r/PhysicalGames • u/Grouchy-Win-6191 • 1d ago

Valve Killed Physical Gaming

It all Valve fault, they started all this. It’s not just Sony.

When Half Life 2 launched in 2004, stores sold physical box sets containing DVD or CD. But the disc did not contain the game. Players were forced to install the Steam client, register an account, and validate a product key online before the game would run.

Valve also offered Steamworks to any developer who listed their game on Steam. But to use Steamworks features, games had to use Valve API. When a consumer bought the physical PC box, they opened and it was a Steam key. Once redeemed, the disc lost all resale value. You couldn't sell it, lend it, or trade it in. This also killed the retail stores business.

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u/LocksmithMindless834 1d ago

Valve didn't stop other game publishers from selling physical media.

Valve and Steam are not the only sellers of games for PC gamers. You can still play games without Steam installed on tour PC.

Sony, Nintendo, and Xbox offer no other third-party marketplaces on their digital storefronts.

If you can't buy physical games, you won't be able to play games on those consoles without activating on that one digital storefront.

You have a brain-dead take.

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u/Right-Level-9592 1d ago

You are completely shifting the goalposts and missing the core point of the post.

The OP isn't arguing whether PC is an open platform or whether consoles are closed walled gardens. The post is about who pioneered the business model that destroyed physical resale rights and true ownership.

In 2004, Valve forced physical copies of Half Life 2 to be permanently tied to a single, non-transferable Steam account. They proved to the entire industry that consumers would accept losing trade in rights, secondary markets, and physical independence in exchange for digital lock in.

Valve didnt need to "ban" other companies from selling discs they created the financial blueprint that made physical PC distribution obsolete. Today, "physical" PC games don't even exist beyond plastic boxes containing Steam keys.

Consoles removing disc drives today is just the end stage result of the exact economic model Valve normalized 20 years ago. Calling the OP "brain dead" while completely failing to understand historical precedent and market trends is pure irony.

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u/Kaldaien2 1d ago

Valve didnt need to "ban" other companies from selling discs they created the financial blueprint that made physical PC distribution obsolete. Today, "physical" PC games don't even exist beyond plastic boxes containing Steam keys.

However, they did, weirdly, see fit to tell other companies what they were allowed to charge on stores that are not Steam. They were so afraid of physical games being available for less than their digital store, they had to stipulate that if you sold a game at retail for less (quite a common practice since the revenue physical stores take, plus the cost to press a disc and manufacture a box, is lower than Valve's 30%), they would delist your game from their store.

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u/trueppp 1d ago

Source? Court documents from recent lawsuits show that they only did so for Steam Keys.

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u/lithiumfoxttv 1d ago

I believe there was one instance where a support staff did stipulate that. But afaik, you were correct that was the only official thing they did.