In-house economist hints at Valve’s hardware plans, including the “Valve Box” and virtual reality
A user at the video game forum NeoGAF has translated an interview from a Greek publication with Valve's in-house economist, Yanis Varoufakis:
At the time period between March till June I went back to Valve and we begun a research program of systematic study of their economies. Within a few days we had the first results that shed light on the way prices are determined and how arbitrage is fluctuating. At the same time, I got the chance to “see the future”. You see, in addition to their game software, Valve has started developing hardware. Worried by Microsoft’s and Apple’s tendency to claim a bigger and bigger cut of its profits (in order to allow users access to Valve games through the computers that run their software), Valve has started experimenting with its own machines that give you the ability to run these games without a (Microsoft or Apple-controlled) computer. I’ve signed an NDA so I can’t reveal much more. I’ll just say that I really saw the future. (it’s not a small deal to see a virtual but highly realistic alien stand beside a real human in the same room with you, walk around the room and wink at you. And all that without a screen, a projector or even a computer near you…)
This isn't exactly a surprise, as it's been clear for a while that Valve is experimenting with making their own gaming console (something Linux based, perhaps) and with virtual and augmented reality hardware, but it's certainly as clear of a statement as to the gaming giant's intentions as we've heard in a while.