Think GPD are a trustworthy company to buy devices from? Well, with the Steam Deck now here, they appear desperate.
Recently, they started taking various Steam Deck videos from YouTube creators, sticking them together with a look at their own devices and not crediting any of the people who put the work into those videos. On top of that, GPD has been attaching a "Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)" license to the videos, again, without permission from the original creators.
It's not a good look, and some of those creators have started fighting back.
When pulling them up on it on Twitter, I expected some sort of reply (even a snarky one to my obvious bait) or just to do the honourable thing to correctly get permission for using videos from other people. At the very least slapping in a link to the channels they're pinching things from in the description / a pinned comment for people to see. Did any of that happen? No. Instead, here's the official response from GPD:
I've never personally used one of their devices, and would have happily taken a look at any point with Linux installed onto one. Even some direct Steam Deck comparisons. Now though? This is not painting a good picture of GPD as a company.
Here's my video explainer:
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This is the same company that previously tried to steer people towards them instead of Valve, because the Steam Deck was going to be a "closed system" that would not allow third-party stuff and wouldn't play pirated games because of SteamOS — something that's just laughable really.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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wit_as_a_riddle Apr 6, 2022
BOOO GDP!! BOOOO! I hope a public backlash wakes them up from idiocy.
6 Likes, Who?
And just like that any interest I had in GPD is done. I bet that goes for more too. Good job guys.
19 Likes, Who?
they are even more desperate than that:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/som87v/gpd_steam_deck_is_worse_than_win_3_it_is_a_closed/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/som87v/gpd_steam_deck_is_worse_than_win_3_it_is_a_closed/
15 Likes, Who?
That's exactly the approach Logitech took with me after complaining about one of their devices and quality of support...
5 Likes, Who?
they are even more desperate than that:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/som87v/gpd_steam_deck_is_worse_than_win_3_it_is_a_closed/
This is all just horrible PR, but from what I heard about their RMA policy, they already disqualified for that alone. I heard repeatedly that they expect users that get faulty devices to buy replacement parts and are then left alone with that. Who cares about their social media bs at that point?
9 Likes, Who?
I can totally understand GPD though. They had a "mediocre" device with virtually no support at all in a niche market. Despite no support and mediocre (still very good though), they did good for a "small" company.
And now they will be swept away by a company that delivers way more for half the price, completely open in a way GPD can't compete. Of course they will be angry and feel backstabbed because it was their niche.
But they can't compete with Valve on 2 things:
1) The device is open. Much more open than any GPD device ever
2) Service. Selling to Europeans from Europe means european service.
If GPD could have serviced my gpd's, ok.
But they can't, so I have 2 dead GPD's (a WIN and a WIN 2) that were barely used and that in total is more than twice the price of the premium deck version.
And most of the time I was waiting for replacement batteries.
If GPD can fix their support line and starts supporting steamos, then I will see them as viable again.
And now they will be swept away by a company that delivers way more for half the price, completely open in a way GPD can't compete. Of course they will be angry and feel backstabbed because it was their niche.
But they can't compete with Valve on 2 things:
1) The device is open. Much more open than any GPD device ever
2) Service. Selling to Europeans from Europe means european service.
If GPD could have serviced my gpd's, ok.
But they can't, so I have 2 dead GPD's (a WIN and a WIN 2) that were barely used and that in total is more than twice the price of the premium deck version.
And most of the time I was waiting for replacement batteries.
If GPD can fix their support line and starts supporting steamos, then I will see them as viable again.
8 Likes, Who?
im surprised to see creative commons used in an malicious wayYou might say that usage of creative commons is very.... creative
11 Likes, Who?
kaktuspalme Apr 6, 2022
I can totally understand GPD though. They had a "mediocre" device with virtually no support at all in a niche market. Despite no support and mediocre (still very good though), they did good for a "small" company.I don't know if they were ever big in the gaming space. I considered buying one of their devices as a Mini Laptop / Working device. I think they are stronger in that space. But maybe I'm wrong.
For that type of thing I would still prefer one of their devices because they have a keyboard.
But now with that behaviour, I will not consider them anymore, there are alternatives.
0 Likes
Another YouTuber got in touch, they've also issued a takedown request.
9 Likes, Who?
That's somewhat surprising actually, been vaguely interested in GPD devices for a while. But now? Not so much anymore.
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First time I've heard of that company.
they got mentioned in so many steam deck videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NK1I6S_vFs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR0b8fROHNk
1 Likes, Who?
Being a happy owner of several GPD devices (as well as recently a Deck), the first thing I thought when I saw the steam deck announcement was: These guys are screwed.
And I can't help but feeling sad about it :/ The've pioneered the whole handheld gaming thing and made that a reality several years before valve came and announced the Deck. Their products *worked* as a steam gaming device way before Valve even thought this was a good idea, they basically did the market research for them. It's sad to see them now being run out of business by the bigger corporation. Valve is selling the deck at a loss because they can afford it, and that will take care of killing off the "competition". But such is the brutal world of business ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anyway, I don't like people abusing copyright law to do stupid things. They are obviously in the wrong about this, but I don't think rehashing what everybody agrees with would contribute much to the discussion at this point.
Last edited by setzer22 on 6 April 2022 at 3:01 pm UTC
And I can't help but feeling sad about it :/ The've pioneered the whole handheld gaming thing and made that a reality several years before valve came and announced the Deck. Their products *worked* as a steam gaming device way before Valve even thought this was a good idea, they basically did the market research for them. It's sad to see them now being run out of business by the bigger corporation. Valve is selling the deck at a loss because they can afford it, and that will take care of killing off the "competition". But such is the brutal world of business ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anyway, I don't like people abusing copyright law to do stupid things. They are obviously in the wrong about this, but I don't think rehashing what everybody agrees with would contribute much to the discussion at this point.
Last edited by setzer22 on 6 April 2022 at 3:01 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
I've got a couple of GPD devices (GPD MicroPC, and GPD Win Max 2021) - they're nice machines and both run Xubuntu (my favoured distro) excellently. However, when they reach the end of their working lives years down the line, I won't be considering GPD again - this bad conduct has put me off. Hopefully the Steam Deck opening up this market to the masses will lead to some other company offering mini-sized gaming laptops with built-in controls by then!
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Valve is selling the deck at a loss because they can afford it
Can you link to the info/BOM that has that regards costings?
2 Likes, Who?
Valve is selling the deck at a loss because they can afford it,I honestly doubt that.
This isn't a console that can make up for selling at a loss with absurd stuff like costs-to-play-online or generally overpriced games.
Nor is it going to bring it tons of new customers - I'd bet that 99% of buyers are Steam customers anyway.
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I suspect that at the scale they're seeing, it probably isn't selling at a loss now because of economies of scale, but if demand had been more tepid (which it absolutely could have been) and they were only making them on the scale of any other niche small-run PC hardware then they'd have been selling at a loss - the cost of all of those is much higher than that of the Deck. But the product is a demonstration device of Linux gaming ("new ways for prospective users to get into Linux gaming and experience these improvements" as Valve described it) for strategic purposes - it doesn't have to make any money.Valve is selling the deck at a loss because they can afford it,I honestly doubt that.
This isn't a console that can make up for selling at a loss with absurd stuff like costs-to-play-online or generally overpriced games.
Nor is it going to bring it tons of new customers - I'd bet that 99% of buyers are Steam customers anyway.
Last edited by CatKiller on 6 April 2022 at 5:28 pm UTC
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Chinese companies, regardless of their size or reach, usually have a whole different concept of copyright infringement, so zero surprises here.
Just keep in mind they're on a whole different legal framework than western countries in this regarding, for me is YouTube who should be providing proper mechanisms to report these things for content creators and not just for big corporations and their greedy interests.
Just keep in mind they're on a whole different legal framework than western countries in this regarding, for me is YouTube who should be providing proper mechanisms to report these things for content creators and not just for big corporations and their greedy interests.
1 Likes, Who?
Philadelphus Apr 6, 2022
Really? Huh. That seems…abusable. Like, could I get LTT (say) taken down just by filing 3 takedown requests? Clearly there's some context or nuance I'm missing here.Another YouTuber got in touch, they've also issued a takedown request.Nice one. All they need is 3 takedown requests within 90 days (they can all be from the same creator too) and GPD lose their whole youtube channel forever.
Maybe not the high end versions, but I'd be highly surprised if they're making much if anything on the 64 GB model. Anyone putting down a few hundred dollars on a Deck is almost certainly going to generate far more in game sales over the next few years than any lost revenue on the Deck sale*. They don't need new customers, per se; existing ones willing to buy more games (i.e., the majority of existing Steam users) are plenty. I guess you could make the argument that people would likely buy those games even without a Deck (for their existing systems), but it's also possible people buy games they wouldn't have, especially if they're buying the Deck to replace a low-spec laptop or something.Valve is selling the deck at a loss because they can afford it,I honestly doubt that.
This isn't a console that can make up for selling at a loss with absurd stuff like costs-to-play-online or generally overpriced games.
Nor is it going to bring it tons of new customers - I'd bet that 99% of buyers are Steam customers anyway.
*I've probably spent over a hundred dollars on Steam each year for the last several years (e.g., in 2020 I picked up roughly one new game or DLC a month, and even though I tend to go for cheaper games that's probably $10-$20 each). And I've got a comparatively small library of less than 150 games because I'm very picky.
1 Likes, Who?
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