Above all else, above even their inability to ensure the quality of the games they release, the biggest failing which is gradually killing Steam is Valve's work ethic. Infamous for their slow development and with "Valve time" practically being an industry joke, the company maintains the attitude of only taking things seriously when it wants to. While this might have brought them success as a developer, as a publisher this merely causes more and more problems over time. Just going from this list alone there are a multitude of examples in which the corporation has waited for some accident or disaster to happen before reacting, rather than initiating procedures beforehand to ensure it never took place. Even after they do occur precautionary measures are a rarity, and Valve are frequently slow to respond, often overreacting. Multiple figures within the company openly admitted they disliked how Greenlight had turned out; yet not only did that take them several years to turn around, but it resulted in the company only making things worse. This attitude only harms them further thanks to their contradictory actions of desiring to have the community do the bulk of certain work for them, but then promptly stamping down once an idea involving them evolves beyond what they anticipated it to be. Even when a major error is found on their systems, they seem to opt for a move which will result in less longterm paperwork and will be a fast solution, even if it will serve as a spark for drama. The most clear cut example of this occurred merely a few days prior to this article when Tomáš Duda - an employee of SCS Software - attempted to get Valve's attention when he uncovered an easily exploitable programming error. Eventually resorting to using a prank code which turned the screen into a Harlem Shake parody, Valve took over a month to respond to something which could be used to steal money from customers. It then promptly banned Duda for getting their attention in his rather unique manner. While the banning might have been reversed less than a week later, the fact it took such a prank to get Valve's attention displays the massive failings in their work ethic and practice. Even just a modicum of proactivity on the part of the corporation in preventing further issues would go miles in ensuring Steam's future dominance and high quality service. Did we miss some major problem Valve has yet to clear up on Steam? Please leave your own suggestions and thoughts in the comments below!
A gamer who has played everything from Daikatana to Dwarf Fortress. An obsessive film fanatic valuing everything from The Third Man to Flash Gordon. An addict to tabletop titles, comics and the classics of science fiction, whatever media they are a part of.
