Valve Owner Gabe Newell Cryptically Hints At Console Announcement Later This Year
Valve owner Gabe Newell has made veiled statements regarding his company's future in regards to their games coming to consoles.
In an interview that appears to have been held at Santa Maria College, he gave a cryptic answer to a students request during a Q&A session. When asked if any Steam games will be ported to consoles or if the games will be staying on PC, Newell stated: "You will get a better idea of that by the end of this year," adding: "It won't be the answer that you expect" after a short pause.
It's unclear what the cryptic statement really means. Especially Newell's specification that it won't be an expected move into console gaming leaves a lot of room for speculation. The most straight forward answer would be that Valve's games would be coming to consoles via a port, and since the most obvious one should be eliminated based on Newell's statement, it's unlikely that we will see a regular port of games like Half-Life: Alyx hitting new-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X/S. Valve had tried as much in the past, and Newell especially has spoken out against the implementation of Steam's games during the PlayStation 3 days due to various reasons.
Alternative interpretations roaming the internet entail the possibility that Valve themselves could be re-entering the console market in some form. The steam controller, Steam Machine, and SteamOS have been products available since November 2015. Moreover, the company has their own VR Kit package Index which adds to the product package. Taking these factors into account, even far-out speculation such as metaversial long term plans could be a vision that Newell might be hinting at here in conjunction with a console kit that allows for easier access.
A slightly more plausible explanation could also come in the way of handheld devices receiving increasingly accessible streaming features such as Sony's recent expansion into PS Remote Play. While integration has proven difficult on the different infrastructures, streaming video feeds could help alleviate a lot of the compatibility issues that Valve had found with consoles in the past.
Valve is known for their 'outside the box' thinking and so an entirely different solution appears the most likely, with Valve likely working on an innovative product or capitalising on one entering the market soon. GGRecon will keep you up to date on the developing story.
Images via Valve
