Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits Headquarters of Video Game Firm Valve

MacRumors · Apr 13, 2012, 01:31 PM

AppleInsider reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook paid a visit today to the the headquarters of Valve, the video game firm behind the Steam digital distribution platform and a number of popular PC and Mac games. While the purpose of Cook's visit is unknown, his presence at the company's headquarters in Bellevue, Washington suggests that it may have been of some importance potentially relating to collaboration between the two companies.

Just over two years ago, Valve made a splash by leaking a set of teaser images to MacRumors and other Apple and gaming sites revealing that it would be bringing its Steam game distribution platform and a number of its own titles to the Mac platform. Steam for Mac launched in May 2010 with over 60 titles, and Valve now offers over a dozen of its own games for Mac through the store.

Earlier this year, Valve released a Steam companion app for iOS, allowing users to browse the Steam marketplace and even purchase games for later download and play on a PC or Mac.

It is unclear just what Apple and Valve might come up with in terms of an expanded collaboration if one is in the works, including whether it would extend in some form to iOS or remain limited to gaming on the Mac platform. Valve has been rumored to be working on its own hardware offerings related to Steam services, and the company has just posted job openings related to hardware engineering for such projects.

Article Link: Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits Headquarters of Video Game Firm Valve

aprofetto8 · Apr 13, 2012, 01:31 PM

Oh ****... it's happening.

inket · Apr 13, 2012, 01:34 PM

*Hoping Tim Cook is more serious about gaming on Mac than Jobs*

Darbyothrill · Apr 13, 2012, 01:35 PM

Oh hey, my two favorite things.

WAM2 · Apr 13, 2012, 01:35 PM

Oh dayum. Gaming macs here we come.

riptidewahoo · Apr 13, 2012, 01:35 PM

mmm... beefy!

doctorossi · Apr 13, 2012, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aprofetto8

Oh ****... it's happening.

Precisely! Now, to figure out what "it" is...

andyh2 · Apr 13, 2012, 01:36 PM

Half-Life 3 exclusive to Mac OS X anyone?

Limboistik · Apr 13, 2012, 01:37 PM

Hmm an interesting development indeed.

tonytiger13 · Apr 13, 2012, 01:37 PM

I may be too optimistic here but Valve was teasing a gaming console (but had little support in hardware and distribution of said hardware) and now a huge hardware/software company is visiting. I can dream.

spiderman0616 · Apr 13, 2012, 01:37 PM

I want Half Life 3 on iPad.

milhouse994 · Apr 13, 2012, 01:37 PM

Steam gaming built into the Apple Television? Would put Apple up against Sony and Microsoft in the gaming market.

drdidg · Apr 13, 2012, 01:37 PM

Maybe Tim is teaching Valve employees how to count to 3.

Cougarcat · Apr 13, 2012, 01:38 PM

Valve is working on a "big picture mode" for TVs...maybe Apple's TV will be getting it?

I hope Cook urged Valve to make a real Cocoa-native Steam client rather than the half-assed hack we have now.

JS77 · Apr 13, 2012, 01:38 PM

Holy *bleep*, this is *bleep*ing huge!! *bleep* *bleep* *bleep*

RoboCop001 · Apr 13, 2012, 01:40 PM

Maybe he's just secretly a huge gamer and loves Half Life so much that he wanted to visit them.

Actually perhaps they're meeting to discuss games on the App Store. Whether that includes the Apple TV remains to be seen, but that'd be sweet.

tonytiger13 · Apr 13, 2012, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milhouse994

Steam gaming built into the Apple Television? Would put Apple up against Sony and Microsoft in the gaming market.

my thought exactly.

Mac21ND · Apr 13, 2012, 01:40 PM

BUY IT! BUY IT NOW!!!!!

C. Alan · Apr 13, 2012, 01:42 PM

Valve may be getting into the IOS game buisness. This should not surprise anyone.

Mr-Stabby · Apr 13, 2012, 01:43 PM

It's probably going to be about developing games for iOS. Maybe the original Half Life for iOS or something.

As much as i'd like to believe otherwise, i doubt the CEO of Apple would visit Valve to try and organise some new gaming initiative for Mac. They just don't appear to care about the Macs that much anymore.

mac1984user · Apr 13, 2012, 01:44 PM

I wonder if it has anything to do with trying to merge together Mac App store game purchases and those purchased on Steam. Such an eventuality would most certainly gain my support!

chrmjenkins · Apr 13, 2012, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inket

*Hoping Tim Cook is more serious about gaming on Mac than Jobs*

He should be. It's the single greatest market segment of the PC industry that Mac is largely missing out on.

Behind price, playing games is the second biggest reason I hear from young people as to why they don't go mac.

pgiguere1 · 01:52 PM

Valve and Apple join forces to make a gaming console.
Hardware and OS design by Apple. Online integration and ecosystem by Valve.

Gabe Newell (director of Valve) on their upcoming gaming hardware:

"We'd rather hardware people that are good at manufacturing and distributing hardware do [hardware]. We think it's important enough that if that's what we end up having to do, then that's what we end up having to do."

One can dream.

Limboistik · Apr 13, 2012, 01:46 PM

Perhaps they are colluding to combine their software and hardware expertise to create something that will revolutionize the gaming industry.

djrod · Apr 13, 2012, 01:46 PM

Pardon my french but... I'm touching myself

Apr 13, 2012, 01:31 PM	#1
MacRumors macrumors bot Join Date: Apr 2001	Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits Headquarters of Video Game Firm Valve AppleInsider reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook paid a visit today to the the headquarters of Valve, the video game firm behind the Steam digital distribution platform and a number of popular PC and Mac games. While the purpose of Cook's visit is unknown, his presence at the company's headquarters in Bellevue, Washington suggests that it may have been of some importance potentially relating to collaboration between the two companies. Just over two years ago, Valve made a splash by leaking a set of teaser images to MacRumors and other Apple and gaming sites revealing that it would be bringing its Steam game distribution platform and a number of its own titles to the Mac platform. Steam for Mac launched in May 2010 with over 60 titles, and Valve now offers over a dozen of its own games for Mac through the store. Earlier this year, Valve released a Steam companion app for iOS, allowing users to browse the Steam marketplace and even purchase games for later download and play on a PC or Mac. It is unclear just what Apple and Valve might come up with in terms of an expanded collaboration if one is in the works, including whether it would extend in some form to iOS or remain limited to gaming on the Mac platform. Valve has been rumored to be working on its own hardware offerings related to Steam services, and the company has just posted job openings related to hardware engineering for such projects. Article Link: Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits Headquarters of Video Game Firm Valve
	5

Apr 13, 2012, 01:31 PM	#2
aprofetto8 macrumors regular Join Date: Jul 2010	Oh ****... it's happening.
	14

Apr 13, 2012, 01:34 PM	#3
inket macrumors regular Join Date: Dec 2009	Hoping Tim Cook is more serious about gaming on Mac than Jobs
	47

Apr 13, 2012, 01:35 PM	#5
WAM2 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: United States	Oh dayum. Gaming macs here we come. __________________ 21.5" 2012 iMac, 2.7Ghz i5, 8GB RAM, GT 640, 1TB HDD 2010 MacBook, 2.4Ghz C2D, 8GB RAM, GT 320m, 128GB SSD Custom Build: 3.6Ghz i5, 16GB RAM, GTX 660, 60GB SSD/1TB HDD iPhone 5 Slate AT&T 16GB
	17

Apr 13, 2012, 01:36 PM	#8
andyh2 macrumors member Join Date: Dec 2006	Half-Life 3 exclusive to Mac OS X anyone?
	-26

Apr 13, 2012, 01:35 PM	#4
Darbyothrill macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2012	Oh hey, my two favorite things.
	12

Apr 13, 2012, 01:35 PM	#6
riptidewahoo macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2011	mmm... beefy!
	8

Apr 13, 2012, 01:37 PM	#9
Limboistik macrumors regular Join Date: Aug 2011	Hmm an interesting development indeed.
	4

Apr 13, 2012, 01:37 PM	#10
tonytiger13 macrumors member Join Date: Jan 2008	I may be too optimistic here but Valve was teasing a gaming console (but had little support in hardware and distribution of said hardware) and now a huge hardware/software company is visiting. I can dream.
	16

Apr 13, 2012, 01:37 PM	#11
spiderman0616 macrumors 65816 Join Date: Aug 2010	I want Half Life 3 on iPad. __________________ iPhone 5 16 GB black, iPhone 5 16 GB white, 3rd Gen iPad Black 32GB, 16 GB iPad Mini White, Airport Extreme, iPod Classic 120 GB, Macbook, 3rd Gen Apple TV, 2012 Mac Mini
	-2

Apr 13, 2012, 01:37 PM	#12
milhouse994 macrumors member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Los Angeles, CA	Steam gaming built into the Apple Television? Would put Apple up against Sony and Microsoft in the gaming market.
	21

Apr 13, 2012, 01:37 PM	#13
drdidg macrumors newbie Join Date: Jun 2011	Maybe Tim is teaching Valve employees how to count to 3.
	46

Apr 13, 2012, 01:38 PM	#14
Cougarcat macrumors 601 Join Date: Sep 2003	Valve is working on a "big picture mode" for TVs...maybe Apple's TV will be getting it? I hope Cook urged Valve to make a real Cocoa-native Steam client rather than the half-assed hack we have now.
	12

Apr 13, 2012, 01:38 PM	#15
JS77 macrumors regular Join Date: Jun 2008	Holy bleep, this is bleeping huge!! bleep bleep bleep
	10

Apr 13, 2012, 01:40 PM	#16
RoboCop001 macrumors 65816 Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada	Maybe he's just secretly a huge gamer and loves Half Life so much that he wanted to visit them. Actually perhaps they're meeting to discuss games on the App Store. Whether that includes the Apple TV remains to be seen, but that'd be sweet.
	6

Apr 13, 2012, 01:40 PM	#18
Mac21ND macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2007	BUY IT! BUY IT NOW!!!!!
	7

Apr 13, 2012, 01:42 PM	#19
C. Alan macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2009	Valve may be getting into the IOS game buisness. This should not surprise anyone. __________________ 2009 Mac Pro Quad Core, 12 GB ram, 25.5" monitor, 2x1TB HD;250g HD, 40G SSD; 16 GB Iphone 4; 16GB Ipad; 1st gen tv.
	12

Apr 13, 2012, 01:43 PM	#20
Mr-Stabby macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Sep 2004	It's probably going to be about developing games for iOS. Maybe the original Half Life for iOS or something. As much as i'd like to believe otherwise, i doubt the CEO of Apple would visit Valve to try and organise some new gaming initiative for Mac. They just don't appear to care about the Macs that much anymore.
	0

Apr 13, 2012, 01:44 PM	#21
mac1984user macrumors 6502 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: York, UK	I wonder if it has anything to do with trying to merge together Mac App store game purchases and those purchased on Steam. Such an eventuality would most certainly gain my support!
	5

Apr 13, 2012, 01:44 PM	#23
pgiguere1 macrumors 68000 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Montreal, Canada	Valve and Apple join forces to make a gaming console. Hardware and OS design by Apple. Online integration and ecosystem by Valve. Gabe Newell (director of Valve) on their upcoming gaming hardware: "We'd rather hardware people that are good at manufacturing and distributing hardware do [hardware]. We think it's important enough that if that's what we end up having to do, then that's what we end up having to do." One can dream. Last edited by pgiguere1; Apr 13, 2012 at 01:52 PM.
	16

Apr 13, 2012, 01:46 PM	#24
Limboistik macrumors regular Join Date: Aug 2011	Perhaps they are colluding to combine their software and hardware expertise to create something that will revolutionize the gaming industry.
	9

Apr 13, 2012, 01:46 PM	#25
djrod macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Madrid - Spain	Pardon my french but... I'm touching myself
	20

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