14 DAY TRIAL // Gabe Newell, the leader of video game developer Valve, says that his company is not focusing its efforts at the moment on the creation of any new intellectual property but is very interested in making environments that allow players to express their own ideas.
The much-awaited Reddit-based Ask Me Anything session did not result in any revelation about Half Life 3 or any other entirely new game that Valve is currently working on, but the developer did touch the subject of how his company is approaching the issue of creativity.
He explains that “An IP is really a tool for a development team more than anything else. The key is to have clarity around what is uniquely of value in what you are trying to do and not waste your effort on things that don’t directly contribute to that.”
The coming Source 2.0 engine is designed to make it easier for any type of developer to quickly deliver new content, regardless of whether he is working as part of a big team inside of a studio or simply creating a small interesting piece of game on his own.
Newell adds, “That focus is driven by the importance we see UGC having going forward. A professional developer at Valve will put up with a lot of pain that won’t work if users themselves have to create content.”
It looks more likely than ever that Valve is quietly moving out of the game development space altogether and that it simply wants to give its fans as many options to create their own games and modes as possible.
Team Fortress 2, with its huge hat collection and constant tweaks, and DOTA 2, the multiplayer online battle area title that’s still in beta, are the games that the company will likely focus on in the near future.
Steam has already been upgraded with the official Workshop and the Steamworks suite to make it easier for gamers to create and then share their content for a variety of titles.
The company will probably expand all these options inside the soon-to-officially-launch SteamOS, which will accompany the delivery of the Steam machines and the new haptic controller from Valve.
All three are expected to arrive in late 2014 and will make the PC a more powerful gaming platform in the competition with the PlayStation 4 from Sony and the Xbox One from Microsoft.