Valve appreciates Microsoft’s continued assistance of the Steam shop and states that a formal agreement isn’t essential for their partnership.
We’re happy that Microsoft wants to continue using Steam to reach customers with Call of Duty when their Activision acquisition closes. Microsoft has been on Steam for a long time and we take it as a signal that they are happy with gamers reception to that and the work we are doing. Our job is to keep building valuable features for not only Microsoft but all Steam customers and partners.
Gabe Newell in a statement to Kotaku.
Newell discusses that Microsoft even sent a draft for a long-lasting community to keep Call of Duty on the Steam platform however clarifies that there was no requirement to do so. He says that Valve doesn’t believe in needing any partner to have an official contract that essentially locks them into shipping video games on Steam.
Read more about the Microsoft / Nintendo Call of Duty deal.
Newell also keeps in mind that Phil Spencer and the Xbox team have always followed through on their commitments and trust their intentions. Additionally, Newell believes that Microsoft is inspired to put Call of Duty on platforms and devices that gamers wish to be on.
Just the other day, Microsoft dedicated to bringing Call of Duty onto Nintendo platforms for the next 10 years if the Activision-Blizzard merger goes through. Spencer has also stated that Microsoft has not made any development with PlayStation in accepting comparable terms.
