Apparently valve doesn’t really assign teams to certain projects. People can work on what projects they like and things organically get people behind them if they are looking good or interesting.
This means games that do get completed are often really good and ones that weren’t looking good fizzle out.
It’s an interesting approach for sure. I think it makes sense rather than steaming ahead with a bad game. On the flip side what could be an interesting product may die out.
It’s happened several times to half life 3 apparently.
If they want to sell skins that are purely cosmetic I don’t have an issue with that. Some people have money to drop on stuff like that and it helps fund the game.
Loot boxes on the other hand can absolutely get fucked. It’s gambling, plain and simple. It has no place in games.