Oh and:
Quote from: GeorgeS on Today at 01:57:14Steam is a NON-Subscription service/store front
Yea, but you don't also need subsidisation to lower hardware costs. Just having access to the economies of scale valve has, should get them significantly lower component costs than the average individual could gather. But, we're finding cheaper, more powerful machines in the EU mind you, with 20% tax included. Not US microcenter deals mind you. That's insane...
Even the they couldn't get supply components doesn't hold up. They been working on this machine since 2023! They announced this last year before the costs and supply go this dire. Who makes a public announcement without even having locking in the hardware contracts? This is a colossal fail of planning. They had plenty of time to stock up. Probably just waited till last minute to further squeeze margins and it backfired now. Just pure greed. Steam doesn't even good sales anymore.
Are there any more arguments left to defend Valve? They can't even get sponsored YouTubers who got sent machines free to glaze it effectively. Lmao.