208
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2026
208 points (98.1% liked)
PC Gaming
15591 readers
905 users here now
For PC gaming news and discussion. PCGamingWiki
Rules:
- Be Respectful.
- No Spam or Porn.
- No Advertising.
- No Memes.
- No Tech Support.
- No questions about buying/building computers.
- No game suggestions, friend requests, surveys, or begging.
- No Let's Plays, streams, highlight reels/montages, random videos or shorts.
- No off-topic posts/comments, within reason.
- Use the original source, no clickbait titles, no duplicates. (Submissions should be from the original source if possible, unless from paywalled or non-english sources. If the title is clickbait or lacks context you may lightly edit the title.)
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
From my understanding, Valve would need to be hundreds of times more wealthy to be able to even consider manufacturing their own DRAM.
Edit: notably, this article seems to suggest that after significant government investmemt and with an already well-established knowledge and IP base, a fab costs around $15 billion dollars and optimisticly, a decade of construction. Given that Valve is starting from scratch, the price will be much higher. Chinese companies, backed by the Chinese government and using significant amounts of corporate espionage, have been trying to achive this for about 20 years, and are only just starting to catch up, nonetheless one (relatively) small software company.
Maybe Gabe could give up a few of his superyachts
I don't think you understand the size of a company like Samsung or SK Hynix. The number of employees and capital invested in fab is not even close to what Steam could do. How prolific is the Steam Deck compared to a Samsung mobile phone?
Valve generated like 17 billion dollars "recently" according to a quick google search. Apparently they don't disclose their earnings. But how is that even possible to "need more money" that they have?
Did you know that for every number there is in fact a larger number?
17 billions is pretty small change in setting up your own ram manufacturing.
The Chips bill meant to boost semiconductor fabs in the US was for 280 billion. And that wasn't even to get on par with what Taiwan was making.
Fundamental computer hardware like cpu/gpu wafers and the stuff that goes into RAM is EXTREMELY hard to make at all, let alone at any remotely competitive level. And the people currently running it in the world have had a LOT of time to get VERY good at it.
Instead of tens of billions, you'd need hundreds of billions just to get started. Plus, Valve probably doesn't want to try to compete and then get destroyed by one of those companies, essentially killing themselves in the process. They probably generally want to just stay in their lane and not overextend. They just started supporting a brand new entire operating system now, and that's probably enough, for now. Maybe in the future if everything is really successful?
Try that argument at work. "Guys, we made enough money this year!"
They can def. start somewhere, like leading the revolution.
Ehh, the start-up costs would be pretty insane, and it would likely be a financial loss if the AI bubble popped and prices came down. It'd be a very risky move.
something something billionaires and their ❝❛risky❜ ventures❞
The US pumped 10x Valve's networth into building out chip manufacturing locally, like 5 years ago, and even then the fab specifications they expected to get out of it were not even in the realm of complexity of what Taiwan is producing.
The consequences of exporting cheap labour has come bite’m back huh?
It's been biting the working class for decades. In fact , I am riddled with the bite marks from the rich.
🤝🤝🤝
Revolution? What revolution? Against who? Take things one step at a time, this is a game dev we're talking about. A successful one that now has the best digital storefront in the world, but still, a game dev. Not rhetorical questions, btw, I'm genuinely curious which revolution against who (and how) you mean.
Weird way to call an extortionist.
Against Fascists. These “cartels” are funding technofascists.
Valve, as profit seeking extortionists, sides with fascists. Otherwise they would host their extortion services for free.