From the notoriously flat structure of Valve to the support of free software to the extremely laissez faire way of running steam to the main Dota tournament being named “The International”… Is Gabe Newell a card carrying Anarchist?

        • beefcat ( beefcat@beehaw.org ) English
          1·
          3 years ago

          Personally I’m still not convinced Microsoft will ever kill off users’ ability to download software from places other than the Windows Store. They really wanted to, particularly while Ballmer was still in charge, but they do not have the market position to actually do that. An extensive library of third party desktop software is the reason Windows still has market share.

    • Pseu ( Pseu@beehaw.org ) English
      11·
      3 years ago

      there was cliques and entourageous. That’s not anarchy.

      Isn’t that basically one of the key features of anarchy? There may not be an official structure, but people are allowed to form groups and associate based on their values and goals. The fact that this ends up feeling like high school is a pretty big black mark against anarchy in my book.

      Though a corporation being anarchist is kinda absurd.

    • that_one_guy ( that_one_guy@beehaw.org ) English
      6·
      3 years ago

      Specially when you consider they removed the flat structure at Valve recently.

      Do you have a source for this? I haven’t been able to find anything mentioning any kind of restructuring.

        • Piers ( Piers@beehaw.org ) English
          9·
          3 years ago

          "But one of the most interesting parts is how Half-Life: Alyx changed the studio’s view on development. Robin Walker is one of Valve’s most legendary designers, having worked on Team Fortress since the ’90s. In The Final Hours, Walker told Geoff Keighley — cheers to Ars Technica for spotting this first — how their historical flexibility didn’t always work out.

          “We sort of had to collectively admit we were wrong on the premise that you will be happiest if you work on something you personally want to work on the most,” Walker said in the app’s fifth chapter, “Fixing Valve”.

          Greg Coomer, who still works at Valve, said the company began “having a lot of cultural conversations about why we were unhappy”. “There were just too many things going on at the company to feel like we were healthy as an organisation.”

          “We decided as a group that we would all be happier if we worked on a bigt thing, even if it’s not exactly what we wanted to work on,” Walker added."

          I’m not sure that’s the same thing as “removing the flat structure.”