Three months ago, celebrated video game publisher Valve did something completely out of character: it fired up to 25 workers, in what one employee dubbed the "great cleansing." At the time, co-founder Gabe Newell quickly reassured gamers that the company wouldn't be canceling any projects, but it just so happens that one project managed to get away.
Valve was secretly working on a pair of augmented reality glasses... and those glasses are still being built by two Valve employees who lost their jobs that day.
Fan projects Team Fortress: Source 2 and Portal 64 have shut down after Valve intervened in their development.
First they open Steam up to more AI, now they are shutting down fan projects when at one time they used to support or even give the fans jobs.
Wonder what's going on with Valve at the minute.
There's potential that Valve had already planned to bring Source 2 to TF2 officially after Counter Strike 2. It's been getting some renewed attention lately.
You got Nintendo to thank for Portal64 being taken down. As for TF2, most likely it's due to the probability of Valve working on a source 2 port themselves. It's sucks but Nintendo are the biggest pricks in the business and not letting this drag out into a huge court drama is the best decision.
Valve has updated its stance on AI games on the Steam storefront, allowing creators to publish AI-created games.
Hell no. I want games that have been made by creative minds who have a passion for their craft, not a bot with a penchant for plagiarism.
So instead of paying for an engine and assets to create a game they are paying for an engine and assets to create a game.
Valve has officially warned against inhaling the Steam Deck vent fumes in an official response due to potential health hazards.
Wow people will huff anything nowadays some people just have way too much time on their hands.
Another reason to love the PlayStation Portal, no chance of breathing in noxious vapors.
Get a Steam Deck they said, to which I reply, what are you high?
I had lasik surgery so Id never have to wear glasses again. And now some companies are trying to push these things on us? No ty.
Until the holodeck comes around, I'm happy with meh controller.
How awesome is Valve? I mean, yeah they fired 25 people but sadly that's just life. But they could have easily retained the rights and whatever patents/intellectual properties pertaining to these but they let them seek their dream. No company is perfect, but Valve almost always proves that it's truly focused on gaming from all perspective.
Much props, and I hope these turn out well because we should all be so lucky to achieve our dreams.
"For its part, Valve has released all interest in the project, leaving the Technical Illusions team legally clear to do what they love. Says Ellsworth: "Gabe was completely behind it... I talked to Gabe, and he talked to the lawyers, and he's like, 'It's theirs, make it happen,' because he could see we were passionate about it.""
This is why Valve is better than EA or ANY other game developer/publisher out there
Yes, valve made the right decision by not stymieing the tech. By allowing these people to pursue the tech we will all benefit by advancements in the science. It seems that some companies can see past profits to the real "big picture". I will buy there next product to show support for this type of behavior. EA needs to take notes.