u/Murse — Murse

The most simple explanation is usually correct

In most contexts, yes.

and never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity, lol.

The problem with that rule is most malicious people are well aware of it, making the appearance of stupidity a tool to free them from accountability. Look at politics - we (collectively) give Trump the village idiot pass, ogling at someone could be so stupid as to blunder their way into the absolute worst economic, tactical, social, etc outcome possible. He's not an outlier in that behavior, and corporate reps / CEOs often do the same shit.

I don't have the insider knowledge to say with certainty that any one instance is an example or not, but I definitely reject the whole 'never attribute to malice' spiel.

like they claim they did

Am skeptical.

They might just sincerely be stupid, but this all carries a strong scent of bullshit.

My money's on a calculated PR move, with almost no investment made into it leading up to the action from Valve, culminating with a woe-is-me to stir up some community support.

Not that rare, considering they did the exact same thing already.

Kinda looks like they're doing it on purpose so that the following apology gets them some free publicity and reputation for being honest... which is manipulative and shady.