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Now you can watch Steam Dev Days talks like a real developer
The only way to attend Steam's "off the record" Dev Days conference last month was to be invited to Seattle. Now Valve has published all of the talks online, providing us a chance to soak in all of the insights without having to soak in low levels of radiation from airport scanners. These talks cover a wide range of topics: music in video games, Steam Boxes, in-game economies and even a discussion on how to market your own game. You can watch them all in one massive YouTube playlist, starting with Gabe Newell's opening address above. During Steam Dev Days, Valve announced its digital distribution platform had reached 75 million users. Valve also revealed a new version of its Steam Controller prototype, replacing the controller's center touch-screen with a more traditional button setup. [Image: Valve]
Valve working with Oculus on VR, no plans to launch in-house rig
Yes, Valve has sophisticated virtual reality rigs in its hardware offices, but it's going to work with Oculus Rift to develop in-home VR, Valve R&D leader Michael Abrash said during Steam Dev Days. Valve and Oculus collaborated to create the Oculus Rift Crystal Cove prototype, which Abrash called "a big step in the right direction." We got to play with the Crystal Cove prototype at CES, and it was a treat. It added a camera that faced the player, tracking a series of LEDs on the front of the headset to allow positional movements, such as leaning forward to read in-game text. The Crystal Cove also eliminated motion blur and had an OLED screen. The Oculus Rift is a "seated" VR rig, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey said during Dev Days. Valve, on the other hand, showed off its own VR set, something that felt like a "holodeck" and tracked player movement, including walking and crouching, Engadget reported from first-hand accounts. Garry's Mod creator Garry Newman tested out Valve's VR and said it didn't make him sick, as the Oculus dev kit does. "It was really immersive," he wrote on his blog. "It's hard to explain just how immersive it felt. Imagine being in a room and looking around and seeing and hearing things in that room. That's what it was like." But, remember, Valve doesn't plan to release this baby to the public – at least not any time soon.
Valve wants SteamOS to feature music and video services
Valve wants to offer digital music, video, and television episodes via SteamOS prior to the launch of its Steam Machines hardware, general business developer Anna Sweet revealed during the company's Steam Dev Days event in Seattle this week. Steam Dev Days attendees Becky Taylor and Jose Ilitzky relayed SteamOS's upcoming expansion via Twitter, though Valve has yet to issue an official statement. Developers continue to weigh in on the announcement via the #steamdevdays hashtag. Valve's proposed digital entertainment expansion would put SteamOS in direct competition with Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, which currently offer music, movies, and TV episodes on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PS4 platforms. Valve previously announced plans to tackle the console gaming market with Steam Machines, a lineup of SteamOS-powered computers specifically suited for living room gameplay.
Steam Controller ditches touch-screen for traditional buttons
Valve has iterated upon its Steam Controller design, eradicating the center touch-screen in favor of a more familiar physical button-based set-up. The image above came from folks on Twitter attending Steam Dev Days today. Valve decided to add the buttons for backwards compatibility purposes. The controller's signature trackpads, however, remain untouched. Considering the controller is still in beta, we wouldn't be surprised if the Steam Controller gets another facelift before its official launch later this year. [Image credit: @TheIneQuation]
Steam has 75 million active users, Valve announces at Dev Days
Steam has 75 million active users, Valve announced at the Steam Dev Days conference. The previous Steam user count, shared in October, was 65 million. Thanks, Steam users, for making the math on this one easy: 10 million users in three months. Wowza. Check out the regional breakdown below. Steam Dev Days is a chance for developers and publishers – only, with no press around to cramp their style – to learn more about Steam Machines and developing for Valve platforms. Each attendee has already received a Steam Controller and is going home with a Gigabyte Steam Machine "for development and not Ebay," Tinybuild Games tweets. Check out the Gigabyte box here. Valve founder Gabe Newell took the stage at Steam Dev Days and proposed the potential eradication of Greenlight, Steam's community-voted indie game approval system. "Our goal is to make Greenlight go away," Newell said, transcribed by Hot Blooded Games CFO Dave Oshry. "Not because it's not useful, but because we're evolving." The talks from Steam Dev Days should be available online later on, though the free Steam Machines are only for those actually at the conference. We know – that's nonsense. Image credit: @AntonWestbergh
SteamVR beta launches just ahead of Valve developer conference
As promised, Valve launched an experimental SteamVR mode this week, allowing users to test out virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift with the Steam UI. The launch comes just a day ahead of Valve's Steam Dev Days conference in Seattle, where talks feature discussion on VR hardware development, and how to integrate VR with various Steam features. In one talk, Valve is showcasing a prototype that reveals "what VR is capable of within a couple of years," and the studio looks likely to be working on its own VR headset, though no official announcement has been made. Valve's Brian Coomer recently said "there's also technology in development at Valve based around head-tracking and headset manufacture and design," and that the studio is working with other companies on VR tech, too. To test out SteamVR for yourself, follow the instructions here.
Steam Dev Days offers an 'off the record' developer conference in January
Valve is hosting a developer conference dubbed "Steam Dev Days" in Seattle, Washington, from January 15 to January 16. Valve promises a "relaxed, off the record environment" where developers can attend lectures from industry veterans and participate in round-table discussions. "Off the record" means there will be no press at the event, but hey, there's free wi-fi. The Steam Team will be on-hand, along with SteamOS, prototype Steam Machines and the Steam Controller. Valve is emailing registration codes to developers, and there is an attendance fee of $95 per person. The specific schedule, speakers and sessions will pop up here closer to Steam Dev Days.
