this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2024
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Gabe Newell says no-one in the industry thought Steam would work as a distribution platform—'I'm not talking about 1 or 2 people, I mean like 99%' (www.pcgamer.com)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 52 points 1 month ago (4 children)

I mean.... It was a gamble. Internet was still young. Speeds weren't keeping up with game sizes outside a few major cities. I was mailed a few large files because it was quicker than downloading them. Not to mention the desire for physical copies over a digital thing you can lose with a bad hard drive was at an all time high.

Then people realized the internet wasn't just nerd shit, ISPs slowly ramped up their DL speeds and suddenly the thing people mocked for not being feasible is doing well because of how convenient it became.

Gabe even admits he had doubts for awhile.

I wonder where gaming would be if he had listened to the doubters. There's no denying valve has had a major impact on modern gaming

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Someone would've picked up the model. The execution? Doubt it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes, someone would have. Eventually.

But valve did it early.

It's easy to fill a niche once it's formed. Not so easy to do before, or as it's forming. Or predict if one will form.

I'm not saying valve or Gabe had some kind of foresight or wisdom, I still think it was a gamble. It just happens to be a gamble that worked.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

It’s literally the risk taking behaviour to foster innovation that economists supposedly talk about.

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