Steam Doesn't Need a Deal With Microsoft and Call of Duty, Gabe Newell Explains
Gabe Newell is not interested in Microsoft's guarantees for Call of Duty being available on Steam. He claims that the store's popularity is the best motivation to sell the next installments of the series.
Yesterday we reported that Microsoft is ready to sign agreements that will guarantee the Redmond giant's competitors to release the next installments of Call of Duty on their platforms for the next decade. Among the companies that received such an offer was Valve, but its CEO Gabe Newell is not interested.
- In a commentary for Kotaku Newell confirmed that he has received such a proposal from Microsoft, but does not believe it is necessary.
- The head of Valve explains that Microsoft has been releasing its games on Steam for a long time, and Newell takes this as proof that the Redmond giant is happy with this cooperation. This year, by the way, Call of Duty also returned to Steam, which turned out to be a bullseye.
- Gabe Newell is not in favor of agreements that force the release of games on given platforms/services. He claims the best solution is to make Steam such an attractive place to sell games that partners themselves will have a good incentive to release their projects in this store.
- Apparently, Newell's approach is working. Recently, companies such as Electronic Arts, Bethesda or Activision Blizzard have returned to Steam after long absence, and in December they were joined by Ubisoft. All because Valve's store remains the best space for selling digital PC games.
Recall that Microsoft's intention to acquire Activision Blizzard is behind these proposals. A number of government bodies from major markets such as the US, the UK, and the EU have expressed concerns that the deal could hurt competition in the gaming industry.
The doubts mainly concern Call of Duty, which is considered such a key brand that its absence on PlayStation consoles, for example, could give Microsoft too much of an advantage in the market.
To assuage these concerns, the Redmond giant has decided to offer Sony a 10-year guarantee that all new installments of Call of Duty will be released on PlayStation consoles alongside their debut on other platforms. Then it turned out that similar offers were also made to Nintendo and Valve.
This strategy seems to be bearing fruit. Recently, there have been reports that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may abandon plans to bring an antitrust suit against Microsoft, which was expected to sink the acquisition.
