Gabe Newell Suggests 'Valve' May Expand into Android Market with Steam

[dgstorm]

The face of the future in mobile gaming app stores may look like Gabe Newell, or at least his company's logo. The CEO of Valve software recently suggested in an interview that Valve was looking into Android and iOS for possible expansions for Steam.

Hmmm... can you see a 'Half-Life 3' on your NVIDIA Kal-El powered Android smartphone or tablet next year?

Source: Android.net via AndroidPolice

 

[PolyOlefin]

I doubt Steam is planning to get into mobile gaming; if they jumped in, they would likely be just another hub for already existing games (like GetJar, SlideME, Amazon, etc). They should concentrate on strengthening their grip on the console market.

Would Android/iOS game developers favor Steam and give them exclusivity? Would indie PC game developers -- who previously had no mobile aspirations -- jump onto Android/iOS just because Steam is involved? I doubt it.

I'm guessing it would just be an official Steam app that allows you to purchase games to your account, chat/message/post on the forums, see what your friends are currently playing, etc. Perhaps it could be most directly compared to OpenFeint.

Nothing to write home about.

 

[funkyb]

I, for one, would welcome Steam into my mobile life with open arms and a giant grin

 

[spillner]

I just wanna play Half-Life 3 regardless of what platform its on. Its been far too long since I played as a low level physicist.

 

[solar]

I would love a mobile game developed by valve. especially since it seems id is giving us android users the stiff one and only making great mobile games for iOS.

 

[funkyb]

I would love a mobile game developed by valve. especially since it seems id is giving us android users the stiff one and only making great mobile games for iOS.

Aye!

- Powered by 1.21 Gigawatts of Android.

 

[PolyOlefin]

I would love a mobile game developed by valve. especially since it seems id is giving us android users the stiff one and only making great mobile games for iOS.

Yeah. Unfortunately, even after Android catches up with Apple in app count, iOS will probably still spank us in terms of game quality and developer attention.

 

[funkyb]

I would love a mobile game developed by valve. especially since it seems id is giving us android users the stiff one and only making great mobile games for iOS.

Yeah. Unfortunately, even after Android catches up with Apple in app count, iOS will probably still spank us in terms of game quality and developer attention.

I'm not so sure about that and think it really boils down to market penetration.

For years Mac's had this auora of 'not succeptible to malware', when really it was just their market penetration was so freaking low that the bad guys had no incentive to waste their time researching expoits. As penetration improved, so did attention the to that platform (both positive and negative) and we should expect the same thing thing to happen in the mobile arena.

 

[PolyOlefin]

I'm not so sure about that and think it really boils down to market penetration.

For years Mac's had this auora of 'not succeptible to malware', when really it was just their market penetration was so freaking low that the bad guys had no incentive to waste their time researching expoits. As penetration improved, so did attention the to that platform (both positive and negative) and we should expect the same thing thing to happen in the mobile arena.

While open systems are ultimately better than closed ones, I see a lot of negative attention coming to Android in the future. Already, malware apps are becoming more of a concern, which is rare-to-nonexistant in Apple's curated environment. Keep in mind, I'm not talking about browser exploits and the like.

Also, if you look at revenue figures for developers in Android vs. iOS, it's easy to see why Apple receives star treatment. Even after Android surpasses iOS in penetration and total number of users, developers will still focus most of their attention where the money is. Android users just don't like to spend money.