You don't seem to understand. Once Valve had made as much money as they can off TF2, while they could have continued to make more, a few purchases now and then. They released it free. For the money. Not for you.

Example: The more people they get to play their game, the more people they will have to buy hats from their game.

This is also why some MMO games are free. Because they gain more playerbase and are able to make more money than they would have if it were pay to play.


A smart thing a few Games/MMO's that are greedy, are have the game be Pay to play for the first while. They do this to get the people who are willing to pay, to play.

Once this the sales on pay to play get low, they make it free to play, there are several games/MMO's that you have seen do this. Lord of the Rings Online had done this, as well as Champions Online, Global Agenda, etc.

Valve doesn't care for the people (If any) who bought the game one day before they made it free to play.. Some of those people may not have that much money and may have bought the game a day before it became free.

To wrap it up, the only reason Valve is doing this, is because the TF2 sales were dropping, and this pushed the sales way up.


Here is an example of Gabe Newell talking about how they can make profit by lowering prices.
Picture link: http://cdn.gamerant.com/wp-content/uploads/Gabe-Newell-Interview-Valve-Digital-Profits.jpg


Article Header: "While speaking with a high school class, Valve’s President explained the differences in operating within a digital marketplace, and how dropping product prices leads to more profits."

Now this may be quite a different viewpoint, but connected very easily. Interpreted as:
"Making TF2 FREE, can earn us more PROFIT."

Money IS everything.