Gabe Newell: Steam Isn't Interested in Agreements Like Xbox's Nintendo Call of Duty Deal

Microsoft committed to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms for the next 10 years but Valve doesn't need formal agreements to continue its existing partnership.

[Fishy Fingers]

Kind of a moot point as MS committed in 2020 that all 1st party games going forward will be on Steam.

[crazyCoconuts]

I'm just happy Gabe isn't interested in selling Steam to MS

[-Foxtrot]

Seems he's more aware Microsoft is using the Nintendo and Steam deal just for the Activision buyout and so they can use it against Sony.

Like

"Don't...don't bring and use us in this, we already have existing things in place with you guys"

[Eonjay]

People act like they can't read but Gabe just effectively saved Sony. His underlying point for those blinded by Microvision is that if it is Microsoft's intention to expand access to gamers then what is actually the point of a commitment deal? Microsoft is nothing but a constant PR operation. You need to and should be able to understand that at this point. This is a narcissistic threat poorly disguised as generosity. If Microsoft was truly committed to expanding the reach of games to gamers it wouldn't require anything more than a similar statement to when Sony bought Bungie.

[Lifexline]

Do any of you know how to read? Or do you just read the headline and go with it.

He says that he trust Microsoft and doesn’t need anything in writing that their word is good enough because everytime they tell him they will do something they do it.

So he doesn’t want a contract even though Microsoft sent one to him. So unlike Sony who wants things in contract he doesn’t it’s just the type of guy he is. He doesn’t have any underlying intentions like Sony does he just wants games for his customers.

[Knushwood Butt]

So he runs a business without contracts and just wants to get games to gamers? What a guy! He should run for pres!

[neutralgamer1992]

Steam can sell itself all it's want man #3 is their big boss haha 😆

[Ank666]

Yep exactly

[Christopher]

PC market also isn't Microsoft's primary competitor in the console and digital subscription market. Literally only one competitor in that whole market.

[crazyCoconuts]

Never die, Gabe, please.

[ZycoFox]

Yup, one of the first PC games I played in 99 was Half Life, hope they got the foot back on the pedal for more great games.

Recently sold one of my headcrab zombie statues on ebay for £800, got over double my money back, Half Life still has a strong fan base.

[Giblet_Head]

Even if he did his son Gray would most likely takeover to keep it in the Newell family. Valve is a private company and Gabe owns just over 50% of it.

[sparky77]

Great ammunition for MS to give to regulators right there.

Gabe knows MS has no reason to lie about this.

[SullysCigar]

Eh? What Faber-Castell knows us that ALL Microsoft games are coming day and date to Steam, regardless of the franchise. This has been the case for years now.

With that in mind, how does this help Microsoft's troubles with the CMA?

[Crows90]

It doesnt. People pretend these kinds of things are revelations...they arent.
The agreement is a formality for the platforms that MS essentially owns. On Switch it will likely remain available through streaming...so an inferior version by far.
On PlayStation, however, MS stands to gain a lot by removing it from that platform.

[Hofstaderman]

It doesn’t help ms case. They crapping bullets at this point

[sparky77]

"Newell also notes that Phil Spencer and the Xbox team have always followed through on their commitments and trust their intentions"

One of the CMA's main points was the MS doesn't follow through on deals but a competitor is saying otherwise.

[Lightning77]

Steams and Gabe Newell and Nintendo are cornering Sony. MS told Sony theyll be multiplat for 10 years. The same agreement Nintendo took. Sony didn't comment on The 10 year deal and is just essentially whining instead. Gabe here doesn't need a contract or a written agreement because he trusts MS will bring COD to Steam as MS already has with its 1st party.

Again MS played a smart hand by putting COD on Nintendo platforms. It makes them look good and committed and makes Sony's excuses even funnier really.

[SullysCigar]

@Sparky77, I repeat; how are Steam a competitor when all of Microsoft's games release day and date on Steam and Xbox?

[shinoff2183]

Sparky steam is not ms competitor

[Christopher]

Amazing ammo. The people who forced MS to move to Steam because the Windows store wasn't selling software because "Steam runs the PC world" defends Microsoft from having to buy their way out of similarly being slammed by their competition in console hardware/software. Gabe doesn't need contracts because the consumers write the contract for him. Microsoft needs Activision because consumers aren't doing enough for them.

[Aloymetal]

As a hardcore PS fan(atic) I can't wait for this deal to go through because I'd like to see the funny and hilarious excuses by the end of this gen and the next one as well when after all those zillions spent on Activision/Bethesda etc...MS/xbox still fall short to be the market leader and sells the less amount of consoles and games. It's gonna be a sight to behold. But hey, as long as MS makes more trillionzz is fine.

[shinoff2183]

Maybe to steam. It's not in the console market. Ms has already lied when they bought zenimax. The fact specifically stated that ms lied to the European board when they bought zenimax dude

[Lightning77]

What they lie about?

[343_Guilty_Spark]

"He trusts Microsoft's intentions."

That is the sub headline.

There you go. Microsoft stopped being nice with Sony and went for the jugular.

The deal will go through

[Redemption-64]

And regulators clearly don't trust MS. Care to guess why they offered Sony 3 years, then increased it to 10 after it was rejected. I also love how MS has a huge PR campaign going on social media, Sony being silent has really made them very unhappy.

Also let's be realistic, MS has no choice but to release on steam, especially if they ever choose to go exclusive at some point. Their own store cannot compete with steam and most steam users will not leave for any of their games. COD sales on Xbox are going to drop, especially on Xbox, when the deal goes through.

[The3faces]

"Sony being Silent '
Jim Ryan has been the most vocal trying to have the merger blocked since day one.

[SlothLordPootus]

@The3faces

Sony might not be silent to regulators, but theyre not spouting off on twitter and writing opinion pieces in the Wall Street Journal to try to get public support.

[Asplundh]

1.No where did MS offer 3 years, the words were "several more years" and people including Jim Ryan started to the claim that they offered 3 years.

2.MS already have their 1st party games on Steam.

3.Of course COD sales will drop on Xbox's, it will be on GP.

[Redemption-64]

@The3faces

I guess you must be living under a rock, at best Jim has given 2-3 interviews, one in response to MS comment on offering several years. Since you live under a rock, I will say you have not been on Twitter to see, several MS executives tweeting numerous times on this deal, one even complaining about Sony being quite or not coming to the negotiating table.

We can also pretend the CEO and the president of MS, Phil have not given numerous interviews on this acquisition if that makes you feel better.

[MadLad]

How will the sales drop?
They've always supported Steam since getting rid of windows live.
They're still handling their own storefront business as usual.

How does simply bringing these devs and games into the fold result in less sales on Xbox? Nothing is going to change, at least with CoD, outside of now they'll be bankrolling the games themselves.

@sloth

Sony also isn't the one being attacked to try to keep an acquisition from happening via their competitor.
Maybe Microsoft should start actively going at Sony; trying to stop all these money deals Sony has been making for years just to keep IP they don't even own off of other platforms.

[Redemption-64]

@Asplundh
Jim came out to clarify what MS said by several. MS has yet to say he is lying. Jim even spoke about how he thought this was a private matter, until MS made it public, so they have to clarify things

https://www.google.com/amp/...

[Redemption-64]

@MadLad

Would you like to make a bet COD sales will decrease, especially on Xbox when it goes to GP?

Are you seriously new?

[SlothLordPootus]

@madlad Sony is ABSOLUTELY the one being attacked. Theyre trying to preserve the franchises that have operated on their systems for over a decade, some close to 3 decades, while Microsoft is buying up publishers. With the purchase of Bethesda, Microsoft essentially bought up the western RPG market. With Activision theyre buying up the two of the largest FPS IP alongside other large properties. And Microsoft has said themselves they dont plan on stopping their acquisitions soon. Who is attacking who here? Its pretty clear to me who is playing defense.

[Hofstaderman]

Sony is being silent. They have only given input when the process has required them of it with maybe 2 press release outside of this. MS on the other hand is acting like a jilted mistress about how the world has done them wrong and shouting about it through any platform.

[Asplundh]

"Jim came out to clarify what MS said by several."

Jim works for Sony, not MS. Jim reading between the lines isn't evidence of a 3 year offer.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

No incentive to go Exclusive considering the install based of every platform

You're still living with console War mentality. Sony won that. But now it's the Content Wars

[Lightning77]

'Also let's be realistic, MS has no choice but to release on steam, especially if they ever choose to go exclusive at some point."

Let's be realistic MS has been releasing all its games on Steam day and date. Suddenly not releasing Cod on Steam for no reason is dumb. That's why they're putting it on Nintendo's console as well.

[Profchaos]

I think that's mostly cultural Sony being a Japanese company wouldn't typically go airing dirty laundry I'm sure they want Jim to shut his mouth to he still has bosses to answer to after all.
Ms is always actively trying to lure fans to their console or sub they always have in the lead up to this gen there was so much noise from Xbox it was almost too much instead of letting the product and game speak for itself we got flashy cinematics and Sony was just like here's ps5 here's trailers see you at launch

[sinspirit]

Intentions with Steam.

[DarXyde]

Maybe.

And you're cheering it on with no concept of the dangers of monopolies because your team benefits from this.

You better pray Sony continues to compete aggressively. Otherwise, don't bring your consent forms when you go to Spencer's house. He won't be signing them, and neither will you.

[TricksterArrow]

Do people even know that one of the major concerns about the merger is not Sony, but rather the somewhat new gaming streaming and on demand market? This is one of the biggest points of contention from the council. This is not simply about MS and Sony. People are clueless.

[gangsta_red]

Good to see some big industry vets not bothered or even approving of the merger. Take Two's boss and now Gabe Newell.

"Newell also notes that Phil Spencer and the Xbox team have always followed through on their commitments and trust their intentions."

That's crazy, I keep reading that Phil Spencer lies and MS is never to be trusted and is ruining gaming and yet MS is making deals to put CoD on Steam as well as Nintendo.

[darkrider]

You must be very young... Trust Microsoft. Dude, they are desperate. Without this deal... They are doing everything...

[gangsta_red]

Pretty sure it's Sony that's desperate and doing everything to make sure this deal doesn't go through

[Melankolis]

I'm surprised that you don't even know their position. Stop selling COD on Steam and the sales will drop even lower, and making a deal with Nintendo is to weaken Sony's argument that MS will monopolize COD. In short, Steam is a partner to MS while Nintendo is harmless (useful).

[gangsta_red]

Not even sure what point your comment is supposed to prove.

Of course MS will still support Steam, they've supported Steam with their own games for a while now, plus the tournament scene for CoD is massive for PC. I don't believe MS had any intention of ever dropping support from Steam.

And MS has also always supported Nintendo. One instance of this is back during the whole cross play saga. When Sony refused to do cross play, MS and Nintendo actually teamed up to make a handful of games cross play with each other.

So it's not necessarily to weaken Sony's argument it's just to prove them wrong when they say players will have less choices. This has never been the case with MS and their games.

[shinoff2183]

Gangsta red the cross play thing was actually shot down by ms during the 360 Era because they were doing alright. Xbox one tanks and then they wanna play ball. Then they take it to the media and suddenly it's all sonys fault.

https://www.ultragamerz.com...

I believe it all came to light during ps3 360 Gen from the developer of a game called defiance or something. The dev said ms absolutely refused. So Sony gets killed when they don't wanna accept it. Media bs pushed by young kids whose first system was probably ps4 Xbox one generation

[gangsta_red]

@Shinoff

Actually, Sony didn't want to have cross play either as they even didn't push for it during the PS3/360 era. And not too many devs were going for it because it wasn't as viable as it is now.

Fast forward today where the technology is a lot better and a lot more devs can easily implement cross play and Sony flat out refused.

Had nothing to do with the media pushing BS as multiple devs from Fortnite toTekken accused Sony of not letting them implement cross play and made them jump through hoops to implement it.

It was an unfortunate situation and not one of Sony's finest moments. Lucky they came around after a lot of pushback and reports to the media by developers.

But it was still strange to see that some of their loyal hardcore fanbase backed them up and made excuses for them by stating they're only screwing over multiple third party devs because of something MS did decades ago to one game.

[sinspirit]

Yes. When it comes to Steam.

[Crows90]

A commitment in writing...yes of course they follow through on that. They have to, unless they like being sued.

[Knushwood Butt]

Question - Why is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) not on Switch?

[gangsta_red]

I'll pass this question along to Activision and Infinity Ward and get back to you as soon as I find out.

[Knushwood Butt]

What, you don't have this insider information?

While you're at it, please ask Activision this:

Why is Call of Duty: Vanguard not on Switch?

[gangsta_red]

I just got the answer from my inside sources at Activision.

They said at the time of development it wasn't viable to release CoD on the Switch but that will change under a new direction from Microsoft.

So there you have it, hope that cleared up all your questions.

[Knushwood Butt]

Interesting. I would have thought streaming it would be easy money. Maybe this can be fixed using the power of the cloud.

Thanks for closing this out.

[neutralgamer1992]

Sure yet you definitely had a problem giving developers more and bad mouth epic even though they took 10% compared to your 30%

[Miacosa]

Nailed it! Before this potential deal, there were no thoughts of time limits on a COD being anywhere. Now all of a sudden there are limits and potential countdown clocks for it to be removed. Love how Gabe doesn't give two sh!ts about MS games being on his platform. They are either available or they are not at this point MS needs Steam more than Valve needs their games.

[Crows90]

All of a sudden??
You mean since the concept of CoD being owned by a competing platform? I wouldnt call that 'all of a sudden.'

[MadLad]

You missed the entire point.

[Thundercat77]

Of course he tru$t MS. When is about money, most will sell their souls. Look at Bobby Kotick and its sex harrasment scandals. The main reason he wants to sell and Microsoft is laying in bed with him in order to protect him from that and take advantage of the situation.

No wonder many agencies already raised flags about this corrupted deal.

[MadLad]

Sony isn't winning this fight lol.
They definitely put up a good one, but the acquisition is going through.

Nobody can deny that it's now just Sony looking after their own benefit at this point.

[shinoff2183]

Madlad

You must be mad cause nowhere in this article did he say much. Steam isn't even an Xbox competitor. So it's a moot point.

[Mr_cheese]

It will be nice when all of this is over and the dust settles so we can all see what is what.

N4G is getting plastered with articles and comments sections littered with jaded opinions for and against. Same people, same agenda.

Hope it's over soon.

[shinoff2183]

Nothing will change its been like this since 360 ps3 Eben probably back further

[darkrider]

Because Microsoft was gonna take games from steam...Microsoft thinks we are all stupid. Their target is Sony.

Nintendo doesn't care about Cod... It's not their target gamers never was...

If any of the regulators understand about videogaming understands that Microsoft wants to take the biggest fps doom, overwatch, Cod from Sony, that means 60 to 70% of player base. Beside all the other franchises... To try and sell the crap services they have.

It's incredible the pr campaign. Next they will give for free Cod and the other games, because Microsoft is like a rainbow company. Just think about gamers and not the end all competition...

I can't imagined how videogaming would be if Sega was still making consoles and franchises, with Nintendo and Sony. And not a company that pays to win and take games from gamers... Because it can't create fps, when that was it only good thing they were able to make.. With Halo....

[thesoftware730]

Dark,

"To try and sell the crap services they have."

The closer this gets to being approved, the angrier you seem to get. Anger leads to the Darkside my friend.

[The3faces]

Facts he bashes MS on a daily basis lol. Far more than anyone else on N4g

[darkrider]

I don't like services, PS plus, extreme are all crap, stadia, gp, Netflix games. None of them. Because services means low quality games. Means renting. Games will become worst and the excuse will be that a are on services....

[shinoff2183]

Thesoftware70

How tf do yall see more and more government boards looking into this and say it's closer to being approved. Lol. If anything it looks worse for ms. The fact said they are looking into this due to ms lying to the European board when they bought zenimax.

Yall on here woooooooot ms got this bag up

Wtf

[gangsta_red]

So much bitterness in this comment.

"I can't imagined how videogaming would be if Sega was still making consoles and franchises"

I think you can, Sega dropped out themselves because of mismanagement of two of their last consoles, Dreamcast and Saturn. And I think we can also see where they are currently with their latest disappointment with Sonic Frontiers. But yeah, keep those dreams alive because it's definitely not rooted in reality.

As for "company that pays to win and take games from gamers". You all brought this on yourselves constantly complaining (i.e. celebrating) that MS had no first party studios, now they have them with a vengeance. And taking the games away from gamers is such a moot point that is nothing more than repeating the echo chamber here because MS offers more options to play their games than any of the competition.

[darkrider]

Dude, microsoft build and create a bunch of studios...

Is taking games for the biggest market share in videogaming. Does games were available to all. Don't try to spin that. All platforms that wanted the games. Microsoft is buying publishers. Not studios. We are talking about tons of franchises that were available for all for decades. Now it will end.

Sega ended because of the saturn. It was a powerhouse for 2d games, but the market was changing to 3d. The dreamcast was an amazing machine, but it was too late...

The reality is that Sega created much more and better quality games then Microsoft.

Here another thing for you to remember. After this deal gets green light, microsoft won't stop here. Not saying that it will be in 2023, because it would attract to much attention, but 2024 or 2025, microsoft will buy more publishers. Why, because it the only way for Gamepass to have success. They need to get 100, 200 millions subscribers and that won't ever happend without getting more of the big franchises.

[gangsta_red]

@darkrider

"Microsoft is buying publishers. Not studios"

Yeah, and? MS is buying in bulk. Is there some sort of rules against that. Nobody is spinning anything here except you, games will still be available on everything except PS and that's called competition, the same way Sony competes by paying devs to keep games off of Xbox and GP.

"The reality is that Sega created much more and better quality games then Microsoft."

No, the reality is Sega couldn't compete against Sony and Nintendo and had to drop out of the console business and they haven't been the same since. Just stop with the nostalgic banter only used to shit on MS. If they were as good as you claim they were they would still be making consoles.

"...but 2024 or 2025, microsoft will buy more publishers. Why, because it the only way for Gamepass to have success."

Wow, I hope so! I love Game Pass and would love to see more games guaranteed to release on that service.
Let's all pray that this happens that way a lot more people can enjoy these games, seeing as how GP is accessable on multiple platforms outside of Xbox.

[shinoff2183]

Ms has paid to have exclusives to. Wtf are you guys talking about. Ms Sony Nintendo all have paid to keep games off others systems.

Actually there is something wrong with Ms buying publisher after publisher. It's called a monopoly. Dimwitted people might not see it but it's not good for gaming at all.

[gangsta_red]

@shinoff

"It's called a monopoly."

People should actually learn what a monopoly is instead of always repeating it and sounding like a complete idiot.

"Ms Sony Nintendo all have paid to keep games off others systems."

Yeah, no one said they didn't.

[MadLad]

"takes game from gamers"

Sony pays to keep IP they don't even own off of their competition's platforms.
How is that not much worse than at least buying these companies and bankrolling them?

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Which IPs are these?

Spiderman, MS had the same opportunity to create a marvel franchise of their own .

SF6 is coming to Xbox.

SFV is in the same boat as Bayonetta where Sony "bankrolled" the development just like Nintendo did for Bayonetta. Unless you're saying that Nintendo pays to keep IPs off of their competition's platform as well?

[shinoff2183]

Ms has paid for exclusives before to still does . The comment every time I read it makes whoever says it look dumb.

[ReadyPlayer22]

It's been 2 years since the Series X released and there's YET to be a major Square Enix release. Why is that?? Is it because Sony is PAYING to keep them off Xbox?

Why aren't you complaining about that? Where's your outrage of a third party publisher being moneyhatted like Sony is doing.

[shinoff2183]

Ff7 remake has been the only major square release lol. What

Crisis core is coming octopath traveler he'll ps4 didn't even get the first one of those. There's a ton of square games releasing on Xbox. Ff7 remake and ff16 are it. Ff16 is also probably timed exclusive. Get over yourself

[The3faces]

@Redemption
MS pretty much had no choice what with all the hyperbole coming from Sony. According to Jim Ryan their first party games aren't enough they need COD to stay afloat!

[shinoff2183]

Phil threw the whole Xbox games system under the boss by saying they aren't as good as sonys. Nice try the3faces

[bleedsoe9mm]

Gabe acting like a adult that has faith in his business, Jim acting like a petulant child who is on a sinking ship

[DOMination-]

You guys are so confusing. Do you care about CoD or not? The people moaning in these articles are the same ones who post first when a new one is announced saying it looks dull, the same etc.

Surprised people don't care more about the only mascots PS has in Crash and Spyro being xbox exclusive in future.

[Christopher]

Comparing apples to oranges. One is an industry discussion, the other is a quality discussion. People complain about Bieber, but he still sold amazingly well and was a foundation of the music industry.

[MegaLogic]

Look at all the Sony Fans praising Gabe 🤣🤣🤣
29315; you really really can't make this stuff up lol

[MadLad]

The thing is, Gabe is legitimately backing Microsoft in this. Gabe isn't even defending Sony with his words.

[SinisterKieran]

Isn’t the deal effectively holding back gaming? Unless Nintendo release a new console. They’re not only going to have to optimise for series s but now for switch?

[MadLad]

Consoles, in general, always hold games back. The PS2 was far weaker than the original Xbox. Even the GameCube, but games were still developed. They just needed to be designed around that hardware.

When we're still supporting even the PS4 and Xbox One, I don't think the Series S is the problem here. It's more powerful than some give credit, and the only devs to say otherwise were the same who didn't seem to properly optimize on any platform. They highly supported CoD on the Wii back in the day, when the 360 and PS3 were highly more powerful. They still made it work.

[kitano1947]

lotta zoomers in here dont know gabe used to work for microsoft

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Gabe knows how Microsoft operates maybe idk.

[HeliosHex]

I love steams refund policy. That is all.