Valve: MS needs to be "comfortable" in opening up Xbox Live

Valve had Gabe Newell has said that the company still wants to bring Steamworks to Xbox Live, but admitted that Microsoft needs to relax the rules on what publishers can and can't do with the service.

Newell told Eurogamer at gamescom that bringing Steamworks to 360 users was something "we'd really like to be able to do," citing the success it had in implementing the tools into the more open PSN with the release of Portal 2, which included cross-platform PC/Mac and PS3 play, cloud support and Steam achievements that were unlocked via the PC version or by getting trophies in the PS3 version.

"We certainly can deliver a lot of value to customers to the degree to which we have those capabilities. With the PS3 obviously we made a lot more progress with that," he said when asked if he'd like to see Steamworks implemented for the PSN and XBL versions of Counter Strike: Global Offensive.

"The PS3 customers of Portal 2 are going to start to see the benefits of that with Portal 2 DLC coming out in September. So we'd really like to be able to do that for Xbox customers as well."

He added: "The main thing is having Microsoft get comfortable with it and let us do it. Right now, there's a huge amount of updates and free content we've been able to deliver to people who have The Orange Box that we haven't been able to deliver to the Xbox because of the restrictions that have been placed on us on Xbox Live.

"We'd love to see those relaxed. Other developers on the PS3 are starting to benefit from Sony's more open approach. Hopefully that will help Microsoft see that's a good strategy for making customers happy, that the barbarians won't tear down the walls of Xbox and turn it into some chaotic wasteland."

Counter Strike: Global Offensive launches next year for PS3, 360 and PC.