Valve's Doug Lombardi admits PS3 success, 're-evaluating' development

by Andrew Yoon { Aug 22nd 2008 at 4:30PM }

So, looks like Valve cannot ignore the success of the PS3 anymore. Gabe Newell, head of the critically acclaimed studio sparked a bit of controversy when he repeatedly attacked the PS3's difficult development architecture, calling it a "waste of time." His studio refused to work on a PS3 version of The Orange Box, leaving it to EA to do the eventual PS3 port.

However, it looks like the continued success of the PS3 has the studio taking back some of his words. "We're always evaluating what's happening in the marketplace and certainly something that's happening in the last couple of months is that Sony's managed to sell some boxes," said Doug Lombardi to CVG. "So whether or not you like developing for that platform, if they've got millions of people connected to that platform and buying their games you have to take it seriously."

While there's "zero chance" for a PS3 version of the upcoming zombie multiplayer game Left 4 Dead this year, there's now a "50-50" chance that it will happen some time next year. While we're fans of Valve's work, we're not entirely sure if the PS3 audience will welcome them with open arms.

Update: Huge mistake folks. The headline says Valve's Gabe Newell, when it was in fact, Doug Lombardi that made the comment. We apologize for the mistake -- the article has been corrected.

Tags: doug-lombardi, left-4-dead, lgc08, ps3, the-orange-box, valve

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

dicknjane @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:36PM

who cares. i'm jus buyin left 4 dead on the 360. maybe counterstrike 2 will be on the ps3, if it comes out.

kevin @ Aug 23rd 2008 2:13PM

after what these idiots said about the ps3 they are not getting a cent from me.

CL34N3R @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:36PM

Pride causes too many fanboys to miss out on some great games. Valve is one of the best devs out there, if they do anything for PS3 it'll be an automatic purchase for me.

Popfrogs @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:03PM

Pssh, Valve is just another overrated PC developer that rehashes the same franchise for a decade. If it weren't for Portal I wouldn't even care about them anymore.

Lars @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:11PM

Well, Valve has struck genius more than once, which officially makes them a great developer.

Gabe Newell, on the other hand is obviously not a programmer. I am a programmer and I find the Cell BE / PS3 to have quite brilliant, powerful, and innovative architecture.

McBonk @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:14PM

One of the best devs? Not sure about that, really. Half Life was innovative at the time. Half Life 2 was a nice looking encore, but not very groundbreaking, gameplay-wise.

There are far more creative and productive developers out there.

LBPNation.com @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:47PM

Boo we don't want to wait till next year for a possible version! Give us a FPS... a new CS? That is supposedly being worked on.

Rowdehaj @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:38PM

... now*

Starscreamyo @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:51PM

Haha! Valve can eat their own words! I used to love Valve, but now I'm not so sure I will be picking up their games anymore.... ok, you are right... I can't resist.

Devil240Z @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:39PM

I dont have a PC or a 360 and as much as I like valves games I would need some kind of real apology before I will buy anymore of their games.(if they ever make any)

Rowdehaj @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:49PM

I'm sorry, but you want an apology from an independent developer for sentiments expressed regarding a product that you happen to have bought? What've they done to you? Every day developers asess the market and decide what they're going to code for and what they're steering away from, and it goes without saying that they are, at all times, completely free to change their strategy whenever they wish.

Furthermore, you're the consumer, and if the choice against developing for your console was made, because (as has been well-publicised) it requires some very different coding methods (among other things, I am no expert) that they didn't, in light of the above mentioned concerns, want to spend extra money on, it doesn't mean that they don't want to cater to our market because they don't like the target audience.

If they came out and said: "We're not developing for Playstation 3, because owners of said console are a bunch of arrogant bastards who don't deserve them!" *then* I would, too, demand an apology before any boycot of their games from my part was lifted. But at present, though I do feel a little tingle of retribution upon reading this news post, I'm perfectly happy to hear that this great developer might yet provide the quality gaming experience they're well-known for, for the console that I own.

reson8er @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:55PM

I agree with Rowdehaj. While, I don't appreciate Newell's attitude, I would most certainly like to see their games on the PS3.

Popfrogs @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:13PM

@rowdyhaj: I see where you're coming from, but here's the thing. All Valve is saying is that they're seeing dollar signs now, where before they didn't. If it costs them an extra month of work to make a PS3 game and the sales won't be high, to them, it's not worth it.

These guys are good at what they do, but unfortunately they don't seem as talented as other developers. And by talent I mean the ability to stay flexible, learn new architectures and code in unconventional ways. In my opinion, console coders have always been more talented than PC developers, and consoles are nice because once you get your head around the hardware, you can always depend on the platform being the same. It's not like PC coding where you may have to insert 4 gigs worth of hacks to get it running on 6 flavors of vista, 3 flavors of XP and maybe even Windows2000, not to mention the 18,000 graphics cards out there.

Maybe they will surprise me with a 100% in-house game for the PS3 but I seriously doubt that'll ever happen. Personally I think they should exit the console market and stick with PC gaming forever.

heypaul @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:40PM

I just read the source article and Gabe Newell didn't say a thing. Lombardi was the one that had to eat Gabe's words. Shouldn't we correct the article title?

Andrew Yoon @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:48PM

Yes, I caught the mistake too. Sorry about that!

JuanRA @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:56PM

LMAO!!!

Eggy @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:42PM

L4D is a typical PC game anyway, same with TF2, HL2, CS etc. You only play it on a console if you don't have another choice.

Dustin @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:43PM

take that you big fuckin bitch! o well, we wont see valve made PS3 games for atleast another year, but still, YEAAAAAAAAAAAA IN YO FACE BITCH
- Brian (family guy)

Richard @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:49PM

i really dont understand this guy...ino the ps3 had a small instal base last year and it has a difficult architecture so i understand why devs decided not to support the ps3 in the past...however, why did newell feel the need to keep attacking the ps3 and its fans? why alienate gamers? thats just short-sighted and stupid...personally i dont care if newell changes his mind about the ps3, i've already made up my mind not to support valve...

Sarthak @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:49PM

how do you eat a fart?

Starscreamyo @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:51PM

Haha! Valve can eat their own words! I used to love Valve, but now I'm not so sure I will be picking up their games anymore.... ok, you are right... I can't resist.

Metal_Gear @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:53PM

Lesson = Customer is always right

Just because these developers cant be bothered to relearn their jobs doesn't make anything a waste of space.

Newspapers used to be printed with huge metal blocks and each individual letter would be placed in the block by hand, that changed, and so is game development, get over it tubby....

Gah, nearly got the whole way without making reference to his weight >_

Haggard @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:01PM

The difference is that writing newspapers on computers wasn't a step backwards.

Why would they 'evolve' into a method of programming that is more difficult?

McBonk @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:19PM

Is it "more difficult?" Or is it "different?"

Popfrogs @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:21PM

@Haggard: Because everything in the entire computing world is pointing towards multicore/multiprocessor architectures.

Metal_Gear @ Aug 22nd 2008 9:08PM

Exactly, it may be a slightly more complex but if you want games to evolve, game development is going to have to evolve with it.

the_culture @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:55PM

The article still says Doug Lombardi as the head of Valve, which is incorrect. Doug is PR.

Ghaleon @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:59PM

"While we're fans of Valve's work, we're not entirely sure if the PS3 audience will welcome them with open arms."

Yeah, I bet. How did that DMC4 boycott go

Mark @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:59PM

Valve can go to hell, if they expect money from me. I won't forget how their Microsoft Shill of a boss (Gabe) tried to keep his ex-employers sweet...

Ghaleon @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:00PM

I'm sure Sony fans will stay maaad forever.

P.S. How did that Capcom boycott go

adrien @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:19PM

i'm sure some original xbot will post that for a third time. must be bored waiting for a new game to play.

kentuckyfried @ Aug 22nd 2008 8:14PM

"i'm sure some original xbot will post that for a third time. must be bored waiting for a new game to play."

Are you sure? Too Human seems to have some *amazing*, compelling gameplay...=D

J @ Aug 22nd 2008 9:15PM

If by amazing you mean *not amazing*, and by compelling you mean *not compelling*, then yeah, i've heard that too. I would like to give it a try though. the gameplay trailers LOOK fun, but then the scores i see tells me that it's not.

alan @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:06PM

maybe we can get that same team fortress update that xbox 360 is getting. Which i'd gladly pay for the ability of the Heavy to eat a Sandvich.

Sentai_Powa @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:15PM

I think Gabe himself is a M$ Fanboy, since he worked there for 14 years, was a producer of the first three versions of Windows and he literally made millions working for them.....................were has is company....not so much.

mave198 @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:15PM

Reissue The Orange Box via PSN with all the fixes and 60FPS withthe TF2 updates, CS Source and HL Source with ability to use the various mods ALL thru PSN and then maybe, maybe I'll look into welcoming back Valve in my gaming arms.

If not, they can kiss my ass.

willxcore @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:16PM

I love Half Life and Portal and can't deny the studios successful and enjoyable titles. But they're fucking dickheads for acting like little babies about the PS3 and how they "don't like it". I have to give a little credit to a developer not playing into the popular opinion and if they don't like the platform then hey, do what you gotta do. But now that PS3 is selling better, what, suddenly it's not so bad? It's because there's a bigger potential for more cash. Fatcat assholes. Anyway, bring on Portal 2 and I just wish I could stop hearing about their dumb opinions.

johnhype @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:19PM

L4D doesn't look so hot in motion as it is. Very old school "twitch" FPS and not a slow building, creepy survival horror game I thought it would be.

rohan @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:23PM

does this mean they will start making patches for the orange box in the future?

OddyOh @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:24PM

That's right, just coming crawling back to Sony now to get your dev kits, you arrogant SOBs... :)

Rowdehaj @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:25PM

Also, Newell complained about not being able to count on the 360 to have a hard drive:

"... And I had the same conversation with the Xbox 360 guys. It's like, Xbox 360 doesn't make my life any better, and in fact, it makes it a lot worse, as you're telling me I can't count on having a hard drive."

Popfrogs @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:06PM

Newell, in the same article, also complained to the local chicken shop, due to false advertising. The ad claimed a "bottomless bucket of chicken wings" which, much to Gabe's dismay, actually did have a bottom.

Jerses @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:32PM

wow.. that black zombie got a chin li arm

j.howlett @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:35PM

after past treatment of the ps3 and seeing how they handle TF2 on 360 vs the PC, i'll most likely stick to PC for valve games.

infekt @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:38PM

Ah. There is better stuff out there (or coming soon) that will keep me occupied and intrigued. I do want to say something to Value: Once a bitch, always a bitch. And you are one royal bitch.

matt @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:38PM

If they put HL2:episode3 on the PS3 I could care less about anything Gabe's said in the past.

bvhj @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:59PM

I love Valve for 1 reason:
They're the only people who can actually make a fucking GOOD FPS.

And I only use Steam to buy their games because they are never as good on consoles, so they can say whatever they want about the PS3 and I'll still buy their great games using my PC, how they're supposed to be played.

Jeff Perez @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:01PM

I did refuse to buy valve's product because of what they said about the PS3, as of the moment I am a PS3 only gamer and when I know that a developer isn't trying to make my version of the game as good as it can be, why should I spend money on their product? Now that they have, in a way, apologized I will check out their products in the future but they are not an automatic buy for me as some people consider them to be.