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[gdt]

Just hardware wise? They can still support and create something like steambox. Why is it a jump?

Nothing in the news of "Valve lays off 25 people" suggests that Valve "finally" realized how hard the hardware business in to jump in to.

 

[Doug Heffernan]

Would not be surprised if PS4 is the new Steambox.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that will never happen.

 

[Ysiadmihi]

I'm guessing they just failed to come up with a controller that could be used alongside kb/m players. When your biggest games are shooters and Dota2, you can't have a large portion of your players getting unfairly destroyed.

This only applies to Valve's games, of course.

 

[Stumpokapow]

its better 2 burn out then 2 fade away.............
-kurt cobian

Yeah, but Jobs actually said what I said he said.

 

[Dmented]

Nooo. I want Android support.

Linux team is still around...

Spoiler

maybe.

 

[kpjolee]

Maybe Steam for PS4? Sony may have come up with a offer they cant refuse?
Probably we are just overreacting.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Is this the first time Valve has had a round of layoffs? It was a good run if so.

It did seem like the company was drifting into "where ideas can hang out and do whatever!" territory for the last year or three.

 

[Guevara]

Whatever happened with the company Valve acquired in December? Star Filled Studios in Silicon Valley?

 

[No_Style]

Valve layoffs were LONG overdue. They had a lot of groups they hired wholesale when they should have been more discriminating who was needed from that team.

When I saw the words "great cleansing" I immediatly thought "got rid of dead weight" and "got rid of non-essential".

 

[Dmented]

Whatever happened with the company Valve acquired in December? Star Filled Studios in Silicon Valley?

I have a feeling they were apart of the layoffs.

 

[Conor 419]

Garry has some answering to do.

 

[Lonely1]

Because if there's one thing Nintendo needs, it's some North American hardware designers and some Android app makers

You could make an argument about it, yes.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Yeah, but Jobs actually said what I said he said.

Well, Cobain did say it in his suicide note, albeit while grievously misinterpreting Neil Young.

 

[Shiggy]

Because if there's one thing Nintendo needs, it's some North American hardware designers and some Android app makers

I just thought that such a post was missing in this thread. lol

 

[Tyrone_Biggums]

Burning off the fat from that hardware pipe dream. Stick to what you know Valve.

 

[alexandros]

I don't buy that it was a matter of performance, the people working there are extremely talented. Efficiency reasons seem more plausible, it's likely that after a lot of experimentation they settled on the projects they want to move forward and cut everything else. Still, was there really no place for Jeri Ellsworth at another project or at the company in general? Something weird is going on.

I doubt this has anything to do with the Steambox. Newell talked about it at length just a few days ago, it seems like an important milestone for his company. I don't think he'd say "fuck it, let's call the whole thing off" that easily.

 

[Gorillaz]

Nothing in the news of "Valve lays off 25 people" suggests that Valve "finally" realized how hard the hardware business in to jump in to.

I thought a few people let go were in the hardware division? There was a thread on someone let go from valve yesturday?

 

[GoddyofAus]

We need to look at the big picture here (no pun intended), Valve aren't exactly doing badly financially. I'm sure this is just a performance restructure so they can better distribute their talent. Hopefully, it involves something with a 3.

 

[Zia]

I don't buy that it was a matter of performance, the people working there are extremely talented. Efficiency reasons seem more plausible, it's likely that after a lot of experimentation they settled on the projects they want to move forward and cut everything else. Still, was there really no place for Jeri Ellsworth at another project or at the company in general? Something weird is going on.

I doubt this has anything to do with the Steambox. Newell talked about it at length just a few days ago, it seems like an important milestone for his company. I don't think he'd say "fuck it, let's call the whole thing off" that easily.

This is what has me scratching my head as well. She's a brilliant self-made creator who absolutely adored her job at Valve. Plus, I was under the impression they pursued her. And then cut her loose after a year? The whole thing has had me feeling pretty icky since last night.

 

[Iacobellis]

So... The Gizmondo actually did better than the Steam Box?

 

[Guevara]

How can Valve get away with have no PR. Just a press release or something would clear up so much.

 

[JWong]

They cut the Half-Life 3 dev team! ~panicks~

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Yeah, but Jobs actually said what I said he said.

"Nobody has tried to swallow us since I've been here. I think they are afraid how we would taste."

-Steve Jobs

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

How big is Valve? What percentage of total employees were the 25?

400 I believe. They hired like 100-150 people this last year.

 

[FACE]

Their linkedin profile list a 312 registered employee atm:

http://www.linkedin.com/company/valve-corporation

ctrl+f doug church gives me no results

 

[Won]

Interesting. They definitively dabbled into a lot of pretty random projects in the last few years and little came out of it. Wouldn't be surprised if Gabe himself lost track of what was going on in his company a bit.

 

[bro1]

I have a linkedin recruiter account. Let me know the search string you want and I can look.

 

[clashfan]

I wonder what Doug Church is working on.

Was he laid off too?

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

ctrl+f doug church gives me no results

Doug Church hasn't updated his profile in years. The last company he worked for on his profile is Edios.

 

[g0tm1lk]

Linux team is still around...

Spoiler

maybe.

Android is not linux.

 

[x-Lundz-x]

Whelp, Valve had a good run.

 

[Boss Doggie]

All that alf-life joke and no one put a quarter-life line

 

[JaseC]

Whatever happened with the company Valve acquired in December? Star Filled Studios in Silicon Valley?

There was a misunderstanding with that: Valve didn't buy the company, but rather hired the two people who comprised it.

 

[jbug617]

I think Valve has found a third party partner to make hardware for them.

 

[BruiserBear]

waaaaaaaaaa I thought valve was ROLLING in it

I'm sure they make tens of millions off those $5 sales.

 

[maabus1999]

I wonder if this points to Valve going the original Google --> Android route.

In other words, Valve makes the "software" for a Steambox and outsources all hardware development to other partners. Goes along with the hint at CES that "there is not one Steambox" comments.

 

[Dmented]

Android is not linux.

Umm, yes it is.

 

[Rapstah]

I forgot this but they totally released that Steam app for Android a couple of months ago, so that's probably what those people worked on. No idea why they would be let go now or how many people are left to maintain the app as Steam gets new features they need to add to the app too.

 

[Metroid In A Glass Tube]

The most overrated dev in the entire world imo!

 

[JaseC]

I wonder if this points to Valve going the original Google --> Android route.

In other words, Valve makes the "software" for a Steambox and outsources all hardware development to other partners. Goes along with the hint at CES that "there is not one Steambox" comments.

Gabe confirmed that hardware vendors are free to create their own Steamboxes.

 

[angular graphics]

Was he laid off too?

No, a moderator confirms Doug Church is still there: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=33991712&postcount=18

(And yes, smash should be trustworthy)

 

[Chittagong]

Not surprised the HW team got the boot. The hardware "unveiling" was an absolute fiasco, with OEMs announcing SteamBoxes whenever they pleased to grab headlines, no properly rehearsed demonstration of the holistic UX of a Steambox, no game demos, no specifics on the tiering, just a whole lot of idealist faffing of changing the industry. Pretty much par for the course for Linux initiatives unfortunately. I would not be surprised if the chaos discouraged their potential business partners.

 

[grandjedi6]

So what company hasn't had huge layoffs yet? All I can think of off the top of my head is Nintendo.

 

[FACE]

No, a moderator confirms Doug Church is still there: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=33991712&postcount=18

(And yes, smash should be trustworthy)

Nice!

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Haven't Valve always been fairly aggressive when it comes to firing?

I hope the people let go have other projects lined up.

 

[FStop7]

25 employees isn't the sort of thing to cause a massive drama over.

If Valve has ~400 employees then that's ~6.25% of its staff laid off. That's pretty significant, though not "massive drama" territory. But it's definitely a big deal.

its better 2 burn out then 2 fade away.............
-kurt cobian

NEIL YOUNG. Not Cobain. *shakefist*

 

[fizzelopeguss]

One hopes gabe will snap out of this entrepreneurial, change the world and saving the whales bullshit and get back to what's really important in life...Blowing the entirety of valves warchest on the most spectacular shooter ever made that renders everything else obsolete...again.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

“I'm as proud of what we don't do as I am of what we do.”

- Steve Jobs

lots of tech giants could learn from this level of restraint.

 

[Interfectum]

Laying off the hardware division? So is Valve in the process of getting bought?

 

[Tyrone_Biggums]

One hopes gabe will snap out of this entrepreneurial, change the world and saving the whales bullshit and get back to what's really important in life...Blowing the entirety of valves warchest on the most spectacular shooter ever made that renders everything else obsolete...again.