Gabe Newell: Companies Built for “Older Models” Won’t Be Able to Adapt Fast Enough

At last week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), one of the major gaming news to come out was Valve's partnership with Xi3 in what could be a Steambox prototype.

Needless to say, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Valve entering the hardware market will disrupt whatever Sony and Microsoft has planned. So much so, that Microsoft Game Studios exec Phil Harrison has even fired a caution that entering the hardware business isn't as easy as most people think.

Now, in an interview with The Nerdist (via CVG), Valve CEO Gabe Newell shares his thoughts on Kickstarter, and how all this disruption will mean that the old business model of games will mean that "larger corporations" will need to adapt. However, he's also "doubtful" that they can do this fast enough and in turn, will make them irrelevant.

There are a bunch of different ways that communities can drive what is going to happen, and one of the last pieces is to figure out how the community itself can drive the financing of projects. I actually think that's going to happen regardless [of Kickstarter].

I doubt that a lot of the larger corporations will be able to make transitions into the new world…I don't think the big companies will. I think the rate of change is too fast for most of them to adapt.

While Newell didn't out any names, it's obvious to me that these "larger" corporations he's talking about might mean EA, Activision, Sony, Microsoft and the rest of the top dogs of the videogame industry. 

One of the things that hardware makers might need to adapt fast to is the fact that Valve's in-development console won't be sold at the standard price. In a separate interview, Newell has revealed that he sees this Steambox model as having three tiers of pricing…with one even starting out at a very affordable $99.

Do you think Newell has a point that these large videogame companies won't be able to handle the new age videogame business is ushering in with Kickstarter and Steambox? Or is he wrong and that there will always be a market for high-end consoles and big-name games with huge budgets? Let us know what you think in the comments.