Gabe Newell says Valve is 'designing our own VR games' internally

Newell wants to broaden 'the range of options' at Valve's disposal for creating different types of experiences.

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Valve developers are working on VR games internally, per a question asked by a fan during founder Gabe Newell's Reddit AMA (via UploadVR).

"The big thing right now is broadening the range of options we have in creating experiences," Newell replied to Reddit user Air_chandler, who asked for Newell's thoughts on Valve's present and future direction.

"We think investing in hardware will give us those options," he continued. "The knuckles controller is being designed at the same time as we’re designing our own VR games."

Thus far, Valve's catalog of VR games consists only of The Lab; titles such as Destinations and DOTA 2's viewing mode are not "games" in the denotative definition of the word.

Newell made waves earlier during the AMA when he responded "Yep" to the possibility of future Half-Life and Portal games.

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David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    January 17, 2017 4:37 PM

    David Craddock posted a new article, Gabe Newell says Valve is 'designing our own VR games' internally

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      January 17, 2017 4:42 PM

      VR will Make Valve Great Again. lol.

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      January 17, 2017 4:47 PM

      A Portal 3 would be an incredible experience in a Vive.

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      January 17, 2017 4:47 PM

      I wonder when the knuckles controller will be ready?

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      January 17, 2017 4:55 PM

      I'd be surprised if they didn't buy the Budget Cuts devs.

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      January 17, 2017 5:28 PM

      The hired the Onward dev so I'm super excited.

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        January 17, 2017 9:19 PM

        Me too, onward is a great template for what a vr shooter should be.

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        January 18, 2017 7:41 AM

        Wait... They did? Is it a valve title now or they just hired the main dev?

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          January 18, 2017 7:56 AM

          Pretty sure the game only had one dev to begin with, but yes he definitely joined Valve - posted about it on 30 Dec.

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        January 18, 2017 7:56 AM

        Pretty sure they just invited dante to work there for a bit, bounce ideas around etc. Similar to what they did for budget cuts.

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      January 17, 2017 5:40 PM

      My assumption is that they won't do Half Life 3 until they can make it a full featured VR game that will be the killer app that takes VR mainstream.

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        January 17, 2017 7:41 PM

        So... maybe we'll get it by 2077?

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          January 17, 2017 7:48 PM

          More like 2333 just to keep going with the 3's.

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          January 18, 2017 9:20 AM

          Damn it probably won't make that.. Id be 100yrs old

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        January 17, 2017 7:48 PM

        Wow, sorry I just copied and pasted your post.

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        January 17, 2017 9:23 PM

        I got the impression from the ama that Gaben isent too interested in doing half life anymore.

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      January 17, 2017 7:47 PM

      In the back of my mind I've always wondered if they might hold off HL3 to be THE killer VR app.

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        January 17, 2017 7:50 PM

        That's been said a few times in chatty. There's merit to the idea. But, it's also putting a lot of eggs into that one basket. Which is to say they'll be waiting a while longer for the tech to get there, as well as for hardware to be more adopted. Sure a killer app like that would help sell hardware, but I don't see him investing millions into a new game that might only have a market of a few thousand based on hardware sales. They could not make it a VR exclusive, but that seems counter to why they'd way for VR in the first place.

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          January 17, 2017 8:30 PM

          They could wait for saturation to be enough to make it worthwhile.

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            January 17, 2017 8:31 PM

            Sure, but then it wouldn't be the killer app to help sell the system in the first place.

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          January 17, 2017 9:09 PM

          [deleted]

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            January 17, 2017 9:33 PM

            Plus, if it comes out at the same time as a serious drop in cost to play...

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      January 17, 2017 8:52 PM

      deliver us to glory oh valve

    • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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      January 17, 2017 8:52 PM

      The AMA was a total dud. I don't understand why he goes out of his way to be coy about HL3. If it's not happening then come out and say it, and even if it is happening then this hype-building strategy of theirs is really starting to sour on the community.

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        January 18, 2017 5:08 AM

        As a company, you never want to say "no" because that closes doors that people will jump on you for opening in the future. Valve may want to do HL3 one day, so they'll never give "No" as an official response.

        The flip side of the coin is you never want to give a firm "Yes" because then people will expect it. Keep the door open so that you can walk through one day, if you want to.

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        January 18, 2017 5:15 AM

        I don't understand why people act like he owes a particular answer. The fans would be idiots to Valve whatever he said. Look at the guys even on the shack writing Valve off for not churning out a bunch of middle of the road sequals like every other developer/publisher

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          January 18, 2017 7:53 AM

          Well, it seems in 10 years they could come up with something quality to finish out the cliffhanger story.

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            January 18, 2017 8:41 AM

            If it was a focus/priority for them sure. It obviously isn't so they haven't.

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              January 18, 2017 9:11 AM

              Then I guess people don't have to worry about them putting derivative sequels..

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        January 18, 2017 5:19 AM

        He wasn't, he said that a game in the same universe could still be on the table and then idiots assume HL3 whereas it could easily be another Portal or something completely new. Intentional misinterpretation for drama's sake.

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          January 18, 2017 9:24 AM

          It's the nerds reading too much into it.

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        January 18, 2017 8:41 AM

        You're absolutely right. He should simply say "the future of the half life franchise is something we're always discussing, so I can't say no it will never happen. It might happen. It might not. That's the best answer I can give."

        That's PR. That's treating your customers with respect.

        George Broussard (whatever you may think of him) faced the same problem for the same period of time. A decade+ of being asked one question. But George didn't stare at the reporter in silence as if to say, "how dare you ask me that question?" He didn't treat people with contempt. He had a simple answer, "when it's done."

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        January 18, 2017 10:27 AM

        he is simply trying to keep valve relevant. the hive mind of the internet is leaving them behind - they have nothing other than dota2 and CSGO. he *had* to do something to keep them even remotely on the radar of the gaming community, because steam is a commodity and not even really reflecting on valve any longer. steam is a given tool no different than 7zip.

        so, valve needs a reason to make it known they are doing things.

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          January 18, 2017 10:35 AM

          Other than 2 of the 3 most popular PC games and the largest distribution platform, they are irrelevant. Totally irrelevant.

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            January 18, 2017 10:39 AM

            right, I get what you mean, but they have focused on those 2 properties to their own identity situation. what is valve going to do? stay on that treadmill forever? the same 2 games? yes, that's a cash cow and very lucrative but has got to be soul sucking.

            the key here is VALVE - do people even know they are behind dota2 and CSGO at this point?

            blizzard is constantly diversified with things and has a great setup going forward, including their own distribution system now.

            competition is coming for them, in other words. the next generation of folks won't know anything about valve because of what you just said. they have 3 hugely successful things, but they are commoditized and they offer no brand equity into valve at this point.

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      January 17, 2017 9:10 PM

      how internally are we talking here

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      January 18, 2017 5:09 AM

      Well The Lab is still the prettiest, coolest, funniest thing I've done in VR so I can't wait to see what they come up with.

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      January 18, 2017 5:24 AM

      AHHHh Okay, not it all makes sense. Virtual hats!

    • DM7 legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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      January 18, 2017 5:58 AM

      I'm not that interested in VR games. :/

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      January 18, 2017 8:36 AM

      [deleted]

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