Gabe Newell – Windows 8 ‘catastrophe’ for PC gaming

Gabe Newell, the famous figurehead of Valve, creators of iconic games such as Half Life and Left4Dead has spoken to VentureBeat. He wants to support Linux and has very strong feelings about Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system. Microsoft won't be happy, thats for sure.

He spoke to Venturebeat and said “I think that Windows 8 is kind of a catastrophe for everybody in the PC space. 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. But when you start thinking about a platform, you have to address it. You have to address mobile.

You have to look at what’s going to happen post-tablet. If you look at the mouse and keyboard, it was stable for about 25 years. I think touch will be stable for about 10 years. I think post-touch, and we’ll be stable for a really long time — for another 25 years. I think touch will be this intermediate….”

If you are a linux user, then Gabe's latest stance will appeal to you. He added “One, we’re trying to make sure that Linux thrives. Our perception is that one of the big problems holding Linux back is the absence of games. I think that a lot of people — in their thinking about platforms — don’t realize how critical games are as a consumer driver of purchases and usage.

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.”

Kitguru says: Are you with Gabe on this?

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