A couple of years ago it was announced that TF2 is still making something in the realms of 130 million a year. For a 10 year old game that’s now F2P, that’s bloody impressive.
Valve has explicitly said that they’re moving to games as a service for years now. Sure, that doesn’t apply to all games (I can’t see what else they’d do with a single player focused game like Portal 2) but for other franchises of theirs it makes sense.
In Valve’s case; I think people would cut them a lot more slack in terms of the “We finished it, what do you want?” if they showed more signs of actually moving on to new projects. With, say, TF2, the game is a decade old; but the ongoing balance tweaks, novelty hat DLC, etc? Ongoing, unless something has changed in the past few minutes. If Valve treats it like TF2-as-a-service; why be surprised when people judge it that way; particularly given how slim Valve’s pipeline is a for a company with a storied history and nontrivial resources.
Also, I don’t think that anyone is arguing that Valve is shirking an obligation; just being disappointing. Digital card games with some sort of connection to existing properties are a veritable fad right now(and some of them are said to be quite enjoyable, in fairness; but they aren’t much of a substitute for the games that they are based on).
I don’t think that anyone actually expects HL3 at this point; but “Hey, another collectible card game! To go with Hearthstone, and Gwent, and TES: Legends, and about a zillion others with less notable IP!” is pretty unexciting fare by Valve’s historical standards.
You honed the truth to a fine edge there. Now gaming joins punk and metal as things I have to be careful to like in a visibly non-fascist sort of way.
Thank you for the extensive clarification. I still have my personal reservations against using the term völkisch in this context, but your choice of words makes much more sense now!
BTW, just another spontaneous thought: this fits right into the current marketing (ironically…) of Naomi Klein’s book, where she apparently argues that companies no longer compete over product quality, but brand image and connected image or PR-invented “lifestyles”.
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Also, banks should stop charging interests on loans. I apologize if this appears like a bitchy comment but this mechanic of purchasing mystery packs is currently the #1 way games make money in the world right now. It’s probably the reason Valve is making a card game in the first place.
I admit that the term is a bit trolly when deployed without context, and can invite comparisons between mainstream gamers and the alt right that are unfair. But it has become fairer over time for the people it does apply to. 
Blut und Boden, Seele und Spiele!
Another interesting dynamic in the whole “gamer identity” folk mythology stuff is how so many believe that their destiny is to make games. The playing and making of games is inseparable. This is a good thing, really, but making games is a particularly complex and difficult business where technical roles are prevalent. So an unattainable goal becomes an unattainable aspect of self-identity for the many people who aren’t cut out for it.
Even with the tech field’s broader hostility to women, commercial game development is so specialized that it feeds into that sense of marginally-middle-class failsons (inhabitants of The American Room) tipping into poverty and youtube addiction as their dreamed-of future is inhabited by people who are not them.
And on top of that you have the tragic fact (at least to them), that nontechnical qualities often find success in the marketplace. So after everything, they see people outsmart and outstrip them through qualities such as audience cultivation, salesmanship and marketing – empathetic qualities.
Notice that the indie game scene that the völkisch types despise (think Offworld material!) is structured as expressive, artistic, playful – which is to say accessible to anyone with an idea and Game Maker Studio. But the game scene they want to be a part of prizes technical skills, technological excellence and other things that just aren’t going to happen under the 90th percentile.
I hear that game is actually quite good.
But if you ask, “Wait, why don’t you know first hand whether it’s good?” then we get to the crux of the problem here.
Your last sentence becomes even better if the reader knows that in parts of southern Germany, and maybe also parts of Switzerland and Austria, a Seele is a bread specialty.
(Which is odd for everyone else speaking German. I can’t suppress a giggle whenever I see a sign at a bakery announcing “Olivenseele: 3.50 €”.)
They’re making money off it, and they’re continuing to maintain/develop it. at this point i’m talking out of my ass a bit because i don’t know sales numbers but I’m assuming that the income off TF2 is pretty much a trickle at this point. So just keeping their official servers running and maintaining the game with balance patches etc. is all I personally would expect from them, and they seem to be meeting that bar at least.
If it is a trickle it is not because the fans have moved on from the game, it is due to Valve’s incompetence in mishandling the game. A quick search online from this past week i keep seeing players lament Valve’s active choice in ignoring the game and the community. The love for the game and the demand for it is there, i don’t even need a sequel to it. I’d be happy with more of what already exists though a sequel would do much to bring in fresh interest in the series.
I should clarify though. I am just voicing my deep frustration with the company, i feel that it is justified and not unreasonable because the game is supposed to be in active development with two sizeable updates in the pipeline but it seems that within the past year the scene has significantly withered and the talent pool has bailed for Overwatch and PUBG.
This is from a few years ago and as someone who still jumps on semi-regularly, it’s probably quietened a bit in the last year or two, but it was pulling what I’d say is decent money for a game that came out in 2007. It’s still the #4 most played game on Steam.
What has trickled off is the amount that Valve pays the essentially outsourced contributors (ie the players who create game models) so that’s even more $$ for them.
Find a cure for my illness (the medical professionals haven’t yet), and I would be more than happy to.
I also read books and grow vegetables, but other than those I prefer my hobbies to be active rather than passive. Video games keep my mind active when my body can’t be.
The lowered payout is also reflected in other Valve titles and there’s quite a bit of controversy around it because Valve is pocketing a lot of money from content creators and offering little value in return. Here’s an article about it from a few months ago.
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