Anti consumer:
Proton, so Linux players can play Windows games without much problems.
Steam Remote Play together, so you can play couch coop games with friends, who do not own the game.
SteamLink, so you can stream the games to every Android device everywhere.
Family Sharing, so you can share games with your family and friends.
Controller configuration, so you can use whatever controller on Steam you want.
Anti-Consumer.
This. Working on technological things like this is good. Even when they were trying to do Steam Machines and Steam Controller, I was glad to see them trying that (even though it didn't end well).
Hell if you want to make the argument purely based on "They don't make games!!!!" that's not even true!
Since Portal 2 Valve put out the following:
Counter-Strike Global Offensive*
Dota 2*
Artifact
Dota Underlords*
The Lab**
Half-Life Alyx
*These games are still regularly updated with new content.
**You could argue not counting The Lab as a game because it's more of a tech demo, which is fair.
I know lots of people complain about TF2's lack of updates, but the game has been around since 2007. It had it's glory years of getting updated quite frequently, to the degree Dota 2 and CSGO get updated today.
I think their ventures into VR are a good idea, as it was a new platform and fairly uncharted ground. Based on all the footage of Alyx, I can confidently say that there's no VR game quite like this one, and I think this will truly break ground in the VR space.
As it's been mentioned many times in this thread, I highly recommend watching the interview with Gabe Newell and Robin Walker that went up yesterday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0zXkwLs_lo
One thing that gets discussed is Valve being a private company and not having to meet a deadline with a new game every quarter, or year, or something. They can invest in things like enhancing Steam, VR, controllers, hardware, Proton, etc. Regardless of that though, even before Alyx, Valve was and still is making games. They don't "count to 3" and have even joked about that themselves in the
Dota 2 Gabe Newell Mega Kills pack. Just because Valve isn't making the games you always want does not mean they are not making games.
Lots of people always cite that announcement
video reaction of Artifact at The International. Was Artifact the thing people expected or wanted? No, it wasn't. I think Artifact was still a great product marred by some poor design choices and miscommunications that led to it's demise. They tried to treat it like a physical card game even though it was a digital one and that just doesn't really work for what is still a digital card game. The game itself was excellent and I had a ton of fun playing it while people were still playing it, I just hope that remade version comes out some day, but I am not getting my hopes up about that.
I just don't see how saying just because a lot of people don't have VR, you shouldn't try to make good games for it. Other than the price, I think VR's biggest issues are it's accessibility, and based on what Valve has talked about and shown, Half-Life Alyx looks to be taking significant strides, offering different ways to play it for people's comfort. There's even an option to toggle whether Barnacles actually pull you up or just hold you in place! Seeing the floor falling out from under you in VR can be motion sickness inducing.
I think this video in the OP is really reiterating a lot of talking points on the internet that are mostly not true. Valve not making the exact game you want is not "anti-consumer". I could have seen that argument in maybe 2004 when people were concerned about DRM for Half-Life 2, and it's issues when it launched, but now people see Steam in a completely different light.