Valve: ‘Windows 8 Is A Catastrophe For Everyone In The PC Space’

Valve co-founder Gabe Newell who worked at Microsoft for 13 years on the first three versions of Windows, calls Windows 8 “a catastrophe for everybody in the PC space”.

AllThingsD.com reports that during a dinner speech on Tuesday at the Casual Connect conference in Seattle, Newell discussed a number of topics. One of them was Windows 8, Newell clearly doesn’t seem to be too keen on Windows 8, he stated:

“I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space,” he said. “I think we’ll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that’s true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality.”

He went on to discuss innovation, stating that in order for it to happen, platforms need to be more open instead of closed. “In order for innovation to happen, a bunch of things that aren’t happening on closed platforms need to occur,” said Newell.

“Valve wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the PC, or Epic, or Zynga, or Google. They all wouldn’t have existed without the openness of the platform.

He went on, “I think there’s a strong temptation to close the platform. If people look at what they can accomplish when they can limit competitors’ access to their platform, they say, “Wow, that’s really exciting.” Even some of the people who have open platforms, like Microsoft, get really excited by the idea that Netflix has to pay them rent in order to be on the Internet.”

“I don’t think that’s a very attractive future, we are looking at the platform and saying, We have been a free rider, and we’ve been able to benefit from everything that went into PCs and the Internet, and we have to continue to figure out how there will be open platforms.”

“We’re trying to make sure that Linux thrives,” says Newell, who reckons that the lack of games is what’s holding back the alternative PC operating system. “So we’re going to continue working with the Linux distribution guys, shipping Steam, shipping our games, and making it as easy as possible for anybody who’s engaged with us – putting their games on Steam and getting those running on Linux, as well. It’s a hedging strategy,” he said.

“I think that we’re going to lose some of the top-tier PC [original equipment manufacturers]. They’ll exit the market. I think margins are going to be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that’s true, it’s going to be a good idea to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality.”