A World Without Borders

With the recent announcement by Valve that Steam will soon be available on both iOS and Android devices, we are moving a step further into a gaming world where platform seems to matter less and less. Granted that as of now, this Steam app only exists for purchasing Steam games for PC/Mac on the go and keeping in touch with the community while on the move, it’s not yet the be all end all app to see gaming platforms ceasing to matter all together, but it is an indicator that this might indeed be the case at some point in time.

Remember that when Portal 2 was released, it came with a Steam copy for anyone who picked up the Playstation 3 version, giving the customer two copies of the game for the price of one. While this wasn’t yet the watershed moment where buying a copy on any platform would grant the customer access to copies on any one platform available, it marked a noteworthy moment none the less.

There are many signs pointing to a softening of platform barriers.

A few days ago, we saw the release of a new Humble Indie Bundle, and this is where things get interesting. This particular bundle—while being quite small in comparison to previous ones—grants the customer access not only to PC copies of the indie games included, but also to copies of the games on Android devices. Combine this with the advent of Steam app and the Humble Bundles usually coming with games that can be activated on Steam, it’s not too far a conclusion to say that at some point in the future we might just see a lot more cross platform purchases just like that.

Disregarding all the licensing hell that surrounds a lot of titles, this is a pretty promising picture, especially for the indie scene. Portable devices are a huge front for indie games, and with Steam now having quite a respectable library of such games—many of which are indeed available on PC as well as on mobile operating systems—this could hugely benefit both players and indie developers.

There are many signs pointing to a softening of platform barriers. With OnLive we see an upcoming platform that bridges all boundaries of PC and console. Sure, the problem for console games is that the platform holders usually re-finance the sheer hardware cost of the devices through the games sold on each platform, but it might just be that this marketing and financing model needs to be reconsidered and might be on the way out given the trends that are at hand.

Maybe this is a side effect of the long console lifecycle as well. However with the big consoles seeing less and less exclusive material, newcomers will have a hard time deciding for either one of the “big ones”. It’s a given that Nintendo is in a special place here, since the Wii games just aren’t compatible with other platforms—and vice versa, so they’re out of the picture—for now anyway.

But both Microsoft and Sony have a hard time distinguishing their platforms from one another. The PS3 has more raw power under the hood, while being harder to program for. The Xbox has a much more stable online infrastructure. The decision for one of these two isn’t easy, and it gets worse when trying to base it on games alone. There are just too few truly exclusive titles left—and funny enough it seems it’s Sony who got the upper hand in that field now.

Then again, there is the economic side of things. Of course any publisher would rather sell a game three times than selling one copy that can be used on any platform. So it might just be a wet dream to see the Portal 2 model becoming an example. With indie games however it’s a slightly different picture, especially when Steam comes into play. If Steam at some point becomes a viable platform for games on mobile devices—which could be problematic on iOS given Apple’s aggressive stance—we might just experience indie nirvana. I for one, am very much hoping we do.