Valve is about PC games; after all co-founders Mike Harrington and Gabe Newell started the company backed with their share options from their time at Microsoft.
And since then, games ranging from Half-Life to Counter-Strike to Team Fortress and Portal - and of course the Steam distribution channel - have all focused on PC.
But with portable and mobile devices disrupting the market, it's also looking to the future.
Glad all over
A tiny slice of that vision is now you can get the Steam app for iOS and Android devices enabling you to chat, browse community groups, and get the latest news.
But according to new hire Michael Abrash - himself of Microsoft, id, Intel and RAD Game Tools heritage - the company is now looking far, far beyond this.
In a long blog post about his decision to join Valve, also covering much of his history as a games programmer, he reveals that he's starting a research project into wearable computing.
Heart on his sleeve
"By 'wearable computing' I mean mobile computing where both computer-generated graphics and the real world are seamlessly overlaid in your view," Abrash explains, framing his enthusiasm from the first time he read Bruce Sterling's seminal Snow Crash.
A cutting edge example would be Google's recent Project Glass concept.
Of course, you'd might think Valve's experiments will be more games-focused than a company such as Google, but it seems not; this is a bluesky project.
"We're a great game company, a great digital distribution and community company, and much more as well; we have all sorts of projects going on (the fact that I'm doing wearable computing should give you a hint of the range of things we're doing)", Abrash points out.
Although damping down expectation, he also adds; "This is R&D - it doesn't in any way involve a product at this point, and won't for a long while, if ever so please, no rumors about Steam glasses being announced at E3."
[source: Valve blog]
News
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
Related Articles
Top Stories
News
May 8th, 2024
Q4 2024 was EA’s strongest for mobile, but it still only earned them $307 million
News
May 8th, 2024
Krafton teases AI-developed games as "limited" voice actors, writers, and level designers get the boot
Feature
May 7th, 2024
Mobile Mavens: The industry has its say on Squad Busters ability to draw in “untapped audiences” with its “influence from a range of genres”
Feature
May 7th, 2024
Hot Five: Supercell’s Squad Busters supremacy, Brawl Stars bounces back, and a games industry journey at King
Feature
May 7th, 2024
April 2024 mobile game charts: Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile loses launch momentum and Brawl Stars’ astronomical rise
Events
Valencia Indie Summit 2024 | Europe | May 16th |
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Israel Mobile Summit 2024 | Middle East | Jun 6th |
Future Games Show 2024 | Jun 8th | |
PC Gaming Show 2024 | Jun 9th | |
WN Conference Istanbul 2024 | Jun 11th | |
DevGAMM Vilnius 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |