This article isn't attempting to portray Valve in a bad image... rather, open eyes to a different perspective. I'm just playing the devil's advocate here. Is Valve really as special and good as they say, or are that just business tactics? Perhaps Valve truly wishes to have a supporting, happy community... Or, they are just interested in money, and use that as a way to make more.

It seems that Valve has been trying to change their image...

Recently, Gabe Newell planned a charity trip to Austrailia. Many people in the gaming community see them as charitable, and caring for the consumer. This image is often caused by their sales through Steam, and the low prices of their games in general, as well as their easier DRM.

From the consumer's standpoint, Valve is filled with heroes.
From a business standpoint, Valve is filled with excellent marketers.

Due to Gabe's trip to Australia, and donating the fund to charity, he appeared to make Valve look like a very nice company. However, despite the loss of the money, Valve generated a large amount of publicity. Articles similar to the one previously linked have appeared on Kotaku, Joystiq, Big Download, and many other sites. Due to this, Valve generated quite a bit of publicity. As unlikely as it is that a reader may not have heard of Valve, this will inform the reader of Valve's existance... or, subtly convince a reader to buy a copy of their games, who had been considering it.

On Steam, Valve's digital distribution platform, Valve's games sell much cheaper than other games that were published around the same year. For an unknowing customer, they might think these games a bargain, or Valve being nice to their customers. However, Valve is making much more profit this way. By selling their games through steam, Valve cuts out the middleman. The developer is then able to sell directly to the customer. Due to the digital distribution however, the game is relatively inexpensive to make. When selling on CD's, a publisher has to pay for shipping, the price of the discs, and many other factors. Through digital distribution, Valve only needs to pay for the physical game to be made, and the server space. Effectively, once the investment in the game has been paid off, Valve can sell a million copies of the game, while barely having to pay any cost to sell it.

Valve's retail sales indicate massive sales from their games. Despite valve not wishing to divulge the information of their steam-based sales, one can assume that they are almost as large, if not larger than their retail sales. Steam is a very convenient platform... It allows users to download games through fast servers, onto a computer, often at a low price. Without having to leave the house, searching for a store selling a game, or waiting for shipping, a consumer can wait 1 to 2 hours for a game to download, and they can use it on any computer they want.

On games relating to Steam, Valve requires only that a user is logged in to play. (A user may only be logged into one computer at a time). Unlike other publishers which require painful DRM, often frustrating the consumer, and causing them to have to repurchase the game, Steam allows users to install and play games on any computer... Provided the system can support the game, it runs windows, and the user is logged in while playing. While restrictive DRM causes piracy, DRM that is easy for the consumer requires causes much less piracy. It is easier for the consumer to use, therefore, the consumer is more willing to spend money on it. By being "supportive of their community", and using non-restrictive DRM, Valve gets a happy community, more customers, and less piracy.

Additionally, Steam holds weekly sales on games. For the same reason, this causes Valve to only make profit. Valve is able to sell unlimited copies of these games, just for a very low cost to manufacture. Even with 66% off sales on games, Valve never ends up taking a loss.

However, one would think that Valve has to pay a large sum to support their servers for Steam, and their Multiplayer games. Since Valve forces its players to use steam, the consumer unknowingly is affected through advertisements. On every steam update, Valve lists the new games, as well as games on sale. A consumer is then intrigued by this, looks into the game, and may consider buying it... Earning Valve even more money. Even looking through the store causes one to be subtly influenced into purchasing something. While attempting to buy one game, a consumer can notice another game down the list that they may want... and purchase it through Steam of course.

In the long run, despite their large amounts of discounts, Valve still makes tremendous profits.

I'm not attempting to teach everyone that Valve is evil, and should be boycotted everywhere... On the contrary, I support Valve. Valve seems to be earning somewhat of an image though, portraying them as Saints, a company full of Samaritans. In reality, Valve is just filled with great marketing staff... Congratulations Valve. I still support you guys... just you're doing very, very well.

Is Valve the trendsetting heroic company, or the intelligent, productive marketing company?