Valve, which recently replaced the Steam Greenlight program with Steam Direct, is currently working on three virtual reality games.
Valve president and cofounder Gabe Newell did not reveal any details yet regarding the three upcoming VR titles, aside from the fact that they will be full-blown titles as opposed to being short and simple tech demos.
Newell made the statement in a media roundtable that was held at the company's headquarters last week. One other thing that he discussed during the session is how Valve is not interested in making games for consoles such as Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One at the moment.
Valve Not Interested In Making Console Games
For the previous generation of consoles, Valve released several titles, including Counter-Strike: GO, the two installments of Left 4 Dead, Portal 2, and The Orange Box. The current generation of consoles are performing better than their predecessors, but interestingly, Valve has not yet released titles for these consoles.
"We get really frustrated working in walled gardens," said Newell at the media roundtable, hinting at how restricted Valve's development teams are when working on games for consoles compared to PC titles.
Newell also pointed out the cultural difference between Valve and console developers, primarily on the issue of free-to-play games. Some of Valve's biggest projects are free-to-play titles, including DOTA 2 and Team Fortress 2. Console developers, however, do not think that launching free-to-play games is a good idea.
Another reason for Valve's non-interest in developing games for platforms aside from the PC includes the company's experience with the Steam app for Apple's iOS. Valve said that after receiving feedback from the original version of the app, it was able to prepare and update to be released the following day. However, Apple did not release the update until after six months, with Apple not giving Valve the reason why it did not accept the update nor the reason why it suddenly did after six months.
According to Newell, Valve does not like being treated like it does not know how to operate and release updates, and that the company's mindset is not compatible with other companies which will be inserting several processes between Valve and what it wants to deliver to users.
What Does The Future Hold For Valve?
While Apple's iOS was cited as the example, similar environments were likely experienced by Valve for games that they have released for consoles, as Sony and Microsoft need to sign off on all updates that will be launched through their respective online networks.
When Newell was asked if there have been improvements in the self-publishing process for current consoles, he only replied with "We love the PC right now. A lot."
This statement likely means that there will be no Valve games coming to the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One in the near future, so for players who are fans of Valve's projects, keep your PC running smoothly.
Meanwhile, for gamers who are still waiting for Half-Life 3, it would not be a good idea to hold your breath. According to a Valve insider, "there is no such thing as Half-Life 3."
