Tripwire: Valve isn't exploiting us either

Responding to Gearbox's notion that Valve is exploiting smaller developers through the Steam distribution platform and that it presents a huge conflict of interest, Tripwire Interactive has said Valve is perhaps the most fair company they've dealt with.

The original comments came from Gearbox's Randy Pitchford, who said that while bigger developers could benefit from Steam, smaller devs might not be so lucky. Not so, says Tripwire, makers of Red Orchestra.

"Valve's contract was the first one we had seen that didn't have any land mines in it," Tripwire boss John Gibson said in an interview with Gamasutra (via RPS).

"I can say with certainty that if it weren't for Steam, there would be no Tripwire Interactive right now," Gibson said. "Ask the Tripwire Interactive employees if they feel exploited, as they move into their new offices paid for by the money the company has made on Steam. Or me, as I drive away from the company that was built from the royalties we made on Steam, in my sports car paid for by the royalties we make on Steam, to the home that I pay for with the royalties we make on Steam."

Tripwire isn't the first developer to refute Gearbox's claims, with Garry Newman of Garry's Mod also standing by Valve in the wake of it all.

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