Is Valve Developing Their Own Free-to-Play Title

[Shawn Zipay]

With Valve having booked a rather large section at the upcoming Gamescom (this August in Germany), there is much speculation about what the developer is priming to show at the event. Word comes from Gamespot (by way of Barre de Vie) that Valve is currently working on their own free-to-play title supported by optional microtransactions, a formula that currently works for games such as Lord of the Rings Online, APB, Champions Online, and countless others.

According to the French-language gaming site, Valve's marketing head Doug Lombardi reportedly offered a perfunctory "yes" when asked about whether the studio was developing its own project using the business model.

Lombardi reportedly offered no additional information on the mystery title. Valve had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment as of press time.

Early speculation about their free-to-play title is that it will be none other than DOTA 2. It is also a bit of a mystery what Valve is preparing to show off in August, be it DOTA 2, Counter-Strike 2, perhaps Half-Life 3, or something else entirely.

Who knows guys, perhaps it's just that they're going to release Meet the Pyro at Gamescom and show off a Source rendition of trollface.jpg at the end of it all. Though I hope this isn't the case (but it would be damn funny in a twisted sort of way).

[K-16]

Re: Is Valve Developing Their Own Free-to-Play Title

I really doubt it would be Half-Life related. F2P on that?... Unlikely. DOTA 2 is obviously the highest possibility, with other franchises next on the list of being "maybe." (Except of course, the Portal franchise.) Perhaps Gunman Chronicles will make a return as a F2P MMO after VALVe acquired the rights... No.

[Shawn Zipay]

Re: Is Valve Developing Their Own Free-to-Play Title

No no, I didn't mean that HL3 or CS2 would be free to play (though really, CS2 could actually work if done correctly). I meant those games to be listed for what they might reveal at Gamescom.

[K-16]

Re: Is Valve Developing Their Own Free-to-Play Title

... It is also a bit of a mystery what Valve is preparing to show off in August, be it DOTA 2, Counter-Strike 2, perhaps Half-Life 3, or something else entirely.

My bad. I should have read it more carefully. And if CS2 were to go F2P (which the odds of it being announced at GamesCon aren't good at all), it would be a late entry with games like Combat Arms having a huge head start. Don't know how much that matters though. Anyways, I think it's safe to assume it's DOTA 2 either way. The other titles seem like too much work for VALVe to announce it to the public yet. That is, unless the news get leaked like every other unannounced title in the frickin' world.

[Solynth]

Re: Is Valve Developing Their Own Free-to-Play Title

No no, I didn't mean that HL3 or CS2 would be free to play (though really, CS2 could actually work if done correctly). I meant those games to be listed for what they might reveal at Gamescom.

I doubt they'd release CS2 as free to play. If they did and supported it with microtransactions the majority of the CS fanbase would hate it. The idea of CS is that everyone has the same chance as everyone else, being able to have the same weapons and items, not having to level up and unlock them or even worse, buy them.

[Shawn Zipay]

Re: Is Valve Developing Their Own Free-to-Play Title

I doubt they'd release CS2 as free to play. If they did and supported it with microtransactions the majority of the CS fanbase would hate it. The idea of CS is that everyone has the same chance as everyone else, being able to have the same weapons and items, not having to level up and unlock them or even worse, buy them.

The majority of the CS fanbase hates CS already anyway. They hated the update to Source. They hated every single change made to the game since the beta days. They hate it for a while. Cry about it on the forums for a bit and then still keep on playing. I doubt a free to play CS2 with microtransactions would be unpopular.