why doesn't valve become a publisher?

[jaekeem]

has anyone else wondered this?

they have one of the largest cash inflows out of all pc gaming companies thanks to steam

I know their flat structure has made it hard for them to develop games on their own for quite a while, but I feel like they could be such a tremendous force if they started throwing some weight around as a publisher

it could also lead to more in-house owned steam exclusives, something that might be important moving forward with the rise of the EGS and more and more pc gaming platforms

 

[vestan]

because they don't need to

steam, dota, cs and tf2 already pull in insane amounts for valve, why bother with the risks involved with publishing?

 

[PlanetSmasher]

They don't want to.

 

[Lego Killer Moth]

Because they don't care about releasing games. They make more money on Steam every day than any game they released would make lifetime.

 

[Deleted member 42]

They'd compete with other pubs on Steam which would annoy said pubs

Also

because they don't need to

steam, dota, cs and tf2 already pull in insane amounts for valve, why bother with the risks involved with publishing?

Click to shrink...

They don't want to.

Click to shrink...

 

[SoH]

They don't seem to be very interested in that sort of business relationship. They brought Campo Santo completely in, after all.

 

[Dreamboum]

because someone else can do the job for them and they earn a cut from it anyway.

Just like Apple & Google, they don't merit the 30% cut they earn

 

[rafiki]

Valve is a private company, they don't need to worry about making their investors happy. Thus, they haven't grew into some big corporation. They are happy with being small and what they are doing

 

[samred]

Valve's history has been to hire modders, then student and indie teams, to fill out its own ranks. More control than serving as a publisher.

Look up Narbacular Drop.

 

[Deleted member 40102]

Because its risky business and before they were set with steam profits, now that they have competition I could see them go publisher and have exclusive store games.

 

[collige]

They outsourced PS3 Orange Box and it sucked
They outsourced CS:GO and it also sucked until they went in and fixed it (the PC version, at least)
I would even go as far to say that the outsourced Gearbox HL1 expansions also sucked
Given that, I don't think Valve really wants to rely on external source for their output.

More importantly though, being a good publisher means doing proper promotional and advertisement campaigns, which is kinda not what Valve is known for. I know I sure as shit wouldn't want Valve in charge of promoing my indie game.

 

[gully state]

Platform holder is way more profitable than being a publisher. You don't need to sink up front costs for development and marketing. Let the developers do that and take a cut on each sale.

 

[Bhonar]

being a Publisher is just too risky

 

[Crayon]

You guys need to stop saying flat structure.

They would need like four times to people they have now to be doing something like that and most of them are going to be doing marketing and pr. Then they'd suddenly be tied to timetables for getting those games out. Which we know is not a core strength of theirs. Its a rediculous idea.

If i know one thing about flat structures its>>>asstalk.

I understand that because of the flat structure>>>asstalk.

Asstalk>>>is what happens with a flat structure.

 

[Deleted member 48897]

Everybody wants Half-Life 3 but nobody wants Half-Life 3

 

[finalflame]

Valve does not have to do anything they do not want to do, and having full creative control over their work and company is 100% the most important thing to them. They have no interest in becoming a publisher. This question is so grossly misaligned with Valve as a company I sometimes wonder how people think things work at places like Valve.

I know their flat structure has made it hard for them to develop games on their own for quite a while, but I feel like they could be such a tremendous force if they started throwing some weight around as a publisher

Click to shrink...

You don't "know" anything. This is by far the most irritating part of all the focus lately on trying to understand the internal workings of games companies. People seem to think they "know" based on some article or anonymous post that at best paints an incomplete picture and at worst entirely misrepresents reality.

Valve is functioning exactly as they intend to. Like with every company, there are challenges, but it being hard to develop games is not a result of their flat structure, nor would I say they are struggling to develop anything. Just because they are not making what you'd like them to make does not mean they are struggling or failing.

In fact, quite the opposite. Last I was privy, Valve is thriving and constantly growing.

 

[dex3108]

Why Rockstar doesn't release their games on PC day 1? Answer is same for both questions, they don't want to.

 

[Agent 47]

That'd require an interest in making games.

 

[JustinH]

Why would they? Wouldn't that imply that they would have to like... invest in games being developed, and then work to market them or something? Seems like they're just happy with all the money they're making from what it is they do now.