Pro consumer behaviour like refusing to sell the Deck in Australia because of our Consumer protection laws?
Comment on [@GamersNexus] They Changed Everything: Valve Steam Deck OLED vs. LCD Tear-Down
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 7 months agoValve seems to be firmly within the category of enthusiast run company. The heads of EA, Microsoft, etc clearly don’t game. Valve is clearly run by people who do and want their hobby to have a better environment. It’s the only expectation I have for their consistent pro consumer behavior. That or the fact that it’s been wildly profitable so why stop.
Spuddlesv2@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
JasSmith@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Is that really why they don’t sell in Australia? I don’t believe your consumer protections laws are tougher than Europe. I can’t find any stated reason for not selling in AU. I suspect it’s just down to market size. They only recently started selling in Japan and they have 5x as many people.
Spuddlesv2@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
Valve were fined $3M a few years back for lying to consumers about their rights to refunds per Australian law so it is an ongoing joke that Gave now hates Australia and refuses to sell the Deck here as punishment.
That said it isn’t an entirely business-led decision to not sell here. Australians spend more on PC gaming than Japan.
JasSmith@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
I highly doubt Newell is harbouring some kind of grudge. Several countries have ruled against Valve in more onerous ways.
I’m not sure where you got the notion that Japan is a larger market than Australia but the Japanese spend around US$26B/year on video games. Australia is around $US$2.6B. Australia isn’t even in the top 10% worldwide. Now factor in expensive shipping, distribution, and warranty support in Australia, and it seems fairly obviously why they haven’t expanded there yet.
PlasticExistence@lemmy.world 7 months ago
It makes me sad to think what will happen in the distant future when those people are no longer in charge. But for now, we get to enjoy their reign.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 7 months ago
A large portion of the stock is held by employees so that may stay consistent for a good long while. Valve isn’t hurting, they’re able to continue to put out side projects like this and none of their competitors have really stood strong in the face of what they’re doing
giotheflow@lemm.ee 7 months ago
The crux is that as long as Steam has no real competitor, Valve will have fuck-you-ima-tinker-with-side-projects money. The Steam Store is an infinite money printer.
ezures@lemmy.wtf 7 months ago
Their biggest competitor though they could get 30% market share by giving away free games and signing exclusivity deals, instead of, you know, making a good gamestore. I don’t think we need to worry to much.
Well, maybe if GabeN retires, but im still hopeful.