14 DAY TRIAL // John Carmack, the game industry legend currently working for both id Software and Oculus Rift, says that the newly announced hardware solutions and the SteamOS from Valve are still a little dicey but offer interesting opportunities for the future.
The developer is quoted by PCGamesN as saying during a Nvidia conference in Montreal that, “Valve approached id at the very beginning of Steam asking about launch title status for Doom 3. And we basically said, ‘Are you crazy? It would be nuts to tie yourself to this little notional digital distribution platform’ but, clearly, Valve have played a good, strong long game.”
He adds, “I’m afraid that I might be at that same point right now where I’m like ‘making your own console OS? Are you crazy?’ Maybe ten years from now they’re going to look like they’ve made billions of profits again with it.”
Carmack says that Valve has the resources to deliver an interesting experience with its mix of hardware and original operating system.
The leader of id Software is known for his hands-on approach and for the fact that he has always sought to push PC hardware as far as it could go to improve the quality of his games.
At the moment, Valve has offered a limited set of details about SteamOS and a list of specifications for boxes that will run it.
A wider beta stage for both products is planned for the first half of 2014.
The company says that it is trying to expand the options available to those who play games on the PC, while making the platform more attractive for developers.
id Software is at the moment widely rumored to be working on Doom 4, which will probably be announced on next-gen consoles, and Carmack is also busy improving the virtual reality experience offered by the Oculus Rift.