VR exclusives aren’t good for “customers or developers,” Valve head Gabe Newell said.
A lot of it has to do with the risk in developing for VR. In an email sent to Reddit user elpollodiablo187, and confirmed by GameIndustry.biz, Newell said Valve is not interested in exclusivity for the HTC Vive—especially for games developed with Valve’s funding.
“We’re in a much better position to absorb financial risk than a new VR developer, so we are happy to offset that giving developments development funds (essentially pre-paid Steam revenue),” Newell wrote. “However there are no strings attached to those funds—they can develop for the Rift or PlayStation VR or whatever the developer thinks are the right target VR systems.”
He continued: “Our hope is that by providing that funding that developers will be less likely to take on deals that require them to be exclusive.”
A lot of the most interesting work is being done by new developers that have the most risk—”That is a triple-risk whammy,” Newell wrote. “A new developer creating new game mechanics on a new platform.”
New to VR? Check out Gameranx guide for everything you need to know about the HTC Vive.
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