Valve won’t be making any SteamOS or Steam Machine exclusive games, as it maintains games should be available to all users.
The Half Life and Portal creator has confirmed it will not develop any Steam OS exclusive titles and will be encouraging third-party developers to do the same.
Speaking to IGN, Valve designer Greg Coomer highlighted that, unlike the PS4 and Xbox One, there will be no SteamOS exclusives.
However, this lack of exclusivity is also being extended to third-party SteamOS creators as well.
“Whenever we talk to third-party partners, we encourage them to put their games in as many places as possible, including not on our platforms,” added Valve’s Anna Sweet. “Because we think that customers are everywhere, and they want to put their games wherever customers are. That would go against our whole philosophy, to launch something that’s exclusive to SteamOS or Steam Machines.”
“Or to drive customers [to SteamOS] artificially, because if it can run in both places, we don’t like to create those artificial barriers to accessing content,” continued Coomer. “We believe that, in maybe five year from now, folks will find it a quite antiquated notion that you should assume that when you change devices or platforms, that you lose all of your other games and friends.”
As the next-generation console war reaches a peak ahead of the Xbox One and PS4 release dates later this month, Valve seems determined to keep the SteamOS a platform that isn’t focused on exclusive content.
“We’re hoping to unify, to get Steam to be as platform- and context-agnostic as possible. You shouldn’t have to shed that every generation, or even slightly shed it.”
The Xbox One will launch with exclusive titles like Ryse: Son of Rome and Dead Rising 3, whereas the PS4 will offer Killzone: Shadow Fall and DriveClub among others.
Next, read our Xbox One vs PS4 comparison.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
