Valve pledges its independence
- May 21, 2007 11:52 AM PST
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In a recent interview, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell stressed the importance of remaining independent from larger publishers with deep pockets.
By Eugene Huang
Due to the overwhelming popularity of the critically-acclaimed Half-Life series, the Valve Corporation has already proven itself to be one of the most important game development studios in the entire industry. Yet, over the years, the company has mostly relied on third party publishers to handle distribution duties for its games, as indicated by Valve's multi-year deal with Electronic Arts.
While some analysts have interpreted EA's involvement as a sign of a possible acquisition, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell assures his customers that this is not at all the case. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Newell supported his belief that his company should remain a self-sufficient development studio by listing the benefits of independence.
"I think something that contributes to our ability to be successful is that we don't have external financing on our projects," he commented. "There's no venture capitalists breathing down our neck, and I think that helps us make decisions that are more focused on what customers will like than what a third party has an opinion about."
Referencing his recent experience with members of the film industry, he relays one anecdote in which a film was nearly brought to a standstill due to a major script-related disagreement brought on not by an actor, but his agent. Newell is determined to not let such petty things influence his company's work.
"I'm glad that we have [a] greater ability to make those decisions that we think are the right ones, that customers will say 'good job' rather than worry that some third party's going to step in and tell us to ship on a particular date or take this out or put this out or whatever," he continued.
Speaking of the film industry, Newell also stated that there is no Half-Life film project currently in the works, and that he is also committed to not signing onto one unless the script is acceptable. He believes that there are enough bad movies being made in Hollywood, and sees no need to add another one.
"We're not going to do a Half-Life movie until the movie would be as interesting a movie as the game was a game," he stated adamantly. "That's sort of been the challenge. Other than that, just doing a movie for its own sake doesn't make a lot of sense."
Lastly, on the subject of their distribution deal with EA, Newell happily claimed that the publisher has done a great job for Valve so far, despite fears perpetuated by popular opinion.
"Sometimes EA gets painted a little bit as the boogeyman... We keep waiting for them to jump round the corner!" he noted. "And it hasn't happened. We've been really happy with everyone there and the job they've done for us."
