Well, that's certainly an article title isn't it. But I mean it. Microsoft, don't you dare touch Valve. You're fat enough already and too big as it is, especially with the Activision purchase clearly about to happen.
"Liam, what's got you all like this?!", I hear you all asking. Well, remember that recent Microsoft leak that showed off a bunch of potential game releases? There was a lot more to the leak overall you see, and some of it a little disturbing for the industry. In an email from Phil Spencer spotted by The Verge, there was talk about their plans including wanting to buy up the likes of Nintendo and even Valve with Spencer noting "But our BoD has seen the full writeup on Nintendo (and Valve) and they are fully supportive on either if opportunity arises as am I" (BoD being Board of Directors).
Pictured - Leaked 2020 email, credit to The Verge
Could you imagine the disaster it would be if Microsoft acquired Valve? There's just so many ways that would become incredibly problematic and wow — what a monopoly that would make huh? Not that Valve has any need at all to sell, they pretty much print money thanks to their 30% cut from most developers on Steam. Valve is also privately owned, so they can do whatever the heck they want. Valve are far from perfect, but competition is good and necessary and them joining together would really mess the industry up.
You might remember that "Microsoft Loves Linux", but the reality is they like Linux when it makes them money. If the above ever were to happen, it's not really likely they would continue all of Valve's big investments into Linux given how even with the Steam Deck the market is small. After all, Valve put all these resources into Linux because they don't want to be entirely at the whims of Microsoft for their store, and Valve clearly want their own platform so Linux with Proton + Steam Deck is key to that. And maybe even more when we find out what the heck Galileo and Sephiroth are.
So, Microsoft, please continue to keep your filthy hands off Valve (but keep putting your games on Steam okay? thanks).
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Also, keep your filthy hands off Nintendo. And everything that you haven't extinguished yet.
Last edited by Kandarihu on 22 September 2023 at 4:58 pm UTC
Last edited by Kandarihu on 22 September 2023 at 4:58 pm UTC
20 Likes, Who?
They did try to buy Nintendo in 1999.
"Steve [Ballmer, ex-Microsoft CEO] made us go meet with Nintendo to see if they would consider being acquired. They just laughed their asses off. Like, imagine an hour of somebody just laughing at you. That was kind of how that meeting went."
— Kevin Bachus, former director of third-party relations at Microsoft
"Steve [Ballmer, ex-Microsoft CEO] made us go meet with Nintendo to see if they would consider being acquired. They just laughed their asses off. Like, imagine an hour of somebody just laughing at you. That was kind of how that meeting went."
— Kevin Bachus, former director of third-party relations at Microsoft
25 Likes, Who?
Valve isn't publicly traded, and most shares are in the hands of sane people, it will never happen.
16 Likes, Who?
They also tried to buy Valve as recently as 2012.
I have no doubt Microsoft would love to buy everyone they see as a competitor, or view as adding value to a competing platform. Regulators really need to take a stronger stance on this.
I have no doubt Microsoft would love to buy everyone they see as a competitor, or view as adding value to a competing platform. Regulators really need to take a stronger stance on this.
11 Likes, Who?
I love how the mail is titled "random thought". I wonder if the acquisition of Activision also started like that.
3 Likes, Who?
williamjcm Sep 22, 2023
Well, since the leak happened, I'm sure competition watchdogs will keep a very close eye on Microsoft for the years to come.
3 Likes, Who?
The older i get, the more woried i get at what will happen after Gaben step down/dies and this sort of news are kind of terrifying when i look at my 827 game library with only 54 of those game completed. And this include game i bought dozens of years ago on console that got a pc port i actually haven't touched yet.
9 Likes, Who?
They did try to buy Nintendo in 1999.
"Steve [Ballmer, ex-Microsoft CEO] made us go meet with Nintendo to see if they would consider being acquired. They just laughed their asses off. Like, imagine an hour of somebody just laughing at you. That was kind of how that meeting went."
— Kevin Bachus, former director of third-party relations at Microsoft
I misread that a bit and thought of a sweaty angry Ballmer personally going and yelling sales pitches at Nintendo while they just laugh harder as it goes on. I would have paid good money for footage of that.
9 Likes, Who?
I would give up gaming in a heartbeat if valve were purchased by Microsoft.
Valve saved PC gaming when retailers gave us the 2 fingers in favour of consoles. At least prior generations had the advantage of physical media allowing game ownership. Now they want to kill the physical games media market also.
I own a Series X which is gathering dust and I would not have purchased it had I known Microsoft would make it impossible to play the game from the disk offline. I chose this option because I have poor internet so my anger was strong when I was forced to download these huge games files despite having the disk in my hand.
So I only buy physical games on PS5 now as SONY at least allows games to be played without updates but the bulk of my purchases are on PC simply because I trust Valve more than the competition to not somehow screw me over.
Microsoft can have Nintendo though as they are as anti consumer as Microsoft so would be a match made in heaven for them. The only problem is they are both just as greedy as each other so negotiating a deal in my view is highly unlikely to ever happen.
Valve saved PC gaming when retailers gave us the 2 fingers in favour of consoles. At least prior generations had the advantage of physical media allowing game ownership. Now they want to kill the physical games media market also.
I own a Series X which is gathering dust and I would not have purchased it had I known Microsoft would make it impossible to play the game from the disk offline. I chose this option because I have poor internet so my anger was strong when I was forced to download these huge games files despite having the disk in my hand.
So I only buy physical games on PS5 now as SONY at least allows games to be played without updates but the bulk of my purchases are on PC simply because I trust Valve more than the competition to not somehow screw me over.
Microsoft can have Nintendo though as they are as anti consumer as Microsoft so would be a match made in heaven for them. The only problem is they are both just as greedy as each other so negotiating a deal in my view is highly unlikely to ever happen.
6 Likes, Who?
PublicNuisance Sep 22, 2023
As mentioned before Valve is a private company and that will mean that Gabe would have to say yes not shareholders. This is the exact reason why anyone who takes their company public is insane because once you do it is no longer your company.
3 Likes, Who?
walther von stolzing Sep 22, 2023
They did try to buy Nintendo in 1999.
"Steve [Ballmer, ex-Microsoft CEO] made us go meet with Nintendo to see if they would consider being acquired. They just laughed their asses off. Like, imagine an hour of somebody just laughing at you. That was kind of how that meeting went."
— Kevin Bachus, former director of third-party relations at Microsoft
I misread that a bit and thought of a sweaty angry Ballmer personally going and yelling sales pitches at Nintendo while they just laugh harder as it goes on. I would have paid good money for footage of that.
I'm sure you've witnessed what I'm about to mention, but for the uninitiated: M$ made plenty of in-company videos through the 90s where both Gates & Ballmer indulged in all manner of clownery; & those are available on youtube nowadays as low quality vhs rips.
Stuff like their spoof of the famous 'what is love' Jim Carrey SNL skit (as an excuse to poke fun at the anti-trust lawsuit); Bill Gates teleporting into a screen from Doom in a trenchcoat with shotgun in hand, & others. Ballmer himself was on public Windows 3.0 commercials.
1 Likes, Who?
I would give up gaming in a heartbeat if valve were purchased by Microsoft.
Valve saved PC gaming when retailers gave us the 2 fingers in favour of consoles. At least prior generations had the advantage of physical media allowing game ownership. Now they want to kill the physical games media market also.
I own a Series X which is gathering dust and I would not have purchased it had I known Microsoft would make it impossible to play the game from the disk offline. I chose this option because I have poor internet so my anger was strong when I was forced to download these huge games files despite having the disk in my hand.
So I only buy physical games on PS5 now as SONY at least allows games to be played without updates but the bulk of my purchases are on PC simply because I trust Valve more than the competition to not somehow screw me over.
Microsoft can have Nintendo though as they are as anti consumer as Microsoft so would be a match made in heaven for them. The only problem is they are both just as greedy as each other so negotiating a deal in my view is highly unlikely to ever happen.
If you live in the US and have decent T-Mobile signal where you live, you should see if T-Mobile home Internet is available for your area. The speeds are not great, just 4g LTE or 5g, but they offer unlimited data without throttling. Perfect for some of the more remote areas of the US.
I recently switched my house over from Comcast, and I'm pretty happy to not have an Xfinity contract anymore.
3 Likes, Who?
As mentioned before Valve is a private company and that will mean that Gabe would have to say yes not shareholders. This is the exact reason why anyone who takes their company public is insane because once you do it is no longer your company.
Depends on how many shares you sell out to the public and what kind. E.g Alphabet (aka Google) have shares with zero votes and those are the ones that are traded, the ones that carry the actual votes the founders kept for themselves so no one can buy Alphabet by purchasing up all the public shares.
Also Gabe is not the single share holder, exactly how many shares he has is unknown but it is rumoured to be 50% and that Lisa Mennet got some in their divorce.
The older i get, the more woried i get at what will happen after Gaben step down/dies and this sort of news are kind of terrifying when i look at my 827 game library with only 54 of those game completed. And this include game i bought dozens of years ago on console that got a pc port i actually haven't touched yet.
As I wrote above most people forget that Gabe is not the sole share holder of Valve, Mike Harrington as being the co-founder surely have his share of shares and there is rumours that Gabens ex-wife have quite a lot of shares as well.
If/When Gabe dies his shares will most likely go to his two sons and keeping those shares would ensure their financial future until the day they die including their own children so they would be completely idiots to sell it off for a one time fee to MS. In any case that is most likely years and years away, yes Gabe is not the most healthy looking individual, but he does have access to the most expensive care available on the planet so he could very well live for another 20 or 40 years.
Last edited by F.Ultra on 22 September 2023 at 8:43 pm UTC
3 Likes, Who?
Well, since the leak happened, I'm sure competition watchdogs will keep a very close eye on Microsoft for the years to come.
Except, where can we find competent competition watchdogs? Current application of competition law seems to be getting more and more toothless.
Last edited by Shmerl on 22 September 2023 at 9:37 pm UTC
9 Likes, Who?
At the moment I don't know what is worse for the gaming industry. Microsoft or Embracer.
4 Likes, Who?
Also, keep your filthy hands off Nintendo.
i would not mind having mario, zelda, etc on PC and playing mario kart WITHOUT a F*ING SUBSCRIPTION online
4 Likes, Who?
As I said over on the forum, though losing either to Microsoft would make a terrible impact on the games market, I feel that Nintendo is under greater immediate threat than Valve, here. I'll just quote my post from there;
It's unfortunate that the Activision buyout looks like it will go through - it was clearly a test-case for stuff like this.
They're still aiming to buy Nintendo, as well, and though I'm no longer a fan personally after they went off in a direction that I no longer enjoyed and made a bunch of decisions I don't agree with, I can certainly acknowledge the massive risk to the games market from such a thing (especially since Phil Spencer's statement that "[Nintendo's future] exists off their own hardware" is, as far as I understand it, an accurate claim - with how gaming is these days, I'm not interested in owning a second machine just for one company's games, and I don't imagine I'm alone in that) - and I think that that one's more likely to happen than Microsoft buying Valve (indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if the Activision buyout was testing the waters for this).
After all, Nintendo has spent several years allowing the content and balancing of one of their own games to be used to subtly (or, to someone like me, not-so-subtly) send the message that their content is inferior to that of Microsoft and several other companies, by way of Nintendo paying licensing fees to them to include and promote and prioritise their content in that game.
Back when I was a Nintendo customer, this was a factor that made it appear to me that they were preparing to be bought out, and, combined with them ceasing to make games that I enjoyed, gave me cold feet about the future viability of supporting their hardware. This only confirms my thinking of five years ago, now.
Additionally, Microsoft purchasing Nintendo would aid something touched on in this article about using Minetest in an educational setting instead of Minecraft - namely that it's logical that Microsoft would want to increase their marketing reach to get more of the younger age-groups dependent on their software earlier in life.
So, yeah, from a market perspective, I think that Valve is under less of a direct threat than Nintendo is right now - and I agree with Grogan that I don't think that a Valve buyout would be allowed to slide like the Activision one has been.
It's unfortunate that the Activision buyout looks like it will go through - it was clearly a test-case for stuff like this.
2 Likes, Who?
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