[mywittyname]

I believe Valve has promised to unlock all games purchased through their platform in the event that they go out of business. Whether they stick to that is another story, but it should happen for at least some games.

They've been operating Steam for 20 years now. So the company has staying power.

Plus, the most likely thing to happen to Valve is a MS acquisition.

[branon]

I hope Valve isn't acquired by Microsoft. Gabe left Microsoft to found Valve so as long as he's around I can't ever see that happening.

Is it known who will helm Valve if Gabe decides to leave? Plagman has been a big name there with the recent SteamOS platform development but I'm not sure who the actual second-in-command would be.

[ansible]

If Stadia is shut down, they should offer activation keys for each user's purchased games on Epic, GOG, Xbox, GeForce Now or Steam. Or where ever, really, it doesn't matter.

[itsoktocry]

>They've been operating Steam for 20 years now. So the company has staying power.

This is true, but also this is all new. Sooner than later there will be a case of a 20 year old company who licenses media that burns their customer base. It's inevitable.

[ece]

They have a backup option built into the Steam client, so you're free to do that anytime. Offcourse, there's no guarantees with multiplayer games or always-on DRM as that's always been the case with publishers who choose to go down that route.

[kmeisthax]

They almost certainly can't. If I remember correctly the "we can just release an unlock patch" comment was back when Steam was just that really annoying thing Valve forced you install to play Counter-Strike. The moment they started including third-party games was the moment that no longer became available. DMCA 1201 is very very clear that you cannot unlock other people's games for any reason, even a legal one.

[kabdib]

It depends on the contract between the parties involved.

[fariszr]

After their Linux move, Vlave really want to have nothing to do with Microsoft.

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

I don't think that's true so much as Valve really doesn't trust Microsoft, which is a very reasonable position given the company's history.

[pjmlp]

It would be a pity to lose the income from those 95% steam customers.