Well, I would categorize that more to major version update than actually new release. Say like new Linux LTS release. Lot of things changed even very deep, but it is basically largely same work.

For gameplay, your explanation isn't totally wrong, but it's not totally right either. Deadlock is a MOBA, so yes, there's more to it than fighting other players. Sometimes team fighting or ganking is the right answer, sometimes farming or pushing objectives is the right answer. It depends on the current state of the game, and your own hero/play style.

Personally, I love that kind of depth and complexity, and I would hate for Icefrog to listen to the people pushing for the game to become more simplified and Overwatch-like. We already have Overwatch and Rivals for people who just want to fight all the time, but there's nothing really like Deadlock that combines MOBAs and hero shooters with the mechanical depth that Deadlock has -- especially when you factor in the movement tech.

> There's just no way imo that will ever be successful in an FPS/shooter. It might work for MOBAs, but I think the idea of a MOBA-first shooter is just never going to get much traction beyond a niche.

It's definitely a risky play in some sense, but arguably less risky than engaging a pure MOBA or pure hero shooter directly, since those have already well established, polished entries. That there's nothing really like Deadlock out there is one of its big advantages, if you like Deadlock's gameplay, there's really no alternative.

For me I cannot play team based games where you are punished for leaving. Nothing is worse being stuck in a game where you are not having fun and you are forced to keep playing or be punished otherwise.

Also, I am no longer a 20 year old with no responsibilities and sometimes things come up where I would need to leave the game. I guess I am just getting older now and no longer play 20 hours a weeks of video games, but things like Deadlock don’t have appeal.

Deadlock is a MOBA, not a FPS.

At this point I think Valve is more likely to be disrupted from an outside influence rather than within, I think a lot of their actions are about keeping the ship steady. If someone does come along as an upstart in a new market as valve did with digital distribution versus retail/physical, the old is unlikely to be instantly irrelevant and obsoleted, and even then you get new markets like mobile appearing over their lifespan where both are healthy side-by-side.

I would actually be intrigued to know how many companies have shown interest in acquiring Valve over the years that we'll never know about.

Whoever takes over, when who is at the wheel is no longer among us, or capable to keep doing their work.

Nothing lasts forever.

Because he is a mortal?

I think you grossly undervalue execution. Ideas are cheap. Most developers would have turned those games into weaker money extracting machines that generate one tenth the love from current players

Making remakes old popular mods is not a safe project.

Cs:Go was a 'remake' of cs 1.6, which was the original cs with a lot of changes and updates, but no remake