I'm usually totally against huge corporations on principle, but there's definitely one that I can't criticise and maybe even like, Even though I don't buy any of their products.
this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
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Asklemmy
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I think Valve is one of the only companies I don't actively hate. Steam is a pretty solid platform that hasn't been too enshittified over the years, even though the gambling on there is kinda concerning.
The advances in Proton are usually attributed to them. And I like how permissive the family sharing on there is (I personally only own like 2 games and just leech the rest from my husband).
But of course, they might just have a good PR team and be secretly shitty. I'm always down to just hop back to pirating games.
Oh, in that context, Humble Bundle seems pretty decent as well. That's where my husband got most of his steam games from
Valve, by making proton, didn't just benefit gamers. They made Linux a viable platform for most people with proton, and hence are actively fighting against windows and apple really effectively. I'd pick Valve over redbull
I love steam and valves hardware products, but the thing is, I'm not the primary customer in their business model. Steams product is digital shelf space in one of the most popular digital arcades, access to which they charge their real primary customers: independent game devs and publishers.
Whatever their activities are outside that, even the much appreciated proton and contribution to Linux gaming, is in the context of capturing more gamers on their platform, making their product an irresistible choice for their customers to release their game on, despite the steep per-purchase cut Valve takes.
That's not an entirely...erhm...nice business model imo. It's remarkabley like Amazon, but at least Valve didn't put a bunch of local bookstores out of business becoming the juggernaut they are.
Yeah, honestly, companies that aren't publicly traded and just do their own thing tend to be fine to okay-ish. I like Valve. Their software works for me, they were fine to work with, and I like some of the projects they've helped advance.
I hesitate to say that they 'get a free pass'. I don't think any company should get that unless they like... cured aging and gave it away for free or something, but for the time being, they're decent.
I'd also suggest the folks at GoG are pretty good, too.
It's not a corp tho, it's a private company
"Corporation" is a legal term; Valve is privately owned, but it's structured as an LLC or Limited Liability Company.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_Corporation
It is a corporation. Just not publicly traded.
EDIT: I looked it up some more because it says Valve is a company and there's no citation for it being a corporation other than that Valve calls itself one. But a company is a type of corporation.
"Corporation" is a type of company. Valve is a Limited Liability Corporation or LLC.