Gabe Newell is never afraid to speak his mind when he perceives an injustice. The latest target of the Valve co-founder's ire? Microsoft's super successful online platform.
Speaking of Microsoft's unwillingness to open up Xbox Live so developers can issue patches and updates more quickly and frequently, the Half-Life and Steam creator told PC Gamer "We thought that there would be something that would emerge, because we figured it was a sort of untenable… 'Oh yeah, we understand that these are the rules now, but it’s such a train wreck that something will have to change.'" Newell also was quick to praise the PlayStation Network, saying "That's why we're really happy with the current situation with the PS3. We're solving it now in a way that is going to work for our customers, rather than assuming something is going to emerge later that will allow us to fix this."
Newell has a long track record of trashing platforms. When the PlayStation 3 first released, he unequivocally ripped the console, saying "the PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think It’s really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted." He later asked for forgiveness when revealing during the Sony press conference at E3 that Portal 2 is coming to the platform. He also spoke ill of Windows Vista when it launched, branding it a "terrible mistake" that harmed PC gaming.
In this case, we agree with Newell. Many developers have privately lamented the slow byzantine process of pushing a simple patch or title update to consumers. If Microsoft continues to keep these road blocks in place, it could drive more developers to favor the PlayStation Network and release their content more quickly on the platform.