e_modad

That's interesting, I didn't really think about it until you mentioned it but they _must_ making a lot of money.

I couldn't find any specific rumors or estimates that are more recent than 2011. I did find a VentureBeat article from Jan 22 2014 that said that Dota 2 made $80 M and TF2 made almost double that at $139 M in 2013.[1]

Pricewaterhouse Coopers "Global entertainment and media outlook: 2013 - 2017" estimates that globally "entertainment and media" will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.6% over the next five years.[2]

So, even if you assume that they won't release Left4Dead 3, Half Life 3, etc over the next few years, just from Dota2 and TF2 alone their revenue for 2014 is likely to be more than $230 M. And that's a bare minimum guess. It's likely to be much more than that. But that's the lower bound of the estimate I guess.

Not bad.

[1] http://venturebeat.com/2014/01/22/doat-2-made-around-80-mill... [2] https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/global-entertainment-media-outlook...

I wasn't born in the United States but my experience has been that Americans - in particular our colleagues involved in the sciences/technology are not only aware of what's going on, but interested in what's going on globally. I find it ironic that you're criticizing Western technologists on an US-based, tech centric website, where this post and your comment were up-voted to the top. If anything, this hints that your comment may be incorrect. In my experience, American technologists are one of the most diverse fields (both in and out of academia) I've ever been a part of.

I disagree with your characterization of the way US-based 'technologists' view the world. In my experience, almost every single technologist I've come into contact with is much much more well versed in what's going on globally.

Also, I have to take issue with your exaggeration here. You're making a generalization. I know about Alibaba, of course. Most people I know also know about Alibaba. So don't say we "know nothing about it." This article was posted and voted to the top of the list on an English based website where the majority of the visitors are working in Western countries.

Your comment seems to make some assumptions that I don't understand. When you say "Who will serve them? These are people just like us, they have needs and desires much like ours." Who is saying anything different? You seem angry with a group of people but it's generally not technologists that have the viewpoint you're addressing.

As someone who wasn't born in this country and has found nothing but respect and openness from my technical colleagues, I have to say I'm pretty confused as to what you're referring to. It's certainly not the majority of North American/European technologists I've talked to.

I know it doesn't add to the discussion so much to say this, but I laughed so hard at your comment.

Thanks for putting this out there. I'm not really sure what the solution is but one thing is for sure: I would never want any of my girl coder friends to feel isolated or threatened.

Every single male coder I know would look down on that male peer you mentioned. I don't know if it makes you feel any better but the vast majority of the men I know want women in this field to succeed and feel happy doing what they love.

I wouldn't characterize it in such an extreme way. This kind of educated guessing, beard-scratching and "coffee house hypothesizing" is exactly how some of the raw ideas in science are generated.

But yes, I agree with your basic premise of skepticism. No one should accept these ideas because they want them to be true. To me it doesn't sound like magical thinking so much as thinking out loud to involve other scientists in the conversation. Is that a problem?