Hardcore_gamer said:
Pulse Reality said:
I thought Valve had enough money to buy a small Space Shuttle. Valve are probably worth more than ZeniMax.
Really? They are on the verge of (if they haven't already) buying Id Software and they created some of the most known and the most famous shooters in history (Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein).
while id has arguably done more for the fps genre and may be a more iconic developer than valve, the simple fact is that id has never really made as much money off of their games as valve has.
wolf 3d, and the early doom games didnt sell for $50 a pop like half life did, and its arguable as to how many copies id actually SOLD of those games. more recently however ids games havent been as successful as valves have, with direct comparisons being doom 3 and half life 2 (the former is estimated to have sold 3.5 million copies, the most successful game id has ever made, whereas hl2 has sold close to 10 million copies, which is actually LESS than the original half life sold). then we of course have to take steam into consideration, which is bringing massive amounts of money to valve, while id software lacks any kind of program like this. finally theres the fact that while both id's and valves recent engines have been completly overshadowed by unreal engine 3, the simple fact is that source has had many more third party licensees than id tech 4.
sorry, but the simple is that while id is a more iconic developer valve has made much more money ans is likely worth several times what zenimax paid for id. its really not a fair comparison in terms of the economic value of each company and the poster you quoted was right, financially valve IS worth more than id.
Ganryu said:
To all the people saying that Valve has money i have to reply: Are you srsly comparing a business with a game studio in terms of capital? Naive to say the least. I hope Valve gets bought, maybe that way they'll have to stick to deadlines and not dick around for year round a game and say they are "polishing" it.
the only problem is this: despite the constant delays valve makes some of the best games ever made. half-life is awarded with the top spot on top 10 and 100 lists more than doom is, while games like half-life 2, tf2, portal and left 4 dead are all praised to high heaven (and rightfully so). the amount of care valve puts into their games ensures that they are the best games they can possibly be, something that a lot of other developers, bethesda included, should do.
