Game devs speak out on Valve, Steam and conflict of interest

October 20th, 2009

In a recent interview, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford—the developer behind the upcoming Borderlands—revealed some surprising opinions about Valve’s Steam digital distribution platform. While the common sentiment among both gamers and developers tends to be positive, Pitchford told Maximum PC that “I don’t trust Valve” and that he believes “a lot of the industry doesn’t” as well.

Pitchford’s main criticism is that with Valve being both a game developer and a platform holder, this situation creates “so much conflict of interest…that it’s horrid.” According to the Gearbox CEO, Valve’s position allows them to exploit developers who use Steam to distribute their games. Given the surprising nature of these comments, Ars contacted several game developers to see just how widespread these opinions are.