[Bob-san]

Since Gabe will one day die (and may even retire before then), I can only hope that he has done or will do something like a binding constitution for the company. An agreement to never go public would be a good start, but I think a lot of Valve's regard comes from how well they work with other major companies as well as indie developers. Steam is a distribution platform for Valve and non-Valve products--it works so well because everyone wants to use it.

[newman]

If it starts sucking, then that's what it will happen. If it won't, it won't and I'll keep using it. Wondering about hypotheticals like this serves no useful purpose and is a sign of having way too much time on your hands. Getting a job will usually fix this issue with a 98% rate of success. Just throwing ideas out there

[pecenipicek]

If it starts sucking, then that's what it will happen. If it won't, it won't and I'll keep using it. Wondering about hypotheticals like this serves no useful purpose and is a sign of having way too much time on your hands. Getting a job will usually fix this issue with a 98% rate of success. Just throwing ideas out there

so you can discuss the same things, only from a computer on your job?

[Pred the Penguin]

Descent is a special case, it's addictive, has unique gameplay and is, overall, an excellent game. Of course, some games could survive 50 years, but after such time, they'd be distributed free or for a very small price They could even be adopted to run on a mobile phone (or rather a microcomputer, because that's what even the modern phones are). In 50 years, Skyrim and ArmA III could most likely be ran on something that you could fit in your pocket (maybe with a holographic screen and perhaps even a thought-based interface).
GoG would most likely be selling them at this point, or their creators would release them for free (I'd say it's likely with Skyrim, as they did that with two first Elder Scrolls games).

Or a giant meteor crashes into the earth between now and 50 years in the future and ruins all your fun.

See? I can speculate, too.

[Unknown Target]

Since Gabe will one day die (and may even retire before then), I can only hope that he has done or will do something like a binding constitution for the company. An agreement to never go public would be a good start, but I think a lot of Valve's regard comes from how well they work with other major companies as well as indie developers. Steam is a distribution platform for Valve and non-Valve products--it works so well because everyone wants to use it.

This is what I was suggesting in my first post, I agree and I hope he does it.

[Ravenholme]

Since Gabe will one day die (and may even retire before then), I can only hope that he has done or will do something like a binding constitution for the company. An agreement to never go public would be a good start, but I think a lot of Valve's regard comes from how well they work with other major companies as well as indie developers. Steam is a distribution platform for Valve and non-Valve products--it works so well because everyone wants to use it.

This is what I was suggesting in my first post, I agree and I hope he does it.

His e-mail is open to the public, e-mail the suggestion that he does so.

[Bob-san]

Since Gabe will one day die (and may even retire before then), I can only hope that he has done or will do something like a binding constitution for the company. An agreement to never go public would be a good start, but I think a lot of Valve's regard comes from how well they work with other major companies as well as indie developers. Steam is a distribution platform for Valve and non-Valve products--it works so well because everyone wants to use it.

This is what I was suggesting in my first post, I agree and I hope he does it.

His e-mail is open to the public, e-mail the suggestion that he does so.

I'd rather get hired there and make the suggestion. Unfortunately, the primary reasons for an IPO is a quick injection of cash and an easy profit prior to sale. If the company falls on hard times, treasury shares can be sold for more cash (at the expense of the stock price, of course).

[Unknown Target]

Hey Bob-san, hope you don't mind I'm using your words. I'm sending this to Gabe;

I have just been wondering about this lately, and I'm sorry if I've offended you by bringing it up. So far Valve's been pretty awesome, but what happens when management changes? We might end up with a board of trustees who take the company public and are more concerned with the bottom line than actually satisfying customers. While this might not happen with your immediate successor, three or four people down the line, you might have someone who doesn't know how to run the company well, or the market changes, and so they release an IPO to try and keep it going.

It'd be cool if companies and services like Steam had some sort of binding constitution for the company. An agreement to never go public would be a good start, but I think a lot of Valve's regard comes from how well they work with other major companies as well as indie developers. Steam is a distribution platform for Valve and non-Valve products--it works so well because everyone wants to use it.

I think you guys have a big responsibility now; you're the caretakers of a lot of games that could be considered rare or hard to find. If you go down, a lot of small, unique games that are either distributed on your service or require it to run could go down with you, and that would be a real shame. It'd be nice to have an assurance that if, say, the Internet were to be disrupted (through government meddling, meteor crashing into us, etc), that there would be some sort of backup option for getting and/or playing our games. Your service has sort of provided the blueprint for a well-run digital distribution platform, so you have the opportunity to really innovate in this area.

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

[Flipside]

It's also the fact that Steam has, so far, managed to stay clear of advertising anything beyond its own content. Not sure how long that will last if the emphasis moves from service to profit. My main concern is that my entire Steam catalogue comes to around 3-4 hundred quid, and I've already got two recent games that you have to pray the distributing company has actually got their server working if you want to play them properly (Anno 2070 and Cities XL). It's an annoying habit to adopt in a world where we are quickly learning that relying on the infallibility of companies is a mistake.