Valve boss concerned Windows 8 will undermine Steam
Copying Apple with Windows 8 will accelerate Microsoft’s decline, Valve CEO Gabe Newell has said.
Speaking to the New York Times, Newell said he understood that Microsoft was facing a big challenge from Apple in the computing space, but it should not resort to trying to emulate its success by moving away from its own ideals.
“We would say to Microsoft, we understand all these frustrations about the challenges to your business,” he said.
“But trying to copy Apple will accelerate, not slow, Microsoft’s decline.”
Newell expressed his concerns about the potential closed nature of Windows 8, which he has previously called a “catastrophe for everyone in the PC space”.
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He said that if Microsoft takes a similar approach to Apple’s App Store for Windows 8 applications, which will need to be distributed through Microsoft’s own store to make use of modern features, it could end up undermining Steam and creating a bottleneck for game updates.
Steam currently has more than 40 million users, and reportedly controls approximately 70 per cent of digital sales on PC platforms.
Windows 8 is slated for release on October 26th.
Gabe is either ignorant of how Windows 8 works or is actively trying to subvert Win8 to further entrench Steam.
There is no "closed nature" potential or otherwise to Windows 8. You can run everything you ever did on Windows.
The new Windows 8 Store and Metro apps are not closed either... you can ship any app or game you want as long as you use the new WinRT APIs which aim to make Windows safer and more stable.
The real "closed nature" platform is Steam... you can only ship there if Valve likes your game. If for any reason they don't like your game they just don't let you in. See Greenlight for examples of that.
I don't see Microsoft using measurements like "is it popular" or "will enough people buy it" with apps in the Windows 8 Store.
gabe is guilty for trashtalking MS. i would be concerned too, if someone built a shopping mall opposite to my store, but he started losing respect and credibility. was it ok when he was forcing steam down people's throats? not to mention that there is nothing in common between what apple is and what MS does. it would be great if he relaxed a bit, and focused on what he does best! trash talking is not suiting him at all.
