Speaking as someone in the game industry, Valve certainly has it's problems, but they aren't platform problems.
PC is stronger this generation than it was last generation, I'm not sure about the numbers but I suspect that it is ahead of both consoles, and it might be ahead of both of them combined, and I'd expect this to only be get more true. Porting to PC is pretty much just porting the parts that interact with the OS or GPU for this generation, due to both consoles using x86-64.
And mobile is a joke. market might be huge, there's a reason very few established game companies care about it at all. It's extremely unpredictable, and the expected price of games is far below what is realistic. Even if you make a hit, the amount of money you'll make is far from the amount of money you make from a hit on any other platform (hell, it doesn't even come close to the budget of most games). Honestly, I think the only way a company can hope to turn a profit on mobile is with IAP or shovelware (or both), and I don't see that displacing console or PC gaming any time soon.
I wouldn't mind seeing steam displaced, but I don't think it will be by EA or Ubisoft, largely due to the fact that they're both about as popular as Comcast, which seems to be due to them being massively out of touch.
Respectfully I disagree with most of what you're written, wrt to growth.
When I see my friends 3 year old daughter playing Geometry Dash on his phone, I know that the PC can't compete with that.
PC ports are still and after thought. Games use a lobby system instead of dedicated servers. Only a few companies (Valve being one of them) target the PC market first. Pretty much every other AAA publisher looks at the PC market as an after thought.
> In my opinion all the platforms have their pro's and con's, and none of them are going to disappear anytime soon.
I wasn't suggesting that PC gaming will disappear. However, it's clear that PC gaming isn't a growth sector. Given that is where Valve dominates, where does that leave them?
Valve may not consider themselves a growth oriented company, but they do look for opportunities to innovate.
PC is stronger this generation than it was last generation, I'm not sure about the numbers but I suspect that it is ahead of both consoles, and it might be ahead of both of them combined, and I'd expect this to only be get more true. Porting to PC is pretty much just porting the parts that interact with the OS or GPU for this generation, due to both consoles using x86-64.
And mobile is a joke. market might be huge, there's a reason very few established game companies care about it at all. It's extremely unpredictable, and the expected price of games is far below what is realistic. Even if you make a hit, the amount of money you'll make is far from the amount of money you make from a hit on any other platform (hell, it doesn't even come close to the budget of most games). Honestly, I think the only way a company can hope to turn a profit on mobile is with IAP or shovelware (or both), and I don't see that displacing console or PC gaming any time soon.
I wouldn't mind seeing steam displaced, but I don't think it will be by EA or Ubisoft, largely due to the fact that they're both about as popular as Comcast, which seems to be due to them being massively out of touch.