Valve FINALLY Makes Pro Consumer Moves After Months of Anti Consumer Decisions!!

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:10][music] [music] >> Well, folks, Valve has finally done it.

[00:00:24]After months of anti-consumer nonsense going all the way back to the end of last year, they finally managed to do something right. Actually, two things.

[00:00:32]And honestly, I never thought I'd be sitting here saying that after everything we've seen lately. From delaying the Steam Machine to getting rid of the best value in gaming at the time with the $400 LCD Steam Deck while pushing the overpriced OLED models to rolling out that terrible regional pricing system that is absolutely going to screw over Western gamers just to subsidize countries that can't afford the games otherwise. And of course, we can't forget the latest price gouge with that Steam Controller situation. Valve has been on an unbelievable run of bad decisions lately. But surprisingly, they finally made a couple of moves that I can actually sit here and call pro-consumer. But before I get into all that, if this is your first time here, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss out on any of my upcoming content.

[00:01:16]And everybody, hit the like button and the hype button as well. It really helps out channels like mine to continue bringing you news, rants, reviews without all the corporate fluff or glazing, and helps me stand up to the greedy corporations and the toxic influencers who damage control over them. Now, like I said, this is a very pro-consumer thing. This is the kind of stuff people have been begging these companies to do for years instead of constantly treating paying customers like walking wallets. Valve could have easily done what most corporations do nowadays. They could have just hit people with some generic automated apology email talking about we are sorry for the inconvenience while giving absolutely nothing in return. That is normally how these situations go. Your package gets delayed, shipped to the wrong place, lost somewhere across the planet, and then support acts like you should just be grateful it shows up at all. Instead, Valve actually looked at the situation and said, "You know what?

[00:02:09]We messed up, so here is a free game while you wait." That is a massive win.

[00:02:14]And we're not talking about just some cheap indie game or just a cheap discounted game in general. It was any standard game he wanted. But honestly, this is the type of goodwill that keeps customers loyal. People remember when a company actually treats them fairly, especially right now when the entire gaming industry feels like it's trying to squeeze every last dollar out of the consumers. We got companies charging $80 for games, locking content behind subscriptions, pushing digital-only features, nickel-and-diming players with microtransactions, and then you got Valve over here basically saying, "Our bad, go pick out yourself a game." That is the kind of thing that gets people talking positively about your platform.

[00:02:54]And the thing is, they did not have to offer anything. The controller still exists. The package will still come eventually, but they understood that if somebody spends $100 on a controller and the thing accidentally gets shipped to another country, people are going to be frustrated, and rightfully so. So, instead of fighting with customers or making excuses, they just owned the mistake. That alone deserves credit because accountability is almost extinct in this industry now. And the craziest part is they were not even limiting people to some tiny cheap indie game, either. They literally told the dude, "Pick basically any standard edition game available in his region." That is wild. And the thing is, most of the games on Steam are not even owned by Valve, meaning Valve is eating the cost themselves just to make the customer happy. Again, that is what being pro-consumer actually looks like. This wasn't a fake PR statement. This wasn't influencers glazing corporations on Twitter because they got invited to some preview event. This was actual actions that benefited the customer. And between me and you, I really wish my controller got sent to the wrong location, too, just so I could have got a free game out of it. I would have definitely grabbed 007 First Light, because that game looks absolutely insane. But, at the same time, I completely understand why he picked the new Forza game. That would honestly be a brutal choice to make. On one hand, you got a brand new James Bond game that looks stylish as hell and could end up being one of the best action games in years. But, then you got Forza Horizon 6, which is Steam Deck verified and perfect for testing out a new controller. Honestly, there was no wrong answer there. But, this shows why customer support matters. Look at the reaction online. People are praising Valve everywhere over this simple gesture, and rightfully so. You can go on Reddit or Twitter, where there are threads filled with people sharing positive stories about Steam support, because moments like this builds trust.

[00:04:43]You start feeling like a company actually values you instead of just seeing you as another number on a spreadsheet. Compare that to some of the other companies, where you can barely even get a hold of a real human when something goes wrong. Half the time, they make you feel like a problem for even contacting support in the first place. What makes this even funnier is that Valve was catching so much heat lately over the pricing of the Steam Controller and all the other anti-consumer decisions people felt like they were making. And rightfully so.

[00:05:10]People were furious over the price, furious over the Steam Deck situation, furious over some of the regional pricing concerns. So, Valve desperately needed a positive story like this, because for once, the conversation is not about greed. It's about a company actually stepping up after making a mistake, even though they weren't the ones that actually made the mistake. And I know some people are going to say, "Woah, it's just a free game. Calm down." No, these small gestures matter, because they show intent. They show whether a company values customer satisfaction or not. Companies reveal a lot about themselves during problems like this. Anybody can look up when everything is going smoothly. The real test is how they respond when someone messes up. Valve could have easily ignored these people or buried them in support tickets for weeks. Instead, they fixed the issue and compensated customers on top of that. That is why this story is blowing up so fast because gamers are starving for companies to act like this again. The bar has fallen so low in this industry that when a company simply treats customers with respect, it feels shocking. And honestly, I hope more companies pay attention to the reaction this gets because goodwill is worth more than people realize. One free game probably bought Valve more positive PR than millions of dollars worth of marketing campaigns. Now, I do not believe that they did this for a PR move. I honestly believe they truly cared and they did this out of the kindness of their heart. So, good job Valve for this very pro-consumer move. I just wish that you would have actually put that towards the pricing of the Steam Deck OLED, the Steam Machine whenever we do get that price, and the Steam Controller. Now, let's get into the next thing that they sat there and did that was very pro-consumer as well.

[00:06:45]Now, this right here is another massive win from Valve and honestly, I got to give them credit because this reservation system is probably one of the smartest things they could have done for the Steam Controller. Too bad they didn't have it at launch, but better late than never because if we can be real for a second, Valve definitely botched the launch of the Steam Controller. There's no way else around it. But the second something goes live, if you got bots buying everything up in seconds before actual customers even get a chance, then suddenly eBay gets flooded with listings from people trying to charge double or triple the retail price. It definitely has become one of the most annoying parts of modern gaming and tech culture. But honestly, I've always had a different mindset when it comes to scalpers compared to a lot of people online. I honestly don't care about them nearly as much as everybody else does. That's why you almost never see me making entire videos raging about scalpers like some creators do because at the end of the day, scalpers only exist because people willingly buy from them. If nobody paid those ridiculous prices, the scalping market would collapse overnight. It's really that simple. If you end up paying some dude $700 for something that cost 300, you are not some helpless victim that forced you into it. You made that choice to buy it. People got to stop acting like somebody forced them to do something and click the checkout button when they did it. And I know that triggers some people when I say it, but it's true. Scalpers don't magically create value out of nowhere. The reason they keep doing is because consumers keep rewarding them for it. If everybody just waited and refused to pay inflated prices, most scalpers would get stuck sitting on mountains of unsold product. The problem is too many people want instant gratification. They can't wait a few weeks or a month, so they panic buy from resellers and then act shocked when scalping keeps happening again and again. Well, with all that said, I still think what Valve is doing here is absolutely a good thing because there is a huge difference between understanding how scalping works and just letting bots completely destroy launches. Modern technology has made this problem way worse than it used to be. Back in the day, you at least had to physically go stand in line at a store and hope you got lucky. Now people have entire automated bot systems buying products in mass quantities before regular consumers can even refresh the page. Regular people are competing against software now. So, anytime a company actually puts systems in place to slow that down, I think that's a positive thing. And honestly, this new reservation queue system sounds way better than just throwing stock up randomly and letting chaos happen. Requiring a Steam account in good standing is smart. Limiting purchase to one controller per account is smart. Requiring people to have made a Steam purchase before April 27th is a very smart because that instantly cuts down on fake burner accounts being mass created by resellers. Valve clearly sat down and actually thought about how scalpers operate instead of pretending the problem doesn't exist. And we all know most companies won't even try. They just dump stock online and then sit there pretending they had no idea bots would instantly buy everything.

[00:09:37]Meanwhile, customers are sitting there frustrated because they never even had a chance. Then the company turns around and acts surprised when the internet gets mad. Valve actually looked at the situation and said, "All right, we need to create barriers to make this harder for scalpers." And while no system is perfect, at least they're making an effort. But this is where I find the gaming community funny because people get unbelievably angry at scalpers, but then stay completely silent when corporations themselves are price gouging consumers directly. Now, I know there are some people that will go after the greedy corporations, but you do not see Nintendo drones going at Nintendo for price gouging with systems or accessories, but you'll see them go at scalpers for scalping the prices. And with Steam fanboys, same thing. They'll complain about the scalpers, but you don't see them going after Valve for the terrible prices. But suddenly, everybody loses their energy when Nintendo raises prices, when Sony charges insane amounts for hardware, when Xbox pushes more subscription increases, or when Valve themselves overprice the Steam controller. People will spend weeks screaming about some reseller charging above MSRP, but won't say a word when billion-dollar corporations do basically the exact same thing themselves. Because let's not twist reality here. There really isn't that huge of a difference between scalping and price gouging. Both are built around charging inflated prices because people are willing to pay them. One is done by random resellers, and the other is done directly by corporations with suits and marketing teams. But somehow, one gets treated like pure evil while the other constantly gets defended by fanboys online. That's always been weird to me.

[00:11:06]You got people who will rage for 6 months because somebody sold a console for extra money on eBay. Yes, I'm over exaggerating. But then those same people will immediately defend $80 games, overpriced controllers, subscription hikes, digital-only features, and hardware price increases from the corporations themselves. Make that make sense. If you really care about consumers getting ripped off, then keep the same energy across the board. Don't only get mad when it's a random reseller are money. That's why I respect Valve for at least trying to address the issue here, because whether I personally care about scalpers or not, I still think customers deserve a fair shot at buying products at retail price, especially loyal customers who actually use Steam regularly. If somebody has been supporting the platform for years buying games and actively using the ecosystem, they shouldn't lose out on a bunch of bot accounts instantly scooping up all the stock. And honestly, this system might end up being extremely important later when the Steam Machine and the Steam Frame launch, because let's be real, those are going to be way harder to get than the controller. Especially with all the hype around the Steam Machine right now and the ongoing memory crisis making manufacturing harder. If Valve didn't have some kind of reservation system in place, those launches would have probably turned to absolute war zone online. They would have bought those, too. And that's another reason why this new system matters, because it shows Valve is actually planning ahead. They know demand for their hardware is getting bigger. They know scalpers are watching closely. They know bots are going to target these launches heavily. So, instead of waiting until everything becomes a disaster, they are trying to put protections in place, and they deserve credit for that. Because again, most companies nowadays react after the damage is already done. Consumers get screwed first, and then maybe the company responds later after enough backlash. Valve is at least trying to prevent problems before they completely spiral out of control. And I also like to state the fact that reservations save your spot in line. That alone removes so much stress from the process. People are tired of sitting there smashing the refresh button for hours hoping to get lucky before stock disappears in 10 seconds. This makes things feel way more organized and fair for actual customers.

[00:13:01]Plus, the 72-hour purchase window is another smart decision because it gives people enough time to actually buy the product without feeling rushed while still preventing reservations from sitting inactive forever. Again, these are little details that show Valve actually thought this through instead of lazily throwing together some half-baked system. And honestly, the funniest part about all of this is watching people suddenly praise Valve after weeks of criticism towards them. Because Valve absolutely deserve criticism for some of their recent decisions. I still think the Steam controller pricing is ridiculous. I still think removing the cheap LCD Steam Deck was anti-consumer, and I absolutely still think Western gamers are going to get cooked by some of these pricing systems that they implemented. But credit where it's due, this reservation system is generally a smart move and one of the better anti-scalper solutions we've seen from gaming companies in a long time. And here's the thing, consumers just want a fair chance to buy products without competing against an army of bots and resellers. And while this system won't completely eliminate scalping, it absolutely makes things harder for them.

[00:14:00]And honestly, that's probably the best way you can realistically ask for in today's market. And that's it for the video. If you enjoyed it, make sure you hit the subscribe button and ring the bell so you're notified every time I upload or go live. I usually live stream every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings here in the US. So come through, hang out, and watch me get absolutely abused because of my skill issues in certain games. You'll have a great time. Also, check out the Discord down in the description if you want to be a part of the community. And my merch store is there, too, if you want to grab some awesome gear. And why don't you guys think about becoming a member? It's only $1 a month. You get access to special emotes, badges, and your name will get shouted out at the end of every video until it becomes too long, and then I will have it like a credit roll.

[00:14:45]Until next time, folks, stay vigilant and take care. And now it's time to read off the members of the channel. We got Corvus Objective, Maximillian Pegasus 88, Oh No It's Justin, Camaro, OJ Was B 65, Geezer Newb, Dustin 360, Steven Ram, Johnny Bones Jones, Bunny Keys, A1K300, Kawabunga Sorry, Crystal Woah, Pokie Fan, Jake Spider Monkey 1994, The Fat Man 5647, Dylan Hout, Telly Charlotte Jackson, Elijah Morris, It's Varion, MS Velvet Crow, Illias, MBK Laura Boss Killer, Salty Scoop, Fabulous Robbie Rotten, Devonte Carter, and Justin Saint. Thank Thank so much for being a part of the crew. You can cry [music] in the comments, but you won't survive. Like and subscribe if you feel that vibe. We're heart and salty [music] tears.

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