should conform to them. They give you a low cost product to get lots of market share, then raise prices, remove features and charge extra to restore those features. They do alot of bait and switch.

When a BIG player acts like a 2-bit conman, its revolting.

IF Valve got all the market share, They MIGHT start acting like Microsoft. Mostly it depends on who takes over. I don't know the management particulars in Valve, but if Gabe retires, passes away, whatever, and the people who take over make it publicly traded, or its just purchased by the highest bidder, it very likely WILL turn into another monster company.


Blizzard used to be the most awesome game company. Ubisoft used to be an awesome game company. Nintendo still makes awesome games, but they have the whole PalWorld crap going on. They Haven't gone the way of Unity yet.... (dun dun dun!!)

Linux has an underlying structure that makes it very resistant to the kind of corruption that takes the corporations. (its vulnerable to other stuff). So its a bastion of hope for those who remember what freedom is and want it preserved.

Windows Tax refers to the Windows license fee being a part of every PC hardware purchase, whether Windows is used on that hardware or not. You know you have google right?

I never said android games are PC games. That would be a false statement, which should be obvious. However, mobile games currently make up about 50% of the global gaming market, worth about $200 billion in revenue.

Most people are playing games on their phones and not on a PC. Mobile games are cheaper too.

IMO making PC games more into a platform-as-a-service, not unlike mobile games with their all-in-one stores, will drive more people into PC gaming, which means more money and in turn more games. Whether they are quality games remains to be seen.

There is a lot of slop lately on Steam, especially with AI.

The windows tax is the license fee valve would have to pay to ship steam decks with windows installed (which would end up baked into the price for the customer).

Proton is open source, so if steam decides to turn into the next MS, their work can still be used for a project not at all related to Steam. Lutris content isn't all that well curated yet, but it's probably the obvious contender. I don't think Steam is behaving altruistically when supporting Linux, but there are still benefits for Linux and Windows users alike. Again, competition for Microsoft reduces their ability to shittify your products.

If Linux can run everything you care about, Windows ceases to be the only option. Let's say MS puts a $10/month sub on Windows, will you still be as opposed to Linux? How about $20? What if they push Indian/AI garbage code that results in instability? It's a constant threat to Microsoft that will reduce the degree to which they can enshittify Windows.

Wonder if mobile games are cheaper because the google/apple stores don't charge quite the same "Steam tax" that steam does :)

you dont have to wonder you can google it they all are 30%

As long as Valve doesn't sell their hardware at a loss, the cost for a windows license should be just a reach thru factor to them.

If the argument is Valve can price their hardware more competitively now that they don't need to reach thru the cost for windows then why is there competition that's bundled with windows similarly priced or cheaper?

Wasn't saying it's anything to do with their current pricing, just explaining what it is (Dodik beat me to it). I think their explanation of not wanting to be dependent on MS is probably true. I'm also sure they did it for financial reasons, not just to make the Linux environment better. I still appreciate that they did it.

I think epic takes or used to take only a 12% cut and 0% for smaller games that don't break the 1 million dollar mark. They challanged steam to reduce their 30% cut too so developers could earn a bit more but steam didn't react, they don't have to cause their market position is so dominant.

I'm not saying epic are the good guys, they do anti competitive stuff too like epic exclusives.

I only mention it cause it demonstrates that valve's ***smells just like everyone else's.

if confidently incorrect was a person it would be you.

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/a-new-era-for-choice-and-openness.html

epic is 12% yeah. like i said, if confidently incorrect was a person it would be that dude.

https://store.epicgames.com/news/new-epic-games-store-webshops-and-revenue-share-update?lang=en-US

steam is the highest, thus me poking fun at all the whiners while steam is part of the reason games are so expensive these days

WOW a prior model of... 30% i wonder why they are moving away from it (out of the kindness of their hearts of course). also this is not active world wide until September 30 2027

regardless of what they were before.. today they are not anywhere near 30%..

which makes your statement still flat out incorrect.

the sad part of all this is that you didn't have to be wrong, you could have just googled it

was kinda hoping you would just wait to respond on june 30th with a "it is active in the US", dreams shattered.

I'm not sure if a cut reduction would reduce prices for the end consumer but even if it would only mean that devs are getting a bigger cut I think it would be positive, at least for the indie devs.

Although according to Tim Sweeney steam is putting pressure on developers so they don't undercut on their platform.

unfortunate, people paying the steam tax. SMH.

they are a for profit company and behave as such, i am SHOCKED

Ehhh no. At best it's exactly the same, because it's using the exact same binaries. The steam native client just loads wine / dxvk via Proton and runs the game inside there. Seriously Proton is just a configuration wrapper for wine/dxvk. Developers at Steam will test popular games on release and create an entry in the proton database that references "known working" settings. You install the game, proton just references those settings and deploys the appropriate library versions and values.

The result of this is that if it's a popular AAA game, then it will likely work great because someone at Valve has playtested it on several distros. If the game isn't a popular AAA game, then it's a 50/50 chance of it working with the defaults that proton will deploy with. If it doesn't work you will either go back to Windows, or spend awhile screwing with proton versions, library packages hoping to get one that works. This is what makes the Steam Deck so useful and why Valve has been working on their own gaming distribution. Known common values means less cross-distribution issues.

Building your own Wine64 prefix lets you configure it superficially for your distribution and graphics drivers. This matters a lot when dealing with distros that have started pushing Wayland.


Hmm while this does exist, it's super cheap. MS charges OEM's 5~10 dollars per license via bulk purchasing agreements. OEM's purchase license packs in units around 10,000 then give them to third party production facilities that pre-register them onto units before shipping out. When that batch is done, any excess keys are usually sold to another vendor (sometimes owned by the same company) when then sells them online. All those 20~30 dollar Windows keys you can buy online, they came from unused OEM packs.

I view the MS Tax more as having to be locked into their bloatware ecosystem where they push One Drive, CoPilot and Office 365 non-stop while turning your PC into a data harvesting platform. At least Apple has the courteously to give you a reach around.

I'm not convinced swapping Microsoft for Google will end up any better for gaming.

Android? Like I guess if you like mobile games.