Gabe Newell: The Next Videogame Billionaire?

[DevilWolf47]

People always have groups they feel were more artists who did better critically than financially. I always felt that in gaming those groups were Valve and Team Ico, both companies creating the apex of multiplayer, platformer, and action games, but clearly i was wrong.

4 billion? Goddamn! Hey Gabe, do you need a personal doctor who can whisper good game ideas in your ears?

 

[Low Key]

Publishers get a 70% profit margin?

So then why the fuck are digital prices on par with physical prices? If its cheaper to distribute, and earns more money, shouldn't the price of the stuff be a little lower?

Because when you factor in how much PC games get pirated, getting it for $10 less than console owners is a fair trade.

They're starting to go to $60.

Well EA/Activision games are.

And besides, piracy is also big on consoles, so thats not that great of an excuse.

Pirating is about 1,000% easier on the PC.

Still, there are better ways to go about combating piracy then stupid DRM and raising prices.

Wait, hold on bro. Are you telling me that you don't take advantage of Steam's endless amount of sales that mark everything WAY cheaper than anything a retail store could do? A vast majority of games are available on Steam, and they are the ones controlling the DRM which people don't seem to mind.

 

[Lord_Panzer]

So while Newell is probably earning a mint for his time, it's a mint that goes back into gaming as a whole.

"Finally monsieur, a wha-fer thin mint."

Couldn't resist. And good for him, he's built a good company with reliable games and great service.

 

[-AC80-]

Spoiler

congratulations. you made me pee myself with Laughter. +9000 internets for you

on a more serious note, yes Gabe probably will become the next billionaire of games, but, hey, he deserves it.

 

[mjc0961]

Okay, that bit at the end with the Victoria's Secret thing was absolutely hilarious.

Hey Gabe. Imagine how much more money you would make if you got HL2 Episode 3 out. That, plus now that Duke Nukem Forever is coming out, we need a new game to make vaporware jokes about and you don't want to win that title, do you?

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Fuchs Dystrophy?

The 11 year old in me wants to now how it's pronounced.

 

[Irridium]

Publishers get a 70% profit margin?

So then why the fuck are digital prices on par with physical prices? If its cheaper to distribute, and earns more money, shouldn't the price of the stuff be a little lower?

Because when you factor in how much PC games get pirated, getting it for $10 less than console owners is a fair trade.

They're starting to go to $60.

Well EA/Activision games are.

And besides, piracy is also big on consoles, so thats not that great of an excuse.

Pirating is about 1,000% easier on the PC.

Still, there are better ways to go about combating piracy then stupid DRM and raising prices.

Wait, hold on bro. Are you telling me that you don't take advantage of Steam's endless amount of sales that mark everything WAY cheaper than anything a retail store could do? A vast majority of games are available on Steam, and they are the ones controlling the DRM which people don't seem to mind.

No, I'm just complaining about the stupidity of game publishers. Yes the sales are nice, very nice, but I can't say I'm too happy about games slowly rising on price when everything is showing they should actually be cheaper.

 

[subject_87]

the escapist giving you stock advice seriously buy shares in valve people its only going up!

...The thing is, the company isn't listed in the stock exchange, and they have good reasons for that.

OT: Seems pretty cool; judging by what I've seen thus far, it seems a decent portion of their considerable money pile has been dumped on the Portal 2 team, and good thing too. But Episode 3 would be nice too, Valve, just saying.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

It estimates that Steam, the digital distribution platform with over 30 million users [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104474-30-Million-Steam-Accounts-Cant-Be-Wrong], owns 50-70% of the $4 billion download market, which exceeded physical PC unit sales in 2010 for the first time.

It would be worth to add that sales of digital units only exceed physical ones in North America (even the Forbes article mentions that the statement is based on a NPD Group report, which only covers North America). In Europe, for example, the situation is entirely different [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.246459-PC-Retail-Sales-Becoming-Impossible-for-Small-Publishers] (read the last paragraph). Furthermore, while digital distribution has exceeded retail in terms of raw units moved in North America, retail still holds the greater revenue share (this based off of that same NPD Group report [http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/9/20/game-downloads-exceed-physical-sales/]).

Anyway, good for Newell. Although I am not personally a fan of Steam, I can certainly see why some people like it, so I can't say that their success isn't well deserve. Also, while I don't like Valve as a digital publisher, I love them as a developer.

You keep doing what you are doing, Newell. Just...have more consideration for us who prefer retail, will you?

 

[RelexCryo]

Good for Gabe, though the box/key thing is bull.

 

[hyperdrachen]

Valve/Steam, that independantly owned hero of the game creation/distribution community. I'm a long term fan and customer, since launch, and have been very satisfied on both accounts.

 

[Tharwen]

Hey Gabe. Imagine how much more money you would make if you got HL2 Episode 3 out. That, plus now that Duke Nukem Forever is coming out, we need a new game to make vaporware jokes about and you don't want to win that title, do you?

Oh, I think they do...

Thousands of people making references to their game every day? That's almost never a bad thing.

 

[Denizen]

* Slow congratulatory applause *

Dammit, now I want to replay half-life. That screenshot brought me back to that chapter with that old enemy model... Also it's no surprise that Valve is that wealthy all around yet almost a secret since they rarely release sales reports and actual figures since they let other people like forbes do it

 

[Awexsome]

Well they have their shortcomings but Valve is a more deserving company than many others given their efforts.

Although I bet they made it more on Steam than anything. I mean... Valve time would be completely invalid if it wasn't for Steam bringing in a constant supply of cash. No other developer could get away with waiting that long on games and putting that much time into free content (well not so free anymore with TF2's example, but all through the class updates)

 

[Kelethor]

Gabe seems like a fun guy too hang around with.

 

[odeed]

I know that Escapist is known for its large population of Valve fanboys... but it's really, really hard not to be one. When they screw up, they don't say "fuck you, deal with it", they say "sorry, here's a bunch of free stuff".

 

[Gazisultima]

Too bad all this money stops Valve from releasing games on time.

 

[Ashcrexl]

this is what happens when you're head of company that combines quality products, good customer relations, and absolutely genius marketing schemes.

 

[TheRealCJ]

That's a lot of fried chicken.