It is amazing how far linux gaming has come in a few years. It's true that in tech "a few years" is an eternity, but "linux graphics drivers" have always been an exception to that rule...
In negotiating theory there's an idea called 'BATNA' [1] which says:
1. If A is negotiating with B, but they have an alternative option which is C, then A will never accept B giving them a worse deal than C; and B will know that, and realise they have to do better than C.
2. For this reason, if A wants a better deal from B, they have to improve on C - and that's true even if they don't plan to rely on C.
For example, an employee (A) who wants to be paid more by their current employer (B) might interview with another company (C) and use the offer from C to negotiate a higher salary from B.
Likewise, Valve fears that Microsoft will eat their cake. MS could lock down their platform, and force all software sales through a store where they take a 30% cut, just like iOS and Android do already.
Investing in Linux gaming is Valve's BATNA: If Microsoft makes Windows worse for Valve than steam boxes are, Valve can start pushing steam boxes hard; and the better steam boxes are, the more effective and credible this alternative is, and hence the more leverage Valve has over MS.
More importantly Valve faces competitions from a lot of other game stores lately. They still have the first mover advantage but who know what happens in the next 5 years with Fornite and the like. They need to own something else than an online store to build their future.
> Likewise, Valve fears that Microsoft will eat their cake. MS could lock down their platform, and force all software sales through a store where they take a 30% cut, just like iOS and Android do already.
This isn't theoretical, right? It was stated upfront as a plan for Windows 10 and it inspired Valve to invest in Linux/SteamOS/Steam Box ecosystem.
There are (were?) specific versions of windows that only allow software to be installed from the Microsoft store. Generally, the come on really low-end cheap laptops, with the note that it's for improved security (and I'm sure there's a discount on the cost of Windows, which is what makes it attractive to manufacturers).
> Investing in Linux gaming is Valve's BATNA: If Microsoft makes Windows worse for Valve than steam boxes are, Valve can start pushing steam boxes hard; and the better steam boxes are, the more effective and credible this alternative is, and hence the more leverage Valve has over MS.
The other option would be to put some pressure onto Apple to get their stuff in order - and finally release new desktop Macs that are upgradeable as well as allow NV/AMD to release their own GPU drivers.
"This, and Apple has shown over and over they absolutely don't care about gamers."
Not true. They advertize games very vocally in iOS AppStore. I know that's not what you meant, but in the largest context a "gamer" is not an enthusiast, but just a person who likes to play a game now and then.
> This, and Apple has shown over and over they absolutely don't care about gamers.
Yet gamers have similar demands (in terms of performance) to the core demographic of Apple users pre-iPhone: professionals in the 3D/animation/audio creative scene. The question is, will Apple ever think about this market again or concede victory to Windows? They haven't shown much progress the last few years, but on the other hand if there's one group which is willing to shell astronomic sums on highest end Apple equipment it's creatives.
It's a shame really, because in the past their products were actually quite popular for games, because they were also popular for game developers who were often serious personal computing enthusiasts at the time. And Bungie was a really good developer that was Mac-first right up unitl they were acquired by MS.
Now that Bungie is independent again, maybe the post-Jobs Apple could finally come to embrace gaming? Throwing thousands of dollars at completely overbuilt gaming rigs and their associated cosmetics is pretty common, you think they'd be an attractive mark for a lifestyle-brand company like Apple.
I think Apple might want a piece of a market that's willing to overspend. They don't have to buy in to the aesthetic and culture of current "hardcore gamers", they can provide an alternative style and culture that expresses different values, like sophistication and creativity. I'm sure a lot of people would like an alternative to the Red Bull'd-up pseudo-hacker look.
Should I look at the sales of LED RAM and compare them to total game sales? I doubt that will demonstrate what you're claiming. A raw number means nothing.
> I'm sure a lot of people would like an alternative to the Red Bull'd-up pseudo-hacker look.
Are those people buying LED RAM even though it's not what they really want?
Apple are basically not amenable to pressure - Valve have no leverage on them at all, really, since they're a mobile device company with eight hundred billion dollars who occasionally release laptops for the niches of musicians and designers.
Apple is probably even more likely to lock their users down to using their app store only and taking a 30% cut is than Microsoft is. That's an "out of the frying pan into the fire" solution.
With Linux, Valve has the control. If they were getting really serious with this, I'd expect them to take full control over the hardware they're selling too, but for the moment, this is still a pretty solid BATNA-threat for them.
