A major horror scenario for the gaming industry is looming

The mega-corporation Microsoft is constantly in the headlines these days. First, the company caused a stir due to a huge wave of layoffs, followed shortly afterwards by reports of the closure of several development studios. The effects were even clearly felt at the legendary game developer Blizzard Entertainment. But that's not all, because the next big scandal is looming: With a mega deal, Microsoft could changing the PC gaming market forever.

What exactly is Steam?

Steam is currently the largest digital distribution platform for PC games, and even the competition in the form of the Epic Games Store cannot match its impressive figures. Steam's online shop hosts large-scale sales with attractive deals, and interesting free promotions always attract new customers. The platform is run by the US company Valve, which many gamers know from games such as Dota 2 and Half-Life. But what does Microsoft have to do with it? Soon, perhaps a whole lot!

Will Microsoft actually buy Valve?

According to recent reports Microsoft is currently preparing to take over Valve. As can be seen from the reports, the mega-corporation wants to do so in the near future a bid of approximately 16 billion dollars which corresponds to a sum of around 14.7 billion euros. This number, which at first glance seems extremely impressive, is certainly justified: according to current estimates, the Steam Store alone generates annual sales of eight billion dollars. There are also other assets such as the trademark rights to popular franchises such as Half-Life, Counter-Strike and Dota. An offer of $16 billion therefore appears to be anything but excessive. But what's behind it?

Why does Microsoft want to buy Valve anyway?

The past few months have clearly shown that Microsoft focus less on the highly competitive console market in the futurebut instead a major offensive on the PC games segment wants to start. Buying Valve and the associated control of Steam would be a gigantic step in this direction. In addition, Microsoft has already expressed its increased interest in the handheld market on several occasions. Here too, Valve has a strong draw in its portfolio with the very successful Steam Deck. Is all of this even realistic?

How likely is a takeover of Valve by Microsoft?

So far there are no official statement or even confirmation of the reports. Therefore, the whole matter is currently not much more than an interesting rumor. However, a purchase of Valve does not seem to be completely ruled out: Microsoft has already proven several times in recent years with the takeovers of Bethesda and Activision Blizzard that such huge deals to be able to lift.

Source: Kitguru.net