Is it true that Steam has no boss in charge?

[Cherrycat]

Gabe Newell is the CEO of Valve but from what I gather there is nobody "in charge" of Steam as such, is that correct? I know in 2015 Gabe Newel had to step in to stop paid mods (which shows he isn't in charge) and on their website it says "boss free since 1996" which explains a whole lot if true.

[Wolfpig]

Of course there are people at charge for stuff...if there where not a company probably would not run for long.
But there is a difference between owning a company, and making decisions in it which mostly (in all bigger ones) are made by other people who got put in charge of stuff, and not the one who owns the whole lot (why should he work if it is not needed).

[AmsterdamHeavy]

Valve adheres to that informal "work on what you want" philosophy that gained popularity in the 90s. Coming from MS, that makes sense (Gabe and some other were MS employees, originals that got rich".

So, in the traditional sense of "the boss", not so much - one reason is being the boss sucks, frankly.

But with a few hundred employees, they have middle and upper management of some kind, or nothing like this UI would get done, eben if it project managers filling those roles.

Also, Id add, that the CEO generally has little day to day impact on the operations of any company of this size. Thats what managers are for. The 30K ft view is the executive management's and officer's domain.

[Cherrycat]

Originally posted by Wolfpig:

Of course there are people at charge for stuff...if there where not a company probably would not run for long.
But there is a difference between owning a company, and making decisions in it which mostly (in all bigger ones) are made by other people who got put in charge of stuff, and not the one who owns the whole lot (why should he work if it is not needed).

"Boss-free since 1996.

We believe that the best product decisions are made by the people who are actually doing the work. We take great pride in hiring top talent from a variety of disciplines and bringing people together with one simple directive: Collaborate and create. Below are some of the people at Valve who do just that."

https://www.valvesoftware.com/en/people

[Cherrycat]

Having no guiding force explains a whole lot about why Valve is as it is, why they are fixated with VR, why Half Life 3 will never be made and why Steam is as it is too.

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by Cherrycat:

Originally posted by Wolfpig:

Of course there are people at charge for stuff...if there where not a company probably would not run for long.
But there is a difference between owning a company, and making decisions in it which mostly (in all bigger ones) are made by other people who got put in charge of stuff, and not the one who owns the whole lot (why should he work if it is not needed).

"Boss-free since 1996.

We believe that the best product decisions are made by the people who are actually doing the work. We take great pride in hiring top talent from a variety of disciplines and bringing people together with one simple directive: Collaborate and create. Below are some of the people at Valve who do just that."

https://www.valvesoftware.com/en/people

And still there are people at valve who are in charge of stuff and have the final word....be it in a small workgroup (would be a real pain in the ass if you want to do something in one, and everyone does nothing or not what they should as no one knows who does what), or at a higher level like making contracts with game devs etc........

[*P0P$*FR3$H3NM3Y3R*]

Yeah that Boss free stuff is just new age flat hierarchy nonsense that companies like to decorate their brand with.

[Start_Running]

Originally posted by Cherrycat:

Having no guiding force explains a whole lot about why Valve is as it is, why they are fixated with VR, why Half Life 3 will never be made and why Steam is as it is too.

- YOu mean why they are getting in on the ground floor of a new sphere of market expansion?
- You mean because they're smart enough to know there is very little point to make a HL3?
- You mean why Steam remains the top games retailer

Soundslike the strategy is working bang on.

[Sminky]

Originally posted by Aaron:

Originally posted by Cherrycat:

Gabe Newell is the CEO of Valve but from what I gather there is nobody "in charge" of Steam as such, is that correct? I know in 2015 Gabe Newel had to step in to stop paid mods (which shows he isn't in charge) and on their website it says "boss free since 1996" which explains a whole lot if true.

If they were, you'd have to wonder about administration. Who deals with the hiring process? Who does accounts? Who orders in new furniture or restocks supplies? Who deals with building management? Who runs HR? Who monitors security? Who decides what the aim is that month? Who authorises interface-breaking UI changes? All those little things that come with running a company that can't be just improvised.

I mean, they certainly seem like they don't do much, but I really doubt they don't have an actual formal chain of command, or any single employee could do pretty much anything at any moment. That's a massive risk when you're talking about a multi-million dollar company.

They really don't. Pier pressure and cliques are the order of the day from employe accounts. It's not a great place to work, and most of their 'talent' has long since gone.

[Cherrycat]

If you need proof their system doesn't work all you need to do is see how little they get done these days and how when they decided to add paid mods Gabe had to stop in and BE THE BOSS for a single day to stop them doing it.

[Draconifors]

I never knew any of this. I can't imagine having a work environment without a boss of any kind... sounds more than a little bizarre. I know I would be lost if I tried to work in a place like that.

[=Snappy=]

Oh, they have a boss...

His name is $.

[🌴Phil337™🌴]

Originally posted by Spawk:

Welcome to Flatland

HL3 confirmed ?

[Realigo Actual]

Robin walker has taken the studio largely hostage by causing widespread addiction to his butt pimple cream, which he combined with wax and presented as a chapstick substitute, which he never told anybody was habit forming.

also, SkyNet starts from the Steam Labs and the potted plant has literally turned one wing into something out of jumanji, and attracted a large and growing contingent of worshipers from various teams at Valve who seem to be trying to create a Ricochet sequel, but planty.

[Andrei]

https://www.vg247.com/2015/02/06/gabe-newell-good-guy-steam-support/

look at this its 5 years old but i think still accurate

like gaben has said everyone at Valve is in Support

[Tito Shivan]

Originally posted by Andrei:

like gaben has said everyone at Valve is in Support

Steam has a dedicated support team.