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Valve Confirms That There Won't Be Steam Deck-Exclusive Games

Draugoth

Gold Member

Valve has confirmed that it has no interest in publishing games that are exclusive to the Steam Deck.

As confirmed on an FAQ page covering questions asked by developers and publishers at the company's Steamworks Steam Deck event, Valve has said that it isn't interested in developers creating games exclusive to the upcoming handheld.

When asked about the matter, Valve's response was short and clear. "No, that doesn't make much sense to us. It's a PC and it should just play games like a PC," responded the company in the FAQ. To delve into Valve's comments a little further, upon launch, the Steam Deck will run a modified version of Valve's SteamOS - designed with a console-like interface that will allow players to easily navigate the Steam Store and their own Steam libraries.
 

Draugoth

Gold Member
Isn't PC exclusive a Steam Deck exclusive?

Me turning Steam Deck into an emulator machine:

dsmGaKWMeHXe9QuJtq_ys30PNfTGnMsRuHuo_MUzGCg.jpg
 
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Will it play physical GameBoy Color games though?
Why would you use physical cartridges when they already run fine as digital?

I mean, good on you if you have one, but most of us can't get one of these things anymore without paying way too much. Game preservation is about the software, the cartridges themselves are more for collectors.
 
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Why would you use physical cartridges when they already run fine as digital?

I mean, good on you if you have one, but most of us can't get one of these things anymore without paying way too much. Game preservation is about the software, the cartridges themselves are more for collectors.
It was a joke. The point being why do they need to confirm the system won't do something no one expected it to do in the first place?
 

CamHostage

Member
Was this ever a question? This was always about giving existing Steam users more options and enticing new ones to come to Steam.

Sure, but there are exclusive VR games. (Half-Life Alyx isn't exclusive to Steam Index, I don't think any games are only for that headset/controlset, but Alyx does apparently have some minor Index-exclusive content.)

I could see a scenario where Valve might have made a game "for Deck" that might be playable on a PC, but it really came into existence for Deck (similar to how Steam has stuff like Fallout Shelter and some Angry Birds games, and they work but they're designed for something else.) If a game idea came along that for instance used the multitouch touchscreen, something that couldn't really be done comfortably with a mouse, you could see that as being considered Deck-exclusive (albeit touchscreen laptops could probably play it just as easily.) If Valve came up with a touchscreen-optimized way of playing DOTA2, that might make sense as a separate app (though it'd probably made more sense as a mod for the main game, so as to not split the player base.) Or if there was an AR-type game or a game designed to take advantage of WiFi geo-locating, that probably would be primarily a Deck game (even though a laptop could enjoy it about as well.)

I mean, we're living in a time where Valve is one of the biggest names in gaming yet has made 6 games in the past 10 years, only one of which was actually in a box on store shelves. (And of those games, I bet everybody would struggle to name them off the top of their head because most aren't what you think of first when you think of Valve; at least 1 is already decommissioned.) So, it's no surprise that there's nothing specifically made for Deck. They're barely making any new games as it is. But they got inspired by VR (or were economically driven to bank off VR, depending on your viewpoint) to finally make a new Half-Life product, and that helped put Valve at the top of the VR market. You could maybe see them feeling equally jazzed/driven to make a calling-card touchscreen game or a great small-scale game to celebrate/push Deck, and if people played it in other ways, so be it, as long as it helped get Deck and Valve on the minds of the general populace.

Supposedly, actually, the project "Citadel" might be kind of one of these types of game, where it's not excluding PC, but it'll have that kind of "Best Played on Deck" feel to it.

 
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kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck
Console manufacturers still tout exclusivity even when the games come out on PC so maybe stream should take a page out of that playbook and claim every game is exclusive.
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
Of course they wouldn't because that would be limiting the sales of that game dramatically. They'll be lucky to sell a few million of these things.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
It's a PC. The fuck are people on treating this like some kind of console?
 
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ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
Sure, but there are exclusive VR games. (Half-Life Alyx isn't exclusive to Steam Index, I don't think any games are only for that headset/controlset, but Alyx does apparently have some minor Index-exclusive content.)

If a game idea came along that for instance used the multitouch touchscreen, something that couldn't really be done comfortably with a mouse, you could see that as being considered Deck-exclusive (albeit touchscreen laptops could probably play it just as easily.) If Valve came up with a touchscreen-optimized way of playing DOTA2, that might make sense as a separate app (though it'd probably made more sense as a mod for the main game, so as to not split the player base.) Or if there was an AR-type game or a game designed to take advantage of WiFi geo-locating, that probably would be primarily a Deck game (even though a laptop could enjoy it about as well.) I could see a scenario where Valve might have made a game "for Deck" that might be playable on a PC, but it really came into existence for Deck (similar to how Steam has stuff like Fallout Shelter and some Angry Birds games, and they work but they're made for something else...?)

I mean, we're living in a time where Valve is one of the biggest names in gaming yet has made 5 games in the past 10 years (and of those, we'd probably all struggle to name them because they're mostly updates of existing games rather than sequels or new titles,) so it's no surprise that there's nothing specifically made for Deck. They're barely making any new games as it is. But they got inspired by VR (or were economically driven to bank off VR, depending on your viewpoint) to finally make a new Half-Life product, and that helped put Valve at the top of the VR market. You could maybe see them feeling equally jazzed/driven to make a calling-card touchscreen game or a great small-scale game to celebrate/push Deck, and if people played it in other ways, so be it, as long as it helped get Deck and Valve on the minds of the general populace.

Supposedly, actually, the project "Citadel" might be kind of one of these types of game, where it's not excluding PC, but it'll have that kind of "Best Played on Deck" feel to it.


the Steam Deck can run VR technically, but with compromises since its not optimized nor designed for it.

in addition SteamAPI doesn’t include features that won’t work on desktop PC.

For everyone else who wonder why do they need to clarify something so obvious: the post I quoted is exactly the reason
 

VN1X

Banned
Probably a clarification because it has touch screen support no?

Although if the rumormill is to be believed Citadel will technically have a Steamdeck exclusive mode? (the RTS part)
 

CamHostage

Member
SteamAPI doesn’t include features that won’t work on desktop PC.

For everyone else who wonder why do they need to clarify something so obvious: the post I quoted is exactly the reason

OK. So then, the SteamAPI includes touchscreen input because of desktop PCs?

Steamworks touch interface has always been minimal and mediocre, basically because it's written for an audience almost entirely playing on desktop PCs and stationary laptops. However, touch services are bound to improve with the success of Deck, even if Valve sticks to recommendations of applying touch as an optional replacement for existing M&KB interactions. (I'm not sure if the current SteamAPI actually even includes multitouch? Steamworks still only has guides for touch menus, primarily for trackpads, and although they say that Steam can support games "specifically targeting touch interaction" and that they are "looking at ways that we can best support [touch menus] with the touchscreen", the Deck itself will primarily use touch as a substitute for the mouse unless you apply the Windows Touch API or other touch system.)

The touchscreen is there on Deck for a reason; it's multitouch probably for user convenience and/or ease of installation, but multitouch is there too. Touch is there, on a device that may end up being very influential in the Steam ecosystem. If a developer were first and foremost interested in making a game that used that touchscreen (or, more likely, interested in bringing over their mobile game to a platform where, now with Deck and MS Surface, there would maybe be a PC audience for a touch-oriented product,) I do not believe that it's never going to happen on Steam just because almost nobody's desktop has a touch panel. It's never going to be a primary mode of play for mainstream games, the Deck would have to sell a ton more units to justify even a high-profile indie game being made touch-first instead of M&KB-first, but touch is a potential expansion market for Steam that it would have had a hard time justifying any interest in before Deck.

SteamAPI has input systems for a gyro too, which a desktop PC would have a hard time making use of without the defunct Steam Controller or a PS4/PS5 plugged in. Yet there's at least one game (maybe more, it's hard to search since it's not a viable tag) on Steam made essentially exclusively for gyroscope play on a tablet device. And Deck has gyro support.


(...You could play this game with a mouse, but why?)
 
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ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
OK. So then, the SteamAPI includes touchscreen input because of desktop PCs?

Steamworks touch interface has always been minimal and mediocre, basically because it's written for an audience almost entirely playing on desktop PCs and stationary laptops. However, touch services are bound to improve with the success of Deck, even if Valve sticks to recommendations of applying touch as an optional replacement for existing M&KB interactions. (I'm not sure if the current SteamAPI actually even includes multitouch? Steamworks still only has guides for touch menus, primarily for trackpads, and although they say that Steam can support games "specifically targeting touch interaction" and that they are "looking at ways that we can best support [touch menus] with the touchscreen", the Deck itself will primarily use touch as a substitute for the mouse unless you apply the Windows Touch API or other touch system.)

The touchscreen is there on Deck for a reason; it's multitouch probably for user convenience and/or ease of installation, but multitouch is there too. Touch is there, on a device that may end up being very influential in the Steam ecosystem. If a developer were first and foremost interested in making a game that used that touchscreen (or, more likely, interested in bringing over their mobile game to a platform where, now with Deck and MS Surface, there would maybe be a PC audience for a touch-oriented product,) I do not believe that it's never going to happen on Steam just because almost nobody's desktop has a touch panel. It's never going to be a primary mode of play for mainstream games, the Deck would have to sell a ton more units to justify even a high-profile indie game being made touch-first instead of M&KB-first, but touch is a potential expansion market for Steam that it would have had a hard time justifying any interest in before Deck.

SteamAPI has input systems for a gyro too, which a desktop PC would have a hard time making use of without the defunct Steam Controller or a PS4/PS5 plugged in. Yet there's at least one game (maybe more, it's hard to search since it's not a viable tag) on Steam made essentially exclusively for gyroscope play on a tablet device. And Deck has gyro support.


(...You could play this game with a mouse, but why?)

Deck has multi-touch for virtual keyboard, UI control and Steam Link. Steam Link has been using it for gesture stuffs on phones/tablets for years


iwRCXYu.png


Gyro support on Steam also includes Switch Pro Controller, as well as licensed Nintendo controllers like 8Bitdo SN 30 Pro+ or SN 30 Pro2 etc
 
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Now Nintendo developers won’t have any excuse not to release games for pc anymore, there is a handheld for steam.
John Carmack made a Super Mario port, then tried to convince Nintendo to see a market for PC gaming. This was decades ago. Nintendo said no then, they will say no now.
 

SSfox

Member
It was obvious, they wish they will have some but they don't create games, and they can't afford to get exclusive s from other devs, so.
 
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Tams

Gold Member
Now Nintendo developers won’t have any excuse not to release games for pc anymore, there is a handheld for steam.
Sure. Because that's the reason Nintendo developed games aren't on non-Nintendo hardware.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
I don't think many expected that?
If anyone did, they don't understand PC as a platform or Valve.
There were some reports about Citadel being retooled as something that would be designed to take advantage of Steamdeck hardware features for its asymetrical gameplay, so that might be why they feel compelled to clarify.
 
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