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Uncategorized Thursday, July 26th 2012 at 10:35 am

Valve Boss Not Optimistic for Windows 8 “Catastrophe”

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It isn’t a stretch to say Gabe Newell, head of Valve Software, is no fan of Microsoft’s Windows 8. His company has been focusing on bringing their proprietary platform, Steam, to Linux partly because they see only doom and gloom in the future for the PC market. With the newest update, Newell fears that the open nature of the PC will be curtailed in favor of limiting competition from those outside Microsoft.

This all stems back to Windows 8 launching with its own built-in Windows Store — one that Microsoft would control and use to serve their own interests. Having a front providing video games and the like without an extra third-party installation is pure financial gold. It’s like taking the Xbox Live system’s vices and virtues and applying them to a desktop box. Sure, it could be a snap to use but it also might be composed of stuff that Microsoft is looking to feed users.

Newell, speaking at Casual Connect in Seattle, specifically had this to say on the downfall:

[Windows 8 is] a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space [...] We’ll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people.

Yet another competitor for Steam’s users on the same platform could certainly be coloring his views. Anything that cuts into profit margins for a company is obviously viewed as a hostile entity. What’s important to take away from this isn’t that Newell isn’t a fan, as he’d originally said the same about the PlayStation 3, but that the upgrade to Windows 8 could mean less freedom for the PC market as a whole.

(via Ars Technica, image credit via Long Zheng)

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  • Jack Bond

    Maybe this is going to be the driving force for developers to migrate to Linux and make it the go-to OS. Although on the other hand, I’d sooner go without Steam than Windows.

  • Linuxuser

    No one will migrate to Linux. If metro is a problem for everyone, imagine them using Linux. Linux not your average Joe environment. Even Ubuntu is a pain in the ass to customize. You can easily break it.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t see Linux rising past Windows, if only because Windows has already established its self. However, I do see more games being made for Linux and more gamers using Linux. I prefer Windows only because of the wide support it has. However, I have no issues with Linux and I even enjoy many of its features. It is also the OS of choice for people who seem to run headfirst at viruses.

  • Anonymous

    This is for obvious reason, Valve doesn’t like the idea of competing marketplaces that Windows 8 will bring. The metro side of W8 on a desktop is rarely used and will not harm anyone.

  • Anonymous

    Lets just all stick with Windows 7, problem solved.

  • Anonymous

    How will you buy you PC games online?

  • Philip Wesley

    I think that it’ll be great if everything started moving to Linux. The only reason it lacks support is because not so many people use it, but if people start switching, we might see things going in a great direction.