It isn’t always easy to get information about Valve’s business practices, but there’s one big issue in gaming that Valve un-boss (Valve doesn’t actually believe in hierarchical structure) Gabe Newell has decided is worth talking about. If you’ve been paying attention to VR news, you’ll know that Oculus Rift has been out and about, securing exclusivity contracts for its games and stomping on any mods that attempt to defeat said exclusivity.
In an e-mail exchange with Redditor “elpollodiablo187,” Newell explained that Valve doesn’t believe exclusivity is good for developers or customers. But that’s not just a moral statement – Valve is putting its money where its mouth is.
Considering it has made approximately a zillion dollars from running Steam, Valve is in the financial position to support fledgling VR developers via “pre-paid Steam revenue.” I assume that’s basically a loan that comes out of the game’s eventual sales. Those funds, however, don’t come with exclusivity strings attached. Developers are free to put their games on the Rift, Vive, or even PlaySttion VR… basically whatever virtual reality platform the developer thinks is best.
This is pretty cool considering that Valve co-owns the HTC Vive. Valve could have decided to compete directly with Oculus and secure its own exclusive VR titles, but instead it wants to play the long game, helping the fledgling VR ecosystem in general thrive instead of looking to its immediate bottom line. That’s the kind of business strategy I like to support.
Source: PCGamesN