They leveraged open source to compete on the console front without actually investing dev time.
This is just false.
Valve has funded a lot of extra work though to get things like DXVK and VKD3D-Proton for the translation from Direct3D to Vulkan into a state where performance can be really great! Valve also funds work on Linux graphics drivers, Linux kernel work and the list goes on.
The included improvements to Wine have been designed and funded by Valve, in a joint development effort with CodeWeavers. Here are some examples of what we’ve been working on together since 2016:
vkd3d, the Direct3D 12 implementation based on Vulkan
The OpenVR and Steamworks native API bridges
Many wined3d performance and functionality fixes for Direct3D 9 and Direct3D 11
Overhauled fullscreen and gamepad support
The “esync” patchset, for multi-threaded performance improvements
Modifications to Wine are submitted upstream if they’re compatible with the goals and requirements of the larger Wine project; as a result, Wine users have been benefiting from parts of this work for over a year now. The rest is available as part of our source code repository for Proton and its modules.
In addition to that, we’ve been supporting the development of DXVK, the Direct3D 11 implementation based on Vulkan; the nature of this support includes:
Employing the DXVK developer in our open-source graphics group since February 2018
Providing direct support from our open-source graphics group to fix Mesa driver issues affecting DXVK, and provide prototype implementations of brand new Vulkan features to improve DXVK functionality
Working with our partners over at Khronos, NVIDIA, Intel and AMD to coordinate Vulkan feature and driver support
You should try doing some research before making such claims. Valve has been directly cooperating with, contributing to, and financially supporting several open source projects related to gaming since at least 2016.
Valve had 71 peoples working in their steam division in 2021. 31 where admin so that leaves 40 people for all their hardware. I’m going to take a wild guess and say maybe 3 to 5 were working on things linux related.
Edit: They had 79 in 2021 for Steam, and 41 for hardware
I’d call that leveraging at that amount of people, for a company that brings in an estimated 6.5 billion a year, and the fact that most of the code was already there.
Edit: They brought in 10 billion in 2021 (covid helped)
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad linux got a boost out of it but there’s no doubt in my mind he would have built a private OS if it could be done with 5 people. It was a bargain for him, it wasn’t a favor.
Just so we’re clear here – you pulled your original numbers out of nowhere, but made them oddly specific (71) to give the impression that you were citing an actual source.
That is hilariously pathetic.
And barely even matters since you’re ignoring 90% of the comment you replied to (financing and partnerships).
Just really paints a picture of how boring, basic, and uninformed your opinion is, for all the cockiness you came in here with.
This isn’t hard to find. I don’t give sources when it’s literally in the first few links on Google.
Edit: The actual quotes are below. I missed the mark on total number of steam employees by 9. They have 79 employees total for Steam. 71 or 79, it is still an insanely low number of employees when you take into account that:
it is estimated that Steam generated more than 10 billion U.S. dollars in revenues in 2021
This is from the statistica article that is the first link on Google. I moved my other links to the other comment so it would reply to the guy that couldn’t be bothered to even open them apparently.
One data point I found interesting: Valve peaked with its “Games” payroll spending in 2017 at $221 million (the company didn’t release any new games that year, but that spending could have gone toward supporting games like Dota 2 and developing new games like Artifact); by 2021, that was down to $192 million. Another: as of 2021, Valve employed just 79 people for Steam, which is one of the most influential gaming storefronts on the planet.
“Hardware,” to my surprise, has been a relatively small part of the company, with just 41 employees paid a gross of more than $17 million in 2021.
From the verge article
Here’s the topline from 2021: Of those 336 employees, 79 directly worked on Steam, while a whopping 181 remained in the “Games” department—pretty much the reverse of what I expected, given Steam’s importance to company profits and how rarely Valve releases new games. There were just 41 employees working on hardware development at that time
From the PC gamer article right under.
Literally the first two links after the statistica link (which also has it but you have to make an account), at least for me. Are you done being an idiot?
Note that most people that valve pays to work on open source were preixisting maintainers and not actual employees, or employees of companies like Blue Systems
I’ve never actually blocked someone on lemmy before, but you’re just following me in the thread and answering every one of my comments with mindless dribble lol. Grow up bro, learn to actually form an argument.
This is just false.
reference
from Valve’s original Proton announcement
You should try doing some research before making such claims. Valve has been directly cooperating with, contributing to, and financially supporting several open source projects related to gaming since at least 2016.
Valve had 71 peoples working in their steam division in 2021. 31 where admin so that leaves 40 people for all their hardware. I’m going to take a wild guess and say maybe 3 to 5 were working on things linux related.
Edit: They had 79 in 2021 for Steam, and 41 for hardware
I’d call that leveraging at that amount of people, for a company that brings in an estimated 6.5 billion a year, and the fact that most of the code was already there.
Edit: They brought in 10 billion in 2021 (covid helped)
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad linux got a boost out of it but there’s no doubt in my mind he would have built a private OS if it could be done with 5 people. It was a bargain for him, it wasn’t a favor.
Just so we’re clear here – you pulled your original numbers out of nowhere, but made them oddly specific (71) to give the impression that you were citing an actual source.
That is hilariously pathetic.
And barely even matters since you’re ignoring 90% of the comment you replied to (financing and partnerships).
Just really paints a picture of how boring, basic, and uninformed your opinion is, for all the cockiness you came in here with.
[citations needed]
Get some sources, and stop drawing conclusions from no evidence.
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=valve+number+of+employees+2021
This isn’t hard to find. I don’t give sources when it’s literally in the first few links on Google.
Edit: The actual quotes are below. I missed the mark on total number of steam employees by 9. They have 79 employees total for Steam. 71 or 79, it is still an insanely low number of employees when you take into account that:
This is from the statistica article that is the first link on Google. I moved my other links to the other comment so it would reply to the guy that couldn’t be bothered to even open them apparently.
Not a single one of those links says Valve had 71 people in their Steam division in 2021.
Can’t even back your own claims. What a joke.
Edit: HAHAHA you even provided a quote that contradicts the numbers you made up. This has to be a farce.
Edit 2: BAHAHAHAHA NOW YOU REMOVED YOUR VERGE QUOTE BECAUSE YOU REALIZED IT PROVED YOU WERE MAKING UP NUMBERS.From the verge article
From the PC gamer article right under.
Literally the first two links after the statistica link (which also has it but you have to make an account), at least for me. Are you done being an idiot?
You:
Verge:
Are you done being an idiot?
LOL 79 - 71 = 8, not 9. Can’t even do basic math on your made up numbers.
Note that most people that valve pays to work on open source were preixisting maintainers and not actual employees, or employees of companies like Blue Systems
Disingenuous? Dumb? Who knows!?
AHAHAHAHAHA every developer in the thread is absolutely cackling at you right now.
I’ve never actually blocked someone on lemmy before, but you’re just following me in the thread and answering every one of my comments with mindless dribble lol. Grow up bro, learn to actually form an argument.
This is hard because you’re (imo) very wrong and not being super nice about it, but null is being so rude i almost want to agree with you
You are more than welcome to:
If you want to keep spouting them off, go right ahead. But I’m going to mock you for it.
Plug your ears if you’re incapable of upping your game.