Microsoft buying Valve would be a disaster for PC gaming

There’s been a rumor recently, thin even so far as these rumors usually go, but so enormous in potential impact it seems to have captured people’s attention anyway: According to Polygon, Microsoft has reportedly talked about acquiring Valve, the independent company behind the Steam gaming platform. Or there’s been “a whisper about Valve,” as Polygon puts it.

It seems ludicrous to me—after all, we’re talking about Valve, the company that hated Windows 8 so much it tried to convert developers (and players) to a custom Steam-centric Linux build.

But let’s assume this hypothetical scenario is more serious than it seems. Anything’s possible, I guess. And then, once we’ve considered the possibility, let’s talk about why it would be disastrous for PC gaming.

CERTIFICATION? WHAT’S THAT?

Actually, in the name of fairness, let’s start with some positives. First off, there’s Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s console-only service that gives subscribers access to about 100 games, new and old, for . That includes new first-party Microsoft games the same day