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Valve Layoffs: Several (25?) cut as Valve makes 'large decisions' about its future

L

Littlegator

Banned
Valve wisened up and realized that nobody will buy a Linux console.

Games + Steam from now on

how it should be

dumwkSN.jpg
 
R

Rufus

Member
Stumpokapow said:
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
- Kenny Rogers
Click to expand...
God damn you, Stump.
 
L

Lazlo

Member
The speculation in this thread is like a bad game of telephone. "Valve Layoffs" -> "omg steambox cancelled".
 
A

angular graphics

Banned
alexandros said:
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.
Click to expand...

Indeed, I am perplexed about that, as he talked about it less than a week ago.

I wonder if (t)he(y) decided it's best to approach the problem only from a software point of view (Steam for Linux, Big Picture Mode) as there are plenty of companies that are ready to ship HW solutions and perhaps its best to let them figure everything out.
 
D

dark_prinny

Banned
Apart from the cuts ( wich is always a bad thing from the workers perspectives ), I have to say that is a pretty wise decission in bussines terms, if it is related about entering the hardware market.

It will be a very risky situation that could drag Valve as a whole, given the actual industry circumstances.

Conservative, but pretty good ( none ) move.
 
L

la flama blanca

Banned
GAF like usual, manufacturing truth/facts from nothing. Gabe was motivated to hire the best for every aspect of their work, maybe some people just couldn't pull their weight compared to the standards set by other people in the work force or unannounced projects were simply cut and the individuals tied to them weren't necessary anymore. I love how people who don't work in the industry feel like they have the better perspective over people who do.
 
S

Sibylus

Banned
Doesn't strike me at all as being coincidental that this occurs on the eve of yet another generational leap. Valve isn't hurting for cash, but the landscape is more or less about to remade again, and they're far from the only studio worried about what that will look like and if they'll make the jump. Have to know where your feet are when the tide comes in.
 
S

SneakyStephan

Banned
-Gabe's favorite crowbar went missing and someone is going to pay.

-Gabe woke up after a long night out greeted by a bunch of employees snickering and giggling, then when he went to take a shower he discovered a henna tattoo of the number 3 on his ass.



edit: damn, bailing out of this thread, the armchair analyst experts in here are making me cringe.
 
A

Ace Harding

Member
Sounds like they had a group or two that was/were exploring something different, trying some stuff out, and it became apparent (for any number of reasons) that these new things ended up not being things Valve wants to ultimately pursue at this time.

So let's move on.
 
M

Maztorre

Member
angular graphics said:
Indeed, I am perplexed about that, as he talked about it less than a week ago.

I wonder if (t)he(y) decided it's best to approach the problem only from a software point of view (Steam for Linux, Big Picture Mode) as there are plenty of companies that are ready to ship HW solutions and perhaps its best to let them figure everything out.
Click to expand...

It sounds like they might have found a long-term partner that will take on hardware development for them. Their statements about hardware have always been to the effect of "if we have to, we'll do it" rather than some keen interest in becoming a hardware vendor. Maybe they don't have to do the heavy lifting for peripherals/PC form factors anymore?
 
M

Moertel

Member
SneakyStephan said:
-Gabe's favorite crowbar went missing and someone is going to pay.

-Gabe woke up after a long night out greeted by a bunch of employees snickering and giggling, then when he went to take a shower he discovered a henna tattoo of the number 3 on his ass.


Or valve just cutting loose some deadweight, I didn't know they even have 300+ employees.
Click to expand...

- Someone stole Gabe's knife collection. Or some dude deleted all the HL3 code.
 
A

angular graphics

Banned
Maztorre said:
It sounds like they might have found a long-term partner that will take on hardware development for them. Their statements about hardware have always been to the effect of "if we have to, we'll do it" rather than some keen interest in becoming a hardware vendor. Maybe they don't have to do the heavy lifting for peripherals/PC form factors anymore?
Click to expand...

Possibly. Good post.
 
K

kswiston

Member
Juancho9 said:
GAF like usual, manufacturing truth/facts from nothing. Gabe was motivated to hire the best for every aspect of their work, maybe some people just couldn't pull their weight compared to the standards set by other people in the work force or unannounced projects were simply cut and the individuals tied to them weren't necessary anymore. I love how people who don't work in the industry feel like they have the better perspective over people who do.
Click to expand...

Well rumors from people who do work in the industry (and Valve?) seem to suggest that these layoffs are not based on performance.

Companies are not benevolent. Not even Valve. If Gabe decided to take business in a different direction that didn't include places for some of these hardware engineers and mobile developers, it is entirely feasible that they could be let go even if they were doing a stellar job previously.

grandjedi6 said:
So what company hasn't had huge layoffs yet? All I can think of off the top of my head is Nintendo.
Click to expand...

I was going to say Square Enix, but it looks like they had some layoffs in North America a couple months ago. Still, I can't remember any notable layoffs from the Japanese side of the business. Just a lot of people leaving on their own accord.
 
D

dave is ok

aztek is ok
I feel like their hardware division was more focused on biometric controllers and other weird new ways of controlling games than actual Steambox stuff.
 
P

PoweredBySoy

Banned
I think I'm okay with this. I can build my own Steambox anyways, and this could be a new refocus around PC software youknowwhatI'mtalkingabout.
 
B

BlockheadBrown

Member
angular graphics said:
Maztorre said:
It sounds like they might have found a long-term partner that will take on hardware development for them. Their statements about hardware have always been to the effect of "if we have to, we'll do it" rather than some keen interest in becoming a hardware vendor. Maybe they don't have to do the heavy lifting for peripherals/PC form factors anymore?
Click to expand...
Possibly. Good post.
Click to expand...

Steambox by Dell... ;)
 
W

wrowa

Member
Juancho9 said:
GAF like usual, manufacturing truth/facts from nothing. Gabe was motivated to hire the best for every aspect of their work, maybe some people just couldn't pull their weight compared to the standards set by other people in the work force or unannounced projects were simply cut and the individuals tied to them weren't necessary anymore. I love how people who don't work in the industry feel like they have the better perspective over people who do.
Click to expand...

You are funny.

You wonder why? Simple: Because the only source we have regarding the lay-offs reports that a) only the hardware and android divisions are affected and b) it was unrelated to the work quality of the employees.

So, saying that the employees just didn't meet Valve's expectations is unlikely based on the vague information we have.

No one here is manufacturing any facts or truths. What people do here, however, is making assumptions based on the information we've got. That's the same you just did with your post if you haven't noticed (okay, only that you ignored the little pieces of information we've got). If you don't like it, well, maybe you shouldn't post on a discussion board since you apparently fail to understand what the point of a discussion board is.
 
T

Thraktor

Member
It seems like Valve have decided they're better off partnering with other companies than doing hardware internally, which strikes me as being quite sensible. Ideally they should take a similar approach to Steam Boxes as Google have to their Nexus line, partnering with a different manufacturer each time to build up a market.
 
L

la flama blanca

Banned
kswiston said:
Well rumors from people who do work in the industry (and Valve?) seem to suggest that these layoffs are not based on performance.

Companies are not benevolent. Not even Valve. If Gabe decided to take business in a different direction that didn't include places for some of these hardware engineers and mobile developers, it is entirely feasible that they could be let go even if they were doing a stellar job previously.
Click to expand...

I started reading more about those rumors, so I assume that might be the case. Didn't Gabe also mention(in an interview) new hires being fired all the time?

wrowa said:
You are funny.

You wonder why? Simple: Because the only source we have regarding the lay-offs reports that a) only the hardware and android divisions are affected and b) it was unrelated to the work quality of the employees.

So, saying that the employees just didn't meet Valve's expectations is unlikely based on the vague information we have.

No one here is manufacturing any facts or truths. What people do here, however, is making assumptions based on the information we've got. That's the same you just did with your post if you haven't noticed (okay, only that you ignored the little pieces of information we've got). If you don't like it, well, maybe you shouldn't post on a discussion board since you apparently fail to understand what the point of a discussion board is.
Click to expand...


No, I know, I am being a dickhead today. I don't delete or edit stuff I get immediately ashamed of.
 
Booter

Booter

Member
Guevara said:
How can Valve get away with have no PR. Just a press release or something would clear up so much.
Click to expand...

how on earth is anyone entitled to any information from a private company? regardless of whether it is a consumer-oriented firm or not, no one is owed information from a private enterprise. the sense of entitlement is staggering.
 
O

Orayn

Member
Juancho9 said:
I started reading more about those rumors, so I assume that might be the case. Didn't Gabe also mention(in an interview) new hires being fired all the time?
Click to expand...

He made a general about new hires getting fired, but didn't indicate he was talking about Valve specifically.
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
Honestly, I hope Valve gets out of the hardware development business. It's just far too risky. Establish a standard, build an OS, whatever...just don't risk the company on a hardware venture. The console hardware business is a money pit.
 
K

Keikaku

Member
Stumpokapow said:
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
- Kenny Rogers
Click to expand...
Best post in the thread. Stump, you're like some magical, rational version of Count Dookake.
 
T

teiresias

Member
Something is up. Everyone knows it's true since Half-Life is seriously drifting into Duke Nukem Forever territory in terms of vaporware.
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
angular graphics said:
I wonder if (t)he(y) decided it's best to approach the problem only from a software point of view (Steam for Linux, Big Picture Mode) as there are plenty of companies that are ready to ship HW solutions and perhaps its best to let them figure everything out.
Click to expand...

I think that is precicely what is happening.
 
O

Orayn

Member
teiresias said:
Something is up. Everyone knows it's true since Half-Life is seriously drifting into Duke Nukem Forever territory in terms of vaporware.
Click to expand...

Something definitely happened, but the people let go were supposedly focused on Android and hardware development. What do you think is "up," and why would it be related to Half-Life?
 
M

MrHicks

Banned
that batshit crazy company culture is gonna bite them in the ass one day
it works with a couple of dozen employees but once you reach hundreds or in the future maybe thousands its gonna become a clusterfuck
 
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