Court documents show that not only is Valve a fraction the size [only 336 employees in 2021] of companies like EA or Ubisoft, it's smaller than a lot of triple-A developers - eviltoast
  • otp@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    30
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    4 months ago

    he just realized there’s profit to be made by not pissing people off

    I’m okay with this. Same deal with Costco’s founders and CEOs. It’d be nice if billionaires didn’t exist, but they do, and most of them made their profits while pissing everyone off.

    I’ll praise the ones that at least try to do some “good” for people. Even if their “good” is “Let’s make obscene amounts of money by charging affordable prices and being the ‘good guy’ in the industry”.

    • john89@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      4 months ago

      I’m not okay with this because it incentivizes companies and influencers to work together to lower people’s standards.

      People are proud to accept garbage these days.

        • daltotron@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          4 months ago

          I mean, in this case, yarrrr. but in other cases, i think, probably also yarrrr. but like, physically.

          • otp@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            4 months ago

            Steam won our over piracy, as did Netflix when it first came around. And even Uber – people stopped downloading cars for years when Uber was in its heyday!

    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      That’s the thing though, they’re still overcharging you and 70$+ isn’t affordable prices for a game, you’ve just been brainwashed into thinking that your money is worth less than it is because a big chunk of it goes to enrich a few people.

      Valve gets 30% for distributing it, the publisher takes another 10 to 20%, add other fees and 50% of what you’re spending goes to the people doing the actual work, that means that Valve gets 60% of what the dev gets for doing barely anything.

      • otp@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        4 months ago

        overcharging you and 70$+ isn’t affordable prices for a game

        The last game I bought on Steam was less than $2 after tax.

        Most games I buy on Steam are less than $20. The most expensive game I’ve ever bought on Steam was probably about $40. And I’ve done that maybe once.

        And even at $70, games are cheaper now than they’ve ever been, adjusting for inflation. They’re also generally much more expensive to produce.

        • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          4 months ago

          Just because they’re cheaper doesn’t mean you don’t get overcharged at the end of the day, what kind of mentality is that?

          • otp@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            4 months ago

            I provided numerous reasons why I don’t think I’ve been overcharged.

            I really don’t understand what your point is. What do you mean by “overcharged”?

            • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              3
              ·
              edit-2
              4 months ago

              If companies make billions in profit and company owners can spend in a day more than you’ll make in a lifetime without batting an eye that’s because people like you, me and the vast majority of humans on this planet are paying more than things are truly worth.

              We might not feel like we’re paying too much for stuff, but in reality if the person at the top has billions to their name, that money comes from somewhere, we’ve just been convinced by them that that’s the cost of things and that’s it.

              The truth is the 2$ game that you bought would have been 1$ in a system where there isn’t a billionaire at the top. The 40$ game that you bought would have been 20$ and AAA games would cost 35$. The only reason they cost double their value is because a bunch of guys rake in millions or billions a year, they artificially increase the price everything needs to be sold for in order for companies to be able to pay them.

              Your see the exact same thing happening at the grocery store, people doing the work can’t afford the food they’re selling while the big boss owns a house on every continent, take them out of the equation and suddenly everything can be sold for much cheaper because that’s billions the company doesn’t need to generate every year.

              • otp@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                4
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                4 months ago

                So your definition of overcharged is that we’re being charged more than what we would in an alternate reality where billionaires don’t exist?

                I don’t think imagination is a good basis of comparison. If one store is selling the game for $20 and another is selling it for $70 with nothing different between the two, then the one selling it for $70 is overcharging.

                But if one real store is selling it for $70, and an imaginary store is selling it for $20, then I don’t think the real store is overcharging…lol

                • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  arrow-down
                  4
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  4 months ago

                  My definition of overcharged is that if someone is able to become a multimillionaire or billionaire from people purchasing their product then their product is sold for more than it’s worth, it’s not real world vs imaginary world, it’s rich people taking advantage of us in the real world and let me guarantee you one thing buddy, you’re not rich enough to be in a position where you should defend that system, you should be angry that you have less than you deserve in your pockets while Gabe and his friends are partying on a yacht.

                  https://sh.itjust.works/comment/12304832

                  Funny how your first phrase makes it seem like you understand exactly what I’m talking about but because we’re talking about a product that you like critical thinking goes out the window.