Valve is getting back into game production after several years of concentrating on running Steam. But there’s no word on completing any trilogies.
The first will be Artifact, a virtual card game themed around the Defense of the Ancients world. While promoting the game, Valve president Gabe Newell said “Artifact is the first of several games that are going to be coming from us.”
He didn’t give specific numbers, but the announcement appears to confirm rumors Valve has been working on at least one traditional single player game and three titles that use virtual reality. Newell also hinted that Valve might release new hardware (such as VR headsets) at the same time as new games tailored to that hardware.
PC Gamer has a great rundown on Artifact. One of the most notable points is that while players can buy and collect cards to build a deck, there’ll be a trading mechanism. In theory players could even sell their collection to one another for cash.
Newell also stressed that although hunting for rarer cards will be part of the experience, there won’t be a close connection between a card’s rarity and its power in the game, removing what he calls the “pay-to-win” mechanism. Some of the revenue from the top-up packs will be used for cash prizes in tournaments.
