this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2024
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PC Gaming

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113
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 7 hours ago by alessandro@lemmy.ca to c/pcgaming@lemmy.ca
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[–] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I remember Steam's launch and understand completely.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 4 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

I hated Steam for a long time because of Half-life 2.

[–] ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net 9 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

I mean yeah.

I had to install some program and connect online to PLAY A SINGLE PLAYER GAME? I have the CD already and entered my CD key. Why does it need validation?

This is surely the death of PC gaming.

  • me in 2005
[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 3 points 1 hour ago

That's if Steam was even able to connect so you could enter the key.

[–] gitamar 7 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

I remember the uproar when CS 1.6 required steam. It was huge and everyone was angry. It took a lot of pull that CS didn't die because of steam, a lot of players stayed on 1.5 for a long time. But HL2 was too big of an argument to stay off steam.

[–] ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net 6 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

I was finally convinced when steam sales were incredibly favorable.

I could either go to Gamespot and buy a used game for $20 + tax and have to deal with some sweat giving me shit about my gaming choices. Or buy that same game digitally for $10.

Around 2011, I remember not buying consoles anymore and continuing to grow my PC collection.

Around 2017, my pirating dropped significantly. I think I had like 1000+ steam games from buying so many bundles.

By 2020, I didn't pirate a single PC game, the games I bought 10 years ago still work, and I bought a game from the Microsoft Store, only to rebuy it on Steam.

[–] SARGE@startrek.website 27 points 4 hours ago

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