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Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012)

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Re: Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012)

#91

Post by Hikikomori »

ThatPlayer wrote: post #77
Panzer04 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other things is steam doesn't constrain competition (afaik? Open to being wrong but this is how I'd understood it). Devs can sell their own games, games can be on other platforms, etc. Despite that gamers think it's worth the convenience and utilities steam provides to keep shopping there. Steam isn't dominant because it's strangling competition like the app store and similar. People can trivially download altern…

Steam is currently being sued by Wolfire for being anti-competitive by allegedly having a "platform most-favored-nations" clause. Preventing games on other platforms from being priced lower. According to the developer: > [Valve] would remove Overgrowth from Steam if I allowed it to be sold at a lower price anywhere, even from my own website without Steam keys and without Steam’s DRM. > I believe that other developers…

Its not true. You're allowed to sell for lower elsewhere, but you can't sell steam keys for a lower price than steam store. So if you create a version of your game that works without steam you can sell that for a lower price.

Re: Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012)

#92

Post by davidbanham »

andyferris wrote: post #33
bob1029 wrote: post #27

Valve gets a lot of heat for slowing down on first party gaming content, but I think Steam has been a net positive for the gaming community. There are certainly some cases where the accessibility has created "noise" and other trouble, but overall I think this is a good thing. Their 30% cut is absolutely justified once you start looking into everything they do for you as a developer and the market that you have access…

It interests me that it needs to be an "or". A HL3 team could essentially function as an independent studio using the Steam platform, with some funding thrown from Valve. Assuming the ROI is positive what exactly is holding them back?

That’s what they did for CS:GO, developed by Hidden Path.

Re: Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012)

#93

Post by SXX »

gdbsjjdn wrote: post #90
SXX wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As consumer I very much agree with you, but as game developer 30% is abysmal amount of money. Imagine you're indie developer or owner of a small 3-10 people studio that finally released reasonably successful game: 1 - Let's say you invested $100,000 of your own money for vertical slice and managed to find a publisher to give you $200,000 to complete the game. 2 - Ignore that you had some failed games before, but this…

Steam isn't the right place to sell a game that does 1M in total lifetime sales. Because like you said, it won't hit any recommendations and they'll take a huge cut. This is like complaining that AMC won't screen your student film. You're playing in a very niche space and the key is to keep costs under control so you can actually make money.

If your game is not on Steam (or big consoles) it doesn't exist. Platforms like Itch are only useful for part-time solo developers who trying to earn their $100 or $10 for ramen. Can be good marketing for solo developers too, but you only make money when release on "real" platform.

Gamedev is a hit industry. Even of released games 90% never make back the investments. Then 1% hits make 90% of money.

And situation is as bad for $3,000,000 game studio as it's for one like mine that makes $300,000 games.

Re: Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012)

#94

Post by SXX »

TheFreim wrote: post #88
SXX wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As consumer I very much agree with you, but as game developer 30% is abysmal amount of money. Imagine you're indie developer or owner of a small 3-10 people studio that finally released reasonably successful game: 1 - Let's say you invested $100,000 of your own money for vertical slice and managed to find a publisher to give you $200,000 to complete the game. 2 - Ignore that you had some failed games before, but this…

I would note that they do provide quite an immense amount of value to developers. Achievements, transferable inventory system, multi-player (steam networking), among other things. The 30% cut still feels high, especially since most games can't or won't take advantage of every single service Steam provides, but I do think they provide quite a bit of developer value that needs to be factored in.

You really missing my point here. Problem with platforms is that platform-holders are taking bigger cut from a small struggling companies than they take from likes of EA or Ubisoft. If you look at majority of small and mid-size game development studios Valve is basically taking half of their income unless your game earns more than $10,000,000.

It's totally okay to like Valve or Steam as gamer. As fellow gamers I totally agree with you.

Just next time when you wonder why you favorite studio went bankrupt or why you niche genre game never got a sequel this is why: because some monopoly took 50% of their profit.

Re: Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012)

#95

Post by moomin »

pstuart wrote: post #87
moomin wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least one former employee has confirmed that exactly the problems you are describing were a problem at Valve. https://www.wired.com/2013/07/wireduk-valve-jeri-ellsworth/

side note: Jeri Ellsworth is a rockstar engineer.

I know someone who’s worked with her and yes, “talented” is an understatement.

Re: Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012)

#96

Post by t-3 »

monkeyelite wrote: post #57
rendaw wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it meaningfully different if it's not given to employees but given to everyone before they become an employee? I'd agree it's a meaningful distinction if the company wasn't actually as written... but it sounds like everything in there is accurate?

Propaganda isn’t false - and wasn’t always pejorative. It’s a selection of true things arranged to tell an appealing story.

The connotation of propaganda as being false or misleading is itself the result of propaganda of the most subtle and sophisticated level.

Re: Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012)

#97

Post by FatalLogic »

Hikikomori wrote: post #91
ThatPlayer wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steam is currently being sued by Wolfire for being anti-competitive by allegedly having a "platform most-favored-nations" clause. Preventing games on other platforms from being priced lower. According to the developer: > [Valve] would remove Overgrowth from Steam if I allowed it to be sold at a lower price anywhere, even from my own website without Steam keys and without Steam’s DRM. > I believe that other developers…

Its not true. You're allowed to sell for lower elsewhere, but you can't sell steam keys for a lower price than steam store. So if you create a version of your game that works without steam you can sell that for a lower price.

In the class action case[0], which was allowed to go forward by the court last year, it is claimed that Valve told someone:

"This includes communications from Valve that “‘the price on Steam [must be] competitive with where it’s being sold elsewhere’” and that Valve “‘wouldn’t be OK with selling games on Steam if they are available at better prices on other stores, even if they didn’t use Steam keys.’” Dkt. No. 343 ¶ 158, 160 (quoting emails produced at VALVE_ANT_0598921, 0605087). "

(This is a new case, not the 2021 suit, which was rejected by the court, then amended and refiled, later with an additional plaintiff added)

[0]https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.29...

Re: Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012)

#98

Post by moomin »

FatalLogic wrote: post #86
moomin wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least one former employee has confirmed that exactly the problems you are describing were a problem at Valve. https://www.wired.com/2013/07/wireduk-valve-jeri-ellsworth/

>"they pretty much killed off our project.” That project was CastAR — augmented reality glasses which Jeri Ellsworth is now working on as a separate project, having been handed the legal rights to do so by Valve . But how many billion-dollar companies would do that? Just give the rights to the ex-employees? I think most other companies would have not. So, in that sense, Valve is unusual, even if it's not the oranizat…

Unfortunately, no-one’s investment in AR or VR has worked out. Even the “winner” (Oculus/Meta) has found the market to be disappointingly small.

Re: Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012)

#99

Post by pixxel »

rjzzleep wrote: post #44
LauraMedia wrote: post #20

Chet Faliszek, writer for games like Half-Life and the lead writer for Portal/Portal 2 has since confirmed that this handbook was never given to employees. It was created and released as part of advertising them as an employer.

Valve has hired a bunch of FAANG engineers that brought their own toxic hiring practices to Valve. It's only a matter of time before those people promote their culture in that organization if they haven't done so already.

[dead]

Re: Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012)

#100

Post by gverrilla »

jsheard wrote: post #51
Almondsetat wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HL Alyx and Dota 2 aren't of note?

Dota 2 is of note, but that was a pretty safe project being a straight remake of an already popular mod with the mods developer at the helm. Their major titles since 2012 were: CS:GO (remake of a remake) Dota 2 (remake) Artifact (flopped) Underlords (flopped) Alyx (good) Counter-Strike 2 (remake of a remake of a remake) Deadlock (early beta, but promising) They haven't completely lost the sauce, but it's rare to see…

Cs:Go was a 'remake' of cs 1.6, which was the original cs with a lot of changes and updates, but no remake
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