It appears as though a war of words may be brewing between Microsoft and Valve. The creators of the Half-Life series and the immensely popular Steam service for PCs are planning to release a home console in the near future. This console will bring the Steam service to people's televisions, and is highly anticipated amongst gamers.
However, this does not impress Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business. While speaking at Microsoft Techforum, Mattrick was asked if he viewed Valve as a threat to Microsoft. According to a report by The Verge, Mattick's response was a very quick "No." before also adding, "The scale of products and things that are being brought to market are probably a little bit richer when I look at Sony, Nintendo, Apple, and Google..."
While Mattrick also added that he thought Valve was "doing some innovative stuff" and that "I love Gabe (Newell, founder of Valve), I was there for his lifetime achievement award so it's wonderful to see what they're creating." However, this respect does not show through when ranking Valve behind mobile gaming providers Apple and Google, especially after the immense success Valve has had with Steam. While the so-called "Steam Box" is an unproven concept, it would not surprise me to see the system gain popularity once it is released. PC gamers have great loyalty to Steam, so it already has a built-in fanbase.
Microsoft has yet to reveal their newest console, the Xbox 720, though several different reports have begun to shape our view of the system. While Microsoft may have some rather blunt words to say to Valve, it was not all that long ago that they were a PC-centric company trying to make the leap into the home console market. Time will tell if Mattrick's words prove to be prophetic or foolish.