Valve 'up' on idea of PS3 development, waiting to build talented PS3 team

by Jem Alexander { Jul 2nd 2009 at 7:30PM }

Valve isn't quite as against the idea of developing games for the PS3 as we previously thought. Speaking to Valve's Doug Lombardi at the Left 4 Dead 2 event in London today (look out for the full interview soon), we discovered that the company is still "up on the idea" of developing for the PS3 -- it's just waiting until it has hired some decent PS3 coders. "If you look at The Orange Box -- PC: 96 on Metacritic, 360: 96 on Metacritic, PS3 like... 84 or something. That's not even close to where we are right now with the 360 and PC and the reason is people."

Lombardi went on to say that "we have to get people under our roof who are dedicated, talented PS3 guys and then all bets are off. We can take the same sort of strides and get the quality out of the box and offer the same support post-launch on that platform, as well." Sounds like Valve-developed PS3 games are more a case of "when" than "if," nowadays.

When asked whether Valve is actively seeking to hire PS3 developers, he noted that "Valve is always looking to hire people. So yeah, definitely." Are you a dedicated PS3 coder who wants to make Left 4 Dead 3 for the system? You know what to do. We look forward to seeing your handiwork in late 2010.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/02/valve-up-on-idea-of-ps3-development-waiting-to-build-talented/

First it was Gabe Newell saying "The PS3 is a complete waste of time", to last year when the PS3 was outselling the 360, "With the PS3's current success, we'll have to reconsider our business model", to more recently, "We are not PS3 developers", to this. Make up your minds Valve.

lol Left 4 Dead 3 for PS3? When should we expect that? Holiday 2009 sounds plausible.

Sounds to me like it's a ways off.

They'll never assemble a team that's skilled with it unless Sony starts closing down their own studios.

When I was talking to a couple of DICE devs after a lecture about their work on ME, they told me that only two guys were working on the port for the PS3, and back then nobody had ported the Unreal Engine onto the PS3. Only one of them was a full time PS3 coder.

And didn't Infinity Ward have no trouble at all porting COD4 to the PS3? Also look at a more recent example, Prototype, it actually looks slightly better on the PS3.

So why do they find it so difficult to port their games? Pity it's only now that the draw of money brings their attention to the PS3, back in the days I played Half Life I thought they made games cause they liked making games. I'd actually prefer if they just stuck with the PC.

The Unreal Engine has been working on the PS3 for ages... Look at this article from 2007:

http://www.dvhardware.net/article20631.html

Well I said something similar to the guy when I was talking to him, and he responded with something like "the unreal engine hadn't been used on the PS3 when they started developing ME"

The thing is, they didn't get any coding help from the outside from people who had done the same thing.

Well as cool as tht would be since they make great games, I'll believe it when I see it. its hard to get excited about a company making games for a console that they once said was a complete waste of time. This is why i need to get started on building my PC and become a PC gamer like I used to be

Well i think it was very dumb of Valve in the first place to neglect PS3 but more idiotic if they still cause then theyll just be cutting off almost 23 million potential buyers.

BOOHOOO!!! You gotta grow up man with this money nonsense. Any buisness needs this mentality to succeed. It's buisness!! Of course they like making games. They wouldn't be in this buisness if they didn't. Making games takes passion because it requires alot of dedication and constant learning. There's no prestige in making games and the money is nice but only if you're good. Any buisness needs a plan and a model to follow. Investing in places you feel will optimize your profits and match your profits with your efforts is just good buisness. Otherwise you won't be in buisness for long.

Please don't feel like Valve or any other company 'sold out'.