Steam is coming to the PS3, and it’s bringing some pretty impressive treats for Sony fans along with it.
When Valve said the PS3 version of Portal 2 would be the pick of the crop, it really wasn’t kidding. The studio, which once seemed to view the platform as an eldritch and strange thing to be avoided at all costs, has added a bunch of features to the PS3 version and is even including an extra copy of the game.
Using Valve’s Steamworks platform, PS3 owners will be able to play the co-op parts of the game both with other PS3 players and with PC players. What’s more, by linking their PSN and Steam accounts, PS3 owners can unlock a PC or Mac version of the game at no additional cost. Portal 2 utilizes the Steam Play functionality, meaning that progress on one version of the game applies to the other version as well, as long as the different platforms are hooked up to the internet. Valve boss Gabe Newell said that Portal 2 was just the beginning and that the company hoped to build on that base in the future with more Steam features, as well as DLC and other content releases.
Obviously, this is great news for PS3 owners, who have either had to suffer lackluster ports of Valve games, as with the Orange Box, or with them skipping the platform entirely, like the Left 4 Dead games. Being generous with games – and particularly updates to games – is a big part of why Valve enjoys such a good reputation among gamers, and this is a sure-fire way of winning back a lot of the PS3 gamers who felt slighted in the past. This news probably won’t be quite as popular with Xbox 360 and PC players, however, as they will have to fork out the same amount of money as PS3 owners in exchange for significantly less content.
Portal 2 comes out for PC, Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360 in April.
