Valve isn’t a company that gamers would generally associate with failure, but in an interview with PC Gamer, the subject of their biggest mistakes was raised and it resulted in some fascinating answers — particularly when it comes to Valve’s past on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
“PS3, so far. The way we’ve dealt with those customers so far, and the product that they have, and the lack of updates on the 360 for [Team Fortress 2] is also a total failure,” said project manager Erik Johnson, reflecting on Valve’s mistakes. “Those are the ones that sting the worst because it got all the way through to customers. It’s like a bug. If you fix a bug before it ever ships, it’s pretty cheap. If you ship it and then fix it, it’s really expensive. Those ones are really bad.”
Things are going better on the PS3, though, as Valve boss Gabe Newell says they’re pleased with their newly repaired relationship with Sony. “That’s why we’re really happy with the current situation with the PS3…We’re solving it now in a way that is going to work for our customers, rather than assuming something is going to emerge later that will allow us to fix this,” Newell said.