The Valve That Never Closes cover art

The Valve That Never Closes

How Steam Swallowed PC Gaming

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The Valve That Never Closes

By: James Johnson
Narrated by: James Todd
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About this listen

Steam was supposed to make gaming easier. No discs. No lines. No waiting. But somewhere along the way, convenience became control.

The Valve That Never Closes is a deep-dive into the company that rewired PC gaming from the inside out. It’s the story of how Valve went from a scrappy dev studio to the de facto operating system of the entire gaming ecosystem—and how we let it happen.

JJ takes listeners through every stage of Steam’s evolution: the Half-Life Trojan Horse, the forced update that launched an empire, the Summer Sales that melted your wallet, and the modder revolution that turned into a monetized mall. It’s about power, psychology, platform lock-in, and the invisible prison of digital ownership. If you’ve ever bought a game and wondered why it doesn’t feel like yours—this book is your answer.

©2025 James Johnson (P)2025 James Johnson
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