AAA

There is also no requirement to be a "good guy" to attend the conference.

Correct. But it's kind of the inevitable outcome that only "good guys" attend. Why would any bad actor go there and risk being exposed / caught...

Cosmic Encounter

No two games are ever the same. So are the attempts to lure people in and out of encounters, and the following betrayels. Great fun.

You are correct. It was a monoculture forest and designed to be cut down sooner or later anyway.

The same people couldn't wear a face mask to save the lives of their relatives.

Unfortunately the actual enjoyability of a job more often than not correlates with unfair or outright low pay :(

In another comment you say yourself they are not developing games. What's your point? You're just arguing to argue now.

CS 2 and is missing key features, a working anticheat included, and is not getting any meaningful content for months (the missing features included).

My bad with HLA. But CS2 is a glorified engine update, and is not even near the features CSGO had. In the current state the game is a mess.

Sure they are working on it. All 3 three developers. Which is exactly my point. It's impossible to compare valve to the other studios, because valve isn't making games anymore. They just happen to own some eternal IPs where the fan base (myself included) eats their shit.

Well, they don't develop any games. You don't require a lot of people to run a store.

"Their" last game, Counter Strike Global Offensive, is 12 years old, and was developed by a contractor: Hidden Path Entertainment. Ony then Valve took over to maintain it. And anyone familiar with the current situation around the game (CS2) knows how much "development" is going on there.

Yes, because they are a) at the tipping point where they control enough institutions so the pieces fall together now, and b) someone came along who's actually used all those pieces and everyone could see how absolutely unprepared and completely helpless the system and the political opponent was. They realized they don't need to tiptoe around anymore.

Never heard of CarX. But I'll check it out.

Not what I'm looking for at the moment, but it made me remember Flatout. Fun times at LAN parties.

Thanks for the hint about the sale!