14 DAY TRIAL // A surprising rumor made the rounds last week claiming that Microsoft was planning some pretty huge acquisitions in the gaming industry, as the company was previously looking into ways to purchase Electronic Arts and Valve.
While very little has been said officially about this speculation, Valve’s co-founder Gabe Newell now reveals in a very short statement that such talks between the two companies are very unlikely.
A Valve fan contacted Newell via email to ask if “Valve is being brought by Microsoft [because] the community is shaken,” and unexpectedly he also received an answer from who appears to be Gabe Newell himself.
“Not that I’m aware of,” he shortly replied without providing any other information or statements regarding these rumors.
Expensive takeover
While there’s also a chance this alleged reply is fake, Newell has previously used the same email address to respond to questions sent from users. On the other hand, one would expect Valve’s founder to have many more words on say on the rumored acquisition, especially because he’s the most likely company official to be involved in any possible negotiations.
Yet, if the response is true and owner of the company says he’s not aware of takeover talks, there’s a good chance such discussions don’t actually exist.
The rumor mill claimed Microsoft planned to purchase Electronic Arts and Valve in order to address the lack of first-party titles on its own Xbox gaming platform. While the software giant itself has refused to comment on this speculation, it’s pretty clear that such a takeover would have been one of the most expensive purchases in Microsoft’s history, as both companies are currently leaders in the gaming industry.
In the meantime, by the looks of things at least Valve isn’t for sale, so if Microsoft is indeed out shopping, expect other companies to be targeted by such takeovers in the coming months.