. I never claimed the dev would have ' no say ' in their own company . Don ' t twist my words put new ones in my mouth . Shareholders , which is what you create when you give up equity stake , do have a say in the company they have shares in , proportional to the amount of shares they own . That ' s how that entire thing worksinvestments . php . But if you think relinquishing some level of control over your company , however small , is preferable to timed exclusivity then you ' re of course entitled to your opinion . As for Steam , how else would you define prepaid Steam revenue ? You get paid for the sales of the game now rather than later . That ' s a decently sensible interpretation of it , wouldn ' t you say ? If you wish to get clarification on it I ' d suggest you ask Valve directly . Gabe seems free enough in email replies .