Still a rumor, but what does this mean? Mashable's Stan Schroeder thinks its an odd choice, but the value of Steam would make it a worthwhile purchase.
With Steam, Valve has managed to do what no one else has: they’ve made it so easy and simple to download games that users are actually willing to pay for it even when they have a choice of pirating the same content for free.
Of course, Google will likely rebrand the service and offer online distribution for many things other than games. I wonder how will this affect the development of games like Half Life. Obviously, if Google's going to buy Valve as a company rather than just the Steam platform, they are going to also take over the development studio. Is Google looking to delve further into the gaming industry, perhaps as a means of beefing up the lackluster Google Lively? I suppose they could always sell Valve's developmen arm if not. Maybe they are simply looking for ways to weasel their ads into games.
Neither Google nor Valve have confirmed or denied this rumor. Look for an announcement at this week's Game Developer's Conference.
(via Mashable)
Related Links:
Google gets Lively
The iPhone As Your "Dark Passenger"
Companies are Still Using Second Life for Teleconferencing?