Valve programmer Jeep Barnett has described the integration of Steamworks in the PS3 version of Portal 2 as a "first step", telling GamerZines about future plans the developer has for the system on consoles.
"We were talking earlier about being able to buy (Portal 2) for PS3 and have a linked version for PC and Mac as well," said Barnett talking to us last week. "Well, we’d love to go the other way with it.
"Say you buy it on PC and then you have a downloadable version for PS3. That would be beautiful and is something that I would personally like to see next. But there are a lot of other things too.
"Right now you’re able to chat with your Steam friends while you’re playing Portal 2, but there’s currently no way to do that outside of the Portal 2 game. I’d like to see even more Steam features that are linked within the PS3/PSN interface itself.
"But again, some of this stuff is up to the platform holders and what they’ll let us do. We’ll just keep negotiating and finding out what’s basically a big win for the customers and what drives people to enjoy all these different features. We just want to put the most we can get away with onto the platform and do it as an experiment and see if the customers like it."
Barnett also added that the developer "would love" to see Steamworks integrated into next-gen consoles from day one, but that the decision was again "up to the platform holders".
The PS3 version of Portal 2 is the first time Steamworks functionality has been integrated into a console game. Steamworks on PS3 allows users to chat and play with their PC Steam friends, earn Steam achievements, and access Steam news from their PS3. PS3 players will also be given the PC version of Portal 2 for free by registering the key included in the box.
Though the feature is currently only available on the PC and PlayStation 3 versions of Portal 2, Barnett said that it "would be awesome" if Valve could strike a deal with Microsoft to bring Steamworks to Xbox 360.
"The thing that I don’t know is whether we asked and they said no, or whether we didn’t ask at all," he said. "If Microsoft sees that and sees that it is working and that it actually is as important as I think that it is, then I don’t think they’ll have a reason to say no. We’ll see where it goes in the future."
Portal 2 launches in the UK on April 21st on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
Tags: Portal 2
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