Remote
Ben
@ben@social.ben.ie
👾 Game developer based in Galway, Ireland. Was a 🎬 filmmaker 💸 in a previous life. Previously lived in #Lisbon, #Portugal and grew up in #Dublin, #Ireland. Love to #bake #sourdough, #tinker with #selfhosting.
673 Followers
773 Following
24 Posts
Joined November 08, 2025
Replying to
@davey_cakes I have yet to see someone who does real work OR is not directly tied to the AI industry say this.
Replying to
@tbortels @preya @guenther a world where Nintendo and Sony (lol Microsoft) are competing with Valve is a better one than we have now, but Valve can afford to be generous, permissive, because building value here makes their PC gaming monopoly even more valuable.
We absolutely do not want a "winner" in the console space the way Valve became a winner in the PC space. They've been relatively non-toxic, but the world and the industry suffers when there's consolidation like that. We dont know what we're missing because it cant exist while Valve controls 90% (or whatever it is) of PC gaming.
And I like Valve! But they should be competing their asses off, not sitting around on gobs of rent.
Replying to
@kevin@theforkiverse.com @pj@theforkiverse.com @Casey@theforkiverse.com also, lads, very funny to hear the chaos from delegating the creation of this to an AI agent 😂
Replying to
@guenther @preya is it? I have definitely installed DRM-Free games from Steam. It's just not consistent or well-advertised. I know they offer account-verification (because I've implemented it in games I've shipped on Steam 👀) but that is entirely optional.
They are undoubtedly a monopoly, but we live in an age of such incredible corporate abuse of its customers and consumers that them showing just a little bit of grace feels like a breath of fresh air 😅
Replying to
@tbortels @preya @guenther new space is console games and gamers.
I love my Steam Deck and I think I'll get a Steam Machine (depending on the price). This is a great idea, and I want them to do it.
You're right, being on Steam isn't exclusive, but as a two-sided market they now function as both a monopsony and monopoly. If you want your PC game to make money, you need to sell it on Steam. They have cornered the markets for buying and selling PC games. They are, like I've said, relatively non-toxic, but they're also complacent because they don't compete with anybody in the PC space.
Their backend tools are stale, support is non-existent, and they still charge an exorbitant 30% rent on all sales, which is ludicrous. The fact that it became industry standard in mobile doesn't make it less usurous. I was glad to see GOG and Epic join the market, and I think it's telling that despite Epic sinking an unimaginable fortune into increasing their share of the market, and GOG's laudable attempt at an "open" launcher, they have barely moved the needle.
Valve is finally serious about hardware. I have their first steam controller and their little streaming box, and I've used the Index (it's good!). They failed and Valve moved on, because they can afford to, because tens of millions of dollars drop into their bank account every day whether they work that day or not. Eventually it would run dry if they literally stopped development, but nobody is out there making them sweat, making them compete for our money as game buyers, or our products as game developers.
Not to compare them to pure evil, but Amazon, Meta, Apple and Google all used to be generous, open and competitive as well, but once they had their power consolidated, they could abuse their business customers and end users all they liked. Valve haven't really done that, but they could if they wanted to, and that's the problem.
What happens if Gabe decides to retire and sells Valve to Amazon or Microsoft? Or a consortium of private equity funds? Nobody could stop him. A newly, suddenly enshittified Valve could stipulate exclusivity in new obligitory contracts. And then could double or triple the rents.
Long way of saying that I hope that Valve does to Sony and Nintendo (lol and Microsoft) what I've been hoping anybody would do to Valve. These Steam Machines are an awesome idea and they look great.
Replying to
@EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu can we compel them to make WhatsApp matrix-compatible?
Replying to
@Daojoan@mastodon.social you leftist radical fuck why do you hate our* troops?
- I'm not actually American btw they ain't MY troops
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@saukki@mementomori.social oh this looks very cool! Have you tried it with indoor workouts at all?
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@rysiek@mstdn.social @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu but Matrix is a protocol, not a client, so every server would need to negotiate and sign.
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@Linux@planet.moe I see you shouting it is a scam and Aral shouting it is not a scam. I trust your paths have crossed?
Replying to
Tbf I'm not even in the Forkiverse! I run a solo server at social.ben.ie :-D so delighted to see this experiment! I'm browsing the timeline of the server to see what's happening. It's a nice hang!