Valve more likely to 'disintegrate' than sell off

Valve boss Gabe Newell says it's more likely the company would "disintegrate" and scatter than be sold to a larger company.

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The video game industry has a tendency to shift rapidly, as studios fold and new ones form, and some are acquired by larger publishers. Valve has remained independent for years, and according to founder Gabe Newell, it intends to keep it that way. He remarked that given the general trend of companies that are bought out, it's more likely that Valve would "disintegrate."

"It's way more likely we would head in that direction than say, 'Let’s find some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate,'" Newell told the New York Times.

He may have a point. Companies that are bought sometimes lose a part of their identity, either by staff leaving voluntarily or the publisher cutting some staff members. Bizzare Creations was acquired by Activision, after which it produced a few more racing games before closing. Neversoft is best known for series like Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero, but has now been switched to Call of Duty.

Valve has a very free-form policy when it comes to its employee responsibilities, letting staff come and go to different projects where they'd feel most effective. If it lost that part of its identity, it may not be much like Valve anymore at all.

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  • reply
    September 10, 2012 11:00 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Valve more likely to 'disintegrate' than sell off.

    Valve boss Gabe Newell says it's more likely the company would "disintegrate" and scatter than be sold to a larger company.

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      September 10, 2012 11:04 AM

      You gotta love Gabe Newell. I think this guy and Notch is another on, seem to honestly care about the game industry.

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        September 10, 2012 11:08 AM

        Yup. They are one of the rare real deals.

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          September 10, 2012 11:15 AM

          I care :) \m/ , I think Valve really does care for real no bullshit, they be my number one choice no question.

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            September 10, 2012 11:24 AM

            valcan_s, I think everybody here knows you care... how else could be so god damn enthusiastic?! :)

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        September 10, 2012 11:17 AM

        There are a lot of guys who care, just not many of them are in a position of power.

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          September 10, 2012 11:19 AM

          This ^^^

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          September 10, 2012 11:22 AM

          Yes, good point. I didn't mean to make it sound like there are not other people out there... these are just two prominent ones who stand out to me.

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          September 10, 2012 1:26 PM

          I think there are very few people who care AND have the managerial chops that Gabe Newell does.

          dude is a fucking jedi master manager, to the degree that nobody at the company views him as one.

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        September 10, 2012 12:21 PM

        You equate Notch with Gabe Newell? *barf*

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          September 10, 2012 1:01 PM

          I kinda like Notch, but... yeah. That's a stretch.

        • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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          September 10, 2012 1:50 PM

          Honestly, I can see it. Sure, there's an order of magnitude difference in wealth/power/influence, but Notch has been putting his money back into the community quite readily.

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          September 10, 2012 1:58 PM

          No, I'm not saying they are equals, I'm just saying Notch is also an influential guy in the industry who uses whatever clout he has in a positive way.

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          September 10, 2012 2:45 PM

          Yeah, Notch has been pretty awesome about giving back to the community and supporting indie devs. I like him.

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          September 10, 2012 6:14 PM

          If MineCraft is this generation's Sgt. Peppers then what was HL2?

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        September 10, 2012 1:06 PM

        Well, according to Wikipedia, Gaben is worth around $1.5 billion dollars, so I think it's fairly safe to say he's not doing it for the money at this point.

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        September 10, 2012 1:09 PM

        Yep. So long as Valve continues to be run as Gabe would run it, they'll have my business.

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        September 10, 2012 3:16 PM

        GabeN is on a completely different level to Notch. Don't mention them in the same sentence.

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          September 10, 2012 3:16 PM

          you guys are ridiculous. he mentioned them as people who care about the industry, and they clearly both do.

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          September 10, 2012 3:17 PM

          And I realised I just did that. haha.

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      September 10, 2012 1:58 PM

      would they disintegrate the Steam business itself? no of course not, itd be sold to another company

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        September 10, 2012 5:34 PM

        There's every indication that Steam is fantastically profitable and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Steam doesn't need to be sold to another company. A much more likely "disintegration" scenario would be Steam "buying" itself from Valve to separate the distribution from the development studio.

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      September 10, 2012 2:00 PM

      Not that I wont it to happen, but if they were bought out we would have Half-Life 3 by now. I could live with that change lol

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        September 10, 2012 3:19 PM

        And it wouldnt be the same HL3 as Valve would of released.

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        September 10, 2012 4:45 PM

        If Valve were bought out we'd have the 9th iteration of Half-Life and it'd be a modern combat fps by now.

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        September 10, 2012 4:45 PM

        If Valve were bought out we'd have the 9th iteration of Half-Life and it'd be a modern combat fps by now.

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        September 10, 2012 5:42 PM

        i'd rather never see half-life 3, personally. valve and steam are too important.

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      September 10, 2012 2:47 PM

      i love you so much valve <3

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      September 10, 2012 6:13 PM

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUo1PgKksgw ARE YOU READY FOR A MIRACLE?!?!

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