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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Quoting: SlaxerHe also got richQuoting: ArehandoroEat the rich. Whether they are whining moron or a super yacht owner.I never understood the "eat the rich" sentiment. I do think corruption, fraud, or unethical business practices need to be called out and held accountable to the law when necessary - however, I don't think that's what we're talking about here, is it?
GabeN got wealthy by:
- Working at Microsoft
- Founding Valve
- Creating Half Life 1 & 2
- Creating Steam
- Creating the Steam Deck\Steam Machine\Proton
At what point between getting a job at Microsoft and being wealthy enough to buy a yacht did he suddenly become immoral? From my point of view, he got wealthy by founding the company that created one of the best games I've ever played in my life (Half-Life 2), and by supporting the Linux gaming community by getting Valve to create Proton and open-sourcing it. Furthermore, through Valve he has also employed 100s of people and enabled them to have a living. GabeN is not my friend, but my life would definitely be just a little worse if Half-Life never existed - and I reckon yours would probably be too. If you made a cultural landmark of a game, and developed a game distribution platform/community that revolutionized the way people buy games, you'd be rich too - should I hate you then for having done so? Or should I reward you with my money in exchange for the awesome thing that you created?
- running a shadow gambling empire on Steam with Steam assets.
- being close to power by studying at Harvard(which few have the opportunity to do), while the US military was spending tax paying money to prop up US tech influence.
I think Arehandoro would argue he didn't make his money through work, but enterpreneurship, which would make it bad, since he didn't work for it himself.
I argue that, such an argument underestimates the risks and effort involved in enterpreneurship.
Having said that.
I agree with your issue taking with the attack on his super yacht ownership, without clear explanation what is wrong with it.
Rich people spend lots of money on luxury goods, that's not really the issue.
In an economy without the moat effect of capital this would actually result in trickle down effects.
One could argue that even among expensive expenses super yachts are extremely bad for the environment, but would that mean that owning a pickup truck should be punishable by flaying.
Also I think execution isn't an appropriate way to deal with wealth disparity.
Land and wealth taxes I've no issue with, just like hightened transparancy requirements, because wealth buys freedom from the law. Also you will hear me arguing for the abolishment of cooperation as juridical persons, because that risks it shields from is exactly what we're rewarding their sponsors for.
Execution is generally counter productive and just mean, also generally it just moves the wealth to inheritors.
Quoting: ArehandoroHe also got richLet's get real here, most of the "eat the rich" sentiment is a result of childish jealousy and comparison. Let's not forget that "rich" is a relative term; if your spawn RNG was good enough to be born in a G7 country, and you have the means to own a PC that's good enough to run a 2026 AAA game on Linux with a fast internet connection, you are already are wealthier than a large chunk of the world's population that can't even afford to eat. Yeah, of course there's some luck involved in living a good life - but so what? It's not reasonable to hate people for it.
- running a shadow gambling empire on Steam with Steam assets.
- being close to power by studying at Harvard(which few have the opportunity to do), while the US military was spending tax paying money to prop up US tech influence.
I think Arehandoro would argue he didn't make his money through work, but enterpreneurship, which would make it bad, since he didn't work for it himself.
I argue that, such an argument underestimates the risks and effort involved in enterpreneurship.
Having said that.
I agree with your issue taking with the attack on his super yacht ownership, without clear explanation what is wrong with it.
Rich people spend lots of money on luxury goods, that's not really the issue.
In an economy without the moat effect of capital this would actually result in trickle down effects.
Quoting: ArehandoroAlso I think execution isn't an appropriate way to deal with wealth disparity.The disparity in wealth has many factors to consider. Tbh, I'd be more interested in the topic of effort disparity - I reckon most of us aren't really trying that hard in the first place. Everyone says they'd love to be rich, but nobody ever says they want what it takes to get there. Running a business may look easy when all you do is look at the highlight reel, but in reality, it's like taking care of a baby that never stops crying.
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