[adventured]

The better solution would be to acquire Epic.

Steam is a juggernaut sales and income producer for Valve, they can easily afford to buy Epic now. That would bring the engine tech, talent and community in-house, and eliminate licensing fees for Valve. There would also be a lot Valve could then do with the UE4 market in tandem with steam.

[izacus]

It would also reduce choice and competition on the market. Do you really wish so much for EVERYTHING to be owned by a few ultra-rich corporations?

[adventured]

Everything? You're being intentionally overly dramatic.

Choice and competition are forever being reduced or increased. Nothing can ever stop that gyration. It is in fact desirable at times for mergers to occur.

I have absolutely no problem with Valve buying Epic. Your premise rests solely on the notion that the combination would be bad due to the scale and consolidation it causes. I reject that entirely and contend it would be better for consumers.

I don't consider "ultra rich" to inherently be an insult or negative. Valve deserves all of their success. Hopefully they buy Epic, as they're an excellent ultra-rich corporation.

There are no by-gun-point cartels in video gaming such that another person or company can't compete. The dramatic fall from grace - and large red ink production - of Electronic Arts a few years ago nicely proved that. If Valve buys Epic and it doesn't work out to the benefit of video game consumers, another developer will step up and gain from the Valve failure, seizing a new opportunity, as has been happening in video gaming for decades non-stop and will continue to happen.

[dpiers]

Tencent purchased a 48.4% stake in Epic a few years ago (for $330M). That's a big shareholder with deep pockets to resist/counter buyout offers.