Outspoken Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has recently taken to social media to throw shade at Valve / Gabe Newell over the new Steam Deck pricing. Sweeney hasn't exactly been a fan of Valve for some time, especially in recent years with the launch of the Epic Games Store.
Writing on X/Twitter, Sweeney said:
"Everyone’s being too harsh here. There has been a significant rise in the cost of components that Steam customer spending ultimately funds, and economic trends have created severe disruptions in the component parts supply chain for megayachts."
For those who don't get the reference, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell has a bit of a love of super expensive yachts, going so far as to actually acquire the custom yacht building company Oceanco back in 2025. Newell also owns multiple rather expensive superyachts.
Not to stand up for Valve directly here but just to make a point (because we all know companies are not our friends) - but hold on a moment, isn't this the same CEO who forced over 1,000 people to look for work elsewhere after laying off a whole lot of people? Yes it is. Sweeney has also been quite vocal about support for generative AI, you know - that thing driving up prices of everything everywhere. So perhaps Sweeney is not exactly the best person to be throwing shade around like this.
Even with the price of the Steam Deck rising, it still ended up selling out again in multiple regions.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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There are another things that we can complain about Gabe Newell, like giving a white flag to the market community of CS2. But this seems like a bad complaint.
Also, Tim looks like a bit hypocritical when he supported every AI-thing that he found and Artstation is a AI dumpster because of him.
SilverCode 3 hours ago
Dana Souly 3 hours ago
a significant rise in the cost of components that Steam customer spending ultimately fundsYes, and the funding provided by Steam customers wound up creating something so cool and awesome that it spawned a bunch of knock-offs. That's the point, after all, making money so they can create awesome things, instead of making money so they can pay off companies to release games exclusively on their platform.
Cloversheen 2 hours ago
RavenWings 2 hours ago
Quoting: CloversheenGabeN really does live rent free in Sweeney's mind. 😂Gaben firmly stood in his way when Sweeney wanted to see the PC Gaming market die and now he stands in his way when he desperatly wants to conquer it. Its pretty much comic book good-vs-evil stuff.
Sweeney has never said or done anything that impressed me. Once again, this just sounds like sour grapes.
The most whiny c u next tuesday. He makes my skin crawl.
It's just Tim Swine being a pathetic attention seeker because his games store can't hold a candle to Steam.
Mohandevir 17 minutes ago
Edit: And Tim Sweeney must be living in poverty for sure... Didn't he vowed to that?
Last edited by Mohandevir on 29 May 2026 at 3:05 pm UTC
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