JJ Abrams "not looking to make movies in the game space"

Star Trek and newly chosen Star Wars director JJ Abrams wants to make real games, not movies posing as games, through a new partnership with Valve.

Speaking to Gamasutra, Abrams said he's aware of the wide gap between movies and games, and doesn't want to waste the potential of the medium by trying to push movie processes on it.

"One of the things that's really appealing about working with Valve is that they've got great taste, and that we will have the ability to work with people and not impose what we do on them," he said.

"We're not looking to make movies in the game space. We're looking to make great games that take the strengths of what we know - characters, world-building, creating a sense of emotional connection - and trying ways to try to exploit that in the gaming space, which is a very different animal than movies and TV."

Abrams said he's seen plenty of examples of movies that don't quite make it because they ought to have been developed as TV shows, and vice versa, and that's the kind of situation he wants to avoid.

The Alias creator announced a partnership between Valve and his production company, Bad Robot, during a DICE 2013 keynote shared with Gabe Newell. In addition to these unrevealed game ideas, Abrams intends to helm Half-life and Portal movies.