Microsoft executive: Valve Steam Box not competitor to Xbox
updated 03:10 pm EST, Tue March 5, 2013
Dismisses Valve console despite company doing 'innovative stuff'
Microsoft is not afraid of Valve's Steam Box game console concept, according to one executive. Don Mattrick, president of the interactive entertainment business of Microsoft, does not view Valve as a competitor to the Xbox platform yet when compared to other established gaming hardware companies, though does admit that the game developer is "doing some innovative stuff."
Speaking at TechForum this week, The Verge noted Mattrick said "The scale of products and things that are being brought to market are probably a little bit richer when I look at Sony, Nintendo, Apple, and Google." The Steam Box, consisting of a range of home theater PCs using Steam in Big Picture mode, was shown off at CES in January in the form of the Xi3 Piston hardware. At the time, Valve CEO Gabe Newell did not reveal when the Steam Box concept would make its way into stores, but did state that Valve was working with multiple technology partners.
When asked about possibly allowing third party developers more access to the Xbox platform, Mattrick claimed to be happy with the curation that goes on. "There's a certain level of technical and production competency that people have to get through because we're trying to curate great experiences."
