It's a common misconception the amount of creativity that is required to engineer a product. Engineers are the creatives! All the greatest game titles were designed by people with an engineering background. It was only later that some games got designed by artists using already existing game engines.
The reason Valve isn't producing great games is not because they can't. It's because they don't want to.
All the greatest titles of the early 70s-2000s and were products of their times. The hardware and systems were limited, and the basic level writing and direction matched the limited graphics.
Fact is: engineers refuse to believe that creatives spent the same staggering amount of time honing their skills - it's just inconvenient because that means engineers possess about as much creativity as we do oop skills. That is a deep chasm. And it shows, pick a metric. They have had a near 0% success rate in creating new games outside the Orange box era.
Valve hasn't made any games 100% because their engineers aren't creatives. It's kinda like the one hit wonder phenomenon. It's common in creative fields, like when an artist accidentally stumbles on a style and finds success, only to never be able to 'create something as good as the original' because they never had the skills in the first place--while the skills they actually need to create consistently take a lifetime to hone--so as creatives, they fade to obscurity.
Sorry, but even today (the most?) successful innovative games continue to come from people with engineering backgrounds. Also the engineers at Valve have continued to release games (Dota 2) and other valuable products that enabled many games to see the light of day.
Also it makes sense that - when you build an app store - it's better not to work on creating products (games) that are in direct competition with your customers.
I haven't said artists are useless. You guys contribute amazing things and surely have your roles to play. I do however see a problem with non-engineers (taking your line of arguing) trying to obtain leading roles over creative processes in the field of engineering. It simply doesn't work. Or at least not efficiently.
What we'll be seeing is that game engines will continue to become more like a sort of "Photoshop for games". It's where you guys will shine. Although I guarantee you some of the best titles will continue to come from engineers. Simply because engineers are their own audience. Artistic types tend to have different interests.
So in the past couple decades, your ace in the hole is Dota? Damn, that's an entire game (that was mirrored from a w3 mod) Also: gen z gives absolutely zero shits about Mobas, so that's kind of a lost cause.
What else do you got? Or is it just DOTA in two decades, that z gives no shits about, while the main moba demo ages out of gaming.
And are you serious? "we can't compete with other games so we don't" This is exactly the kind of bs I'm talking about.
Bunch of one hit wonder 1%ers who have been been sitting around in a vacuum playing widgets over at club valve over in bellevue, they haven't grown at all since the orange box.
'I do however see a problem with non-engineers (taking your line of arguing) trying to obtain leading roles over creative processes in the field of engineering. It simply doesn't work. Or at least not efficiently."
This is the bias I am talking about. You guys are sitting at a near 0% in terms of creating new and interesting IP--and this is throughout the entire industry--I can count the good titles post-orange box era with one hand.
Technology evolved: engineers realized they need visual people now, but for everything else were like: nah, we're good.
Spoiler: you're not.
No new titles, the titles that get through are disposable flavors of the month, at best.
The amount of creativity engineers have shown is about equal to creatives skill in OOP. If a gulf engineers don't even know how to cross.
If we could quantify the difference, it would be like asking a non tech person to do your netcode. We are talking about a lifetime a shaping here, you can't backload the skills any easier than I can backload the skills to build an engine.
You're missing my point. I didn't say we don't need artists. I'm saying you shouldn't have artists taking leading roles in the fields that aren't artistic.
Perhaps you're doing a bit too much goalposting to make your argument? Ignoring all the groundbreaking titles (in any company). The other groundbreaking title that was released by Valve was of course Steam. The first app store.
What makes Valve so great is that they're exactly not doing the same old thing they were doing. They reinvent and innovate. That's what makes it a great company. One of the best imho.
Do you hear any complaints coming from Valve? Seems to me they're happy with the direction they chose.
I love it. No complaints from the legacy engineers who are collecting million dollar salaries doing nothing, blowing smoke up gabes ass with vaporware.
Out of the 100million American pc gamers--during peak western hours--less than a 1/4 are on steam.
Everyone else on the inside and outside who don't want to see the company sold to activision-disney is a bit concerned.
The goalpost will move, and it will continue to move as we continue to examine how bad the bed has been shit post orangebox.
Millions upon millions of dollars spent over decades, with almost nothing to show. With any recent innovations coming from asset flips and indie teams.
I still fail to see the problem. I understand your complaint. But Valve is doing fantastic. It's not their mission to bring out new titles. A company is not a democracy where we get "to vote" what direction they should take. If it's not what you like then don't work for them or buy their products.
I find it hard to believe that they got into the industry to play stock market for games, haha.
I am wondering if Beth is planning on their own platform next, Microsoft is definitely making those moves . . .
I think the new meta is a cycling people around content releases, hopefully within your ecosystem, but np if not, because they will cycle back for the next updates.
But it's an agile company. It means it's "Boss-free since 1996". It works as follows: The creative director has a cool idea for a game. He makes the designs, storyboards and whatever. Then he needs to find developers who are willing to work on his idea. In an agile company it can very well happen nobody wants to work on your idea. You might get a response like: "Cool idea! You should go ahead and build it!" This in contrast to a top-down management company where bosses exist that tell you what it is you must work on. It's where people become "resources".
So what you're proposing can only happen through a top-down management approach where the boss/project-manager assembles the team and tells everybody what to work on. You take away the essence of the company culture at Valve.
What you fail to see is that it's actually been the right choice NOT to release new games but - in stead - work on Steam (and facilitating other game shops release their games). If creative directors would be ruling Valve that would most likely have never happened. Meaning Valve wouldn't have achieved $4.3B revenue.
I see a bunch of visual people, no creative directors - and the best indicator would be a current catalog of intriguing content.
The source guys wont work with anyone outside their clique. They are toxic. Studies have shown, despite skill, toxic employees bring the entire company down.
Maybe it's time to return to top down, some accountability is needed.
Steam ran the industry into the ground, ten years of stagnation where indie studios had to pick up the slack with asset flips and low budget shitters. Console sales are at an all time high.
This is nothing to applaud. I would say they put in no effort, but they automated profits, so that's kind of something, but not the reason any of us got into the bizz.
Finally we are just now starting to see some innovation coming 2020, and would ya look at, everyone had creative directors.
Valve doesn't serve the people anymore, and seeing all their devs and fanboys fanboy on the forums like "if you don't like it, leave" cracks me up. Less than a 1/4 US PC gamers are on steam during peak hours, why would they be?
People are now accustomed to being served by companies in the business to serve, being the Wallmart of the gaming industry is nothing to be proud of, and isn't even a position Valve can hold with WePlay, Epic, Blizz, and Microsoft in the arena.
Baby, I am a freelancer with three creative degrees, I just work better with distractions - I actually made some games you probably play a hellevua lot better. You've probably enjoyed some music/media I've had my hot little hands on, too.
I suspect Valve is suffering from artistic perfectionism, which means they will never release any of their products, much like how GRRM is repeatedly rewriting his novels.
>Chapters still to write, of course... but also rewriting. I always do a lot of rewriting, sometimes just polishing, sometimes pretty major restructures.
You can compare various games, but even with low quality graphics, Half Life has a visceral presentation that simply beats the others.
Writing is re-writing, nobody was arguing against that. It's pretty common to go through twelve or more drafts, with the exception of King, whose wild ass gets it done in two drafts.
It's the scale of GoT that's remarkable, and the reason it's taking so long. It's not just some stupid epic wizard quest - it's 150 character weaving into eachother, and it's well done.
Since Source was released, GRRM actually released like 16 books, three of those were GoT, and he also did a bunch of TV stuff. And now a game, too.
Nobody was arguing that half-life wasn't cool, I was arguing that the source guys can't ship games. They acquired everything post orangebox.
I am just arguing that Valve is more interested in making games than releasing them. I don't disagree with you, but the closest historical parallel is Howard Hughes' Hell's Angels.
While we study and mine cinema for launching off points - we do so knowing why we do so. The threads are timeless, but the execution was a thing of the time, much like HL.
Let's compare Hughes to Valve for some reason.
Hughes released at least 11 films - none of which were acquired. If he had only Scarface under his belt, he would be just another in a long line of shameful one hit wonders--those who accidentally stumble upon a hit without the skills to back it up--who consequently are unable to create anything else of substance.
It's been fifteen years, everything post-orangebox was acquired.
To put this in another way, Valve likely has spent millions developing the next Half Life game, and they will spent millions more. They are paying employee salaries, after all.
I wouldn't be too surprised if Valve will have spent $50 million on Half Life 3 at the point of release.
Fanboying is how we're going to get Disney-Activision-Valve.
They acquired titles and they automated profits. So pretty much the private version of a public company. Nothing at all to be proud of--especially after this horrible decade of PC gaming where indie teams had to pick up the slack with asset flips and low budget shitters. Console sales are now at an all time high.
We ran out of comparisons and only have their own mediocrity to examine at this point, but we could go the route of comparing them to failed companies who refused to adapt, like "NAH WE'RE GOOD" Blockbuster.
WePlay, Epic, Microsoft, Blizzard, Uplay. Less than a 1/4 of the 100 million PC gamers are on steam during peak western hours. The monopoly platform model is out with WePlay entering the arena, everyone else realized this and is prepared to hit hard with the 2020 releases.
Valve doesn't have much time to turn it around, and with how frugal they've been with development, I'd have a hard time believing that they will float the company once the steam money is compromised.
They have no current catalog, so they are already starting miles behind--coupled with the fact that their s2 guys wont play well with others--nothing short of a purge and a return to top down will save them.
The reason Valve isn't producing great games is not because they can't. It's because they don't want to.