Google Rumoured Acquiring Gaming Content Distributor Valve

Said to be Platform for Delivering In-Game Advertising

[martinibuster]

A ZDNet blog post [blogs.zdnet.com] comments on an article published by The Inquirer [theinquirer.net] that Google is about to acquire Valve, the distributors of many video games, including Half Life and the new Crysis follow up Crysis Warhead.

From the ZDNet blog:

Valve is also the creators of Steam, a distribution service that game developers can take advantage of to distribute their games to users.

I would suspect it has something to do with the in-game advertising.... Google has been interested in doing this for a long time now — they even acquired a company called Adscape Media in 2007 to help get their foot in the door.

From the Inquirer:

Valve has the best content distribution platform out there, bar none. Steam may have had rough patches here and there, but they are almost all ironed out now...

[Receptional Andy]

It would be an interesting acquisition, as there are already sites getting the ad-supported gaming model to work. Plus, this type of distribution requires an internet connection - or an opportunity to deliver ads, depending on how you look at it.

And let's not forget, games are massively popular in the IT world, and Google has all but no content supporting gamers. Even Yahoo has a gaming portal ;)

[martinibuster]

Bah shucks. It's an unfounded rumor [kotaku.com].

While the idea seems crazy at first blush Valve's Doug Lombardi has said they're willing to be bought. So we checked in with Lombardi himself this morning and he put our minds at ease, telling us it is purely a rumor, a bit of fiction.