StarCraft was one of my favorite games growing up. I can still quote most of the Terran units.

I don't know when or where to say they officially went from "Good with issues" to "Bad with some good games". Doesn't help they ignored their work culture for over a decade.

I agree they're better. I am also blinded a tad, they made Team Fortress 2, my all time favorite game.

But they're better for now. There's nothing stopping them from changing their ways when Gabe retires/dies. Maybe they have a private agreement/contract for the next guy to abide by. Maybe they don't.

All I know is, Valve is mostly good right now. All major players in the tech space had some good intentions at one point (except Facebook). Google used to be about finding content on the internet quickly, easily, and without ads. Now they hide content, spam you with ads and fake overviews, and fight ad blockers.

Let's not forget Valve started the microtransaction hell of gaming with their crates in Team Fortress 2. It worked so well they made the game free for more people to buy more crates. Blizzard's Overwatch didn't make you buy a key to open them, Valve still does.

Will Valve turn evil overnight? Probably not. But when Gabe is gone, the next billionaire will be as greedy to start with. They're far from the greediest gaming company, but they probably won't roll back any of their percentage cuts or ease off on the gambling in their games.

And I'll just have to sign and shake my head as I told people that trusting a company you like remaining a company to like isn't a good thing in a world like ours.