Windows 8 Is a ‘Catastrophe’ Says Valve Software MD

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Gabe Newell says operating system will force some out of the market


On July 26, 2012 by Steve McCaskill 9
The managing director of Valve Software has claimed that Windows 8 will be a “catastrophe” for PC developers.
The latest version of Microsoft’s operating system is due in October, but Gabe Newell says that it will mean huge changes for the PC market and none of them positive.

Windows 8 includes the Windows Store, which will be a competitor to Valve’s Steam online marketplace which boasts a library of more than 2,500 games. Microsoft’s Windows Store will be the only way to download software to some Windows 8 devices.
Windows 8 Catastrophe



Newell, who worked for Microsoft for thirteen years on Windows, said its arrival would drive some PC developers out of business because it will put so much pressure on sales margins. Microsoft will take a cut of up to 30 percent on everything sold through its store.

He added that because of the temptation to close the system in order to limit competitors’ access to it, Microsoft could remove the openness that has allowed companies like Google and social game developer Zynga to thrive.

Valve is working on ways to combat the perceived threat of Windows 8. It has adopted open-source Linux in an effort to offset the damage that it believes it is likely to sustain and hopes to make it as easy as possible for the games on Steam to run on Linux. It also plans to create a range of tools and services that players could use to make games and make gaming more fun.

Microsoft pledges that Windows 8 will work equally well with both tablets and traditional PCs and users can switch between a tiled interface and desktop mode whenever they want. Microsoft hopes that this dual system will give it a potential inroad into the tablet market amid slow sales of PCs.


http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/windows-8-valve-software-catastrophe-87527
 
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Valve takes 25% cut on games sold through Steam, so I have no idea how they feel they have a right to come in on a high horse and claim that Microsofts margins will drive developers out of business. For another thing, the "Windows 8 devices" (actually Windows RT, but whatever) in which the Windows store will be the only way to download software (barring jailbreaking) are ARM devices. Essentially, tablets and cellphones. Essentially none of Valve's library is compatible with ARM, so this has little to no effect on Valve. If Valve launched a Steam service on ARM, it would be a vastly different service, because the library would be entirely different.

If you will notice, Microsoft is merely copying Apple's move when it comes to ARM devices. As far as I know, Apple has not killed Valve and third party developers yet, they've been going at this for years, and they're likely to continue to be much more popular than Microsoft anyway on the ARM platform for the foreseeable future. So why on Earth single out Microsoft? And, if you will notice, Valve has not launched Steam for Android. I'm not sure if this is because of the impracticality of the concept, or because Google (whom the article praises) has adapted the same practices as Apple as well. If it is the former, then Valve has no room to bitch anyway. If it is the latter, it just goes to show how this article is a ridiculous hack piece.
 
Watermark said:
Valve takes 25% cut on games sold through Steam, so I have no idea how they feel they have a right to come in on a high horse and claim that Microsofts margins will drive developers out of business. For another thing, the "Windows 8 devices" (actually Windows RT, but whatever) in which the Windows store will be the only way to download software (barring jailbreaking) are ARM devices. Essentially, tablets and cellphones. Essentially none of Valve's library is compatible with ARM, so this has little to no effect on Valve. If Valve launched a Steam service on ARM, it would be a vastly different service, because the library would be entirely different.

If you will notice, Microsoft is merely copying Apple's move when it comes to ARM devices. As far as I know, Apple has not killed Valve and third party developers yet, they've been going at this for years, and they're likely to continue to be much more popular than Microsoft anyway on the ARM platform for the foreseeable future. So why on Earth single out Microsoft? And, if you will notice, Valve has not launched Steam for Android. I'm not sure if this is because of the impracticality of the concept, or because Google (whom the article praises) has adapted the same practices as Apple as well. If it is the former, then Valve has no room to bitch anyway. If it is the latter, it just goes to show how this article is a ridiculous hack piece.
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I am not sure why Gabe Newell who is very much considered to be a Microsoft insider having worked there for 13 years would bitch about nothing. I would have thought he have too much to lose to just make waves for no good reason. To my mind his move to to develop Steam to run on Linux now makes sense.
 
Aoxomoxoa said:
I am not sure why Gabe Newell who is very much considered to be a Microsoft insider having worked there for 13 years would bitch about nothing. I would have thought he have too much to lose to just make waves for no good reason.
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Likely, he is sensitive about the competition. As an owner of a software distribution platform, he cannot be considered an unbiased source of opinion on other software distribution platforms. When it comes to the PC, people are free to use Metro or non-Metro apps, so the Windows Store is just one more service that's coming into the market. If the 30% cut is really an impractical burden, developers will just choose to continue distributing through more traditional channels. If I opened up a competitor to ebay that attracted no sellers because of the outrageous fees, that wouldn't mean people would stop selling things at ebay.

Gabe is, I imagine, sensitive about the privileged placing of the Windows Store (it's the goddamn start menu after all). However, again, Steam and the Windows Store don't really compete with the same market. Windows Store is for Metro apps that are compatible with cell phones and tablets. Developers aren't going to start releasing full blown PC games on it, besides maybe some old games that have been modified for touch screens. Even if they did decide to start directly competing with Steam when it comes to full blown games, they'd obviously have to match Steams prices. It's not like the Metro market, where they're the only game in town.

Microsoft is basically trying to emulate Apple here. And I think there is much to be said of the Apple model - IPhone's just work. I do not have to be called down to my grandmothers house every few weeks because she downloaded a screensaver for her IPhone, and now her browser constantly redirects to porn sites. And the safe, metro part of the operating system is up front and obvious for a reason, because it's targeted to novices who might never even see it if it's tucked away in some obscure location. Rather than just dumping all users into an environment with total freedom and berating novices for not being saavy enough, Microsoft is essentially putting in two layers of freedom. Most novices sticking to the safe, Metro part of the OS and the desktop part being mostly used by those who know what they're doing.

Even when it comes to ARM, where there is effectively a real monopoly for the Windows Store, it's not like it would be a platform killing burden (as Apple has amply shown). This is really some of the same fallacious thinking that comes into play when people discuss the minimum wage. They think of the catastrophic effect it would have on a business if it suddenly had to raise prices/cut corners in order to meet minimum wage obligations, and seem to think that applying this to every business would merely mean that every business would experience the same catastrophic effect. Essentially, their macroeconomic model is nothing more than a microeconomic model multiplied by however many individuals happen to be in the market. This is a totally naive approach.

The catastrophe that would occur if I alone were singled out for some regulation is largely a result of the fact that my competition would be able to get an edge in on me. A universal minimum wage could only plausibly effect some employment at the margins, by making automation a profitable alternative where it hadn't been before, or phasing out some jobs that were just on the threshold of necessity (this is not the case for most jobs - a retail business can't do without cashiers, or box movers, for instance, no matter what they cost). And a universal application of some rule giving the distributor a cut of the profits only really effects developers to the extent that higher prices dissuades consumers from buying software. Consumers aren't going to stop buying software because of a ~20% or so difference in prices. And most will probably be happier, anyway, with the additional convenience and screening out of malicious content.

Aoxomoxoa said:
To my mind his move to to develop Steam to run on Linux now makes sense.
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Valve has been working on a Linux port for some time. I fail to see how the emergence of a software distribution platform that sells an entirely different set of software, or the failure to have a new market opened to them on an architecture almost all of their library is incompatible with anyway, could have been the catalyst of their decision to finally finish porting to an OS with an insignifigant userbase. You do not often see people responding to others failing to have an effect on them by doing something irrelevant. And if Microsoft actually did drive Steam out of business, Linux sure as hell wouldn't save them. If you arestranded in the middle of the ocean and all you've got is a rubber ducky, you are going to die.
 
Watermark said:
L



Valve has been working on a Linux port for some time. I fail to see how the emergence of a software distribution platform that sells an entirely different set of software, or the failure to have a new market opened to them on an architecture almost all of their library is incompatible with anyway, could have been the catalyst of their decision to finally finish porting to an OS with an insignifigant userbase. You do not often see people responding to others failing to have an effect on them by doing something irrelevant. And if Microsoft actually did drive Steam out of business, Linux sure as hell wouldn't save them. If you arestranded in the middle of the ocean and all you've got is a rubber ducky, you are going to die.
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See post #6
 
how do you have a 1000 dollars worth of games. that blows my mind.

A) because of how easy it is to pirate
B) because not all of those games can possibly be that good.

Personally, I'm the type that likes the top few titles each year and that's about it.
 
King of Owls said:
how do you have a 1000 dollars worth of games. that blows my mind.

A) because of how easy it is to pirate
B) because not all of those games can possibly be that good.

Personally, I'm the type that likes the top few titles each year and that's about it.
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It's pretty easy, especially with certain titles. Take Hearts of Iron #. On it's own it's about a $50 game. However to be near playable these days, it requires both expansions, each valued around $20. So that's $90 for 1 game essentially.
 
i dont like that business model. but i guess if a game provides you hours of entertainment for the price of a couple of big macs, it's not so bad
 
In the 21 years or so since its inception, Linux has gained some amazing enthusiast street cred, but failed time and again to enter the mainstream. This year, however, may afford it an opportunity it’s never had before: to gain the momentum necessary to join the big boys in the operating system world. If that happens, Linux devotees the world over — from users to developers to even Linus Torvalds himself — may have Microsoft and Windows 8 to thank.
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http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/133669-could-this-be-the-year-of-the-linux-desktop
 
LOL.

"this is finally it everyone, the year of linux becoming a mainstream desktop OS!"

- every year in history
 
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