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Sony says it "can't afford" to ignore Valve

UK managing director Fergal Gara says PlayStation maker not rattled by Valve's recent announcements, but will keep an eye on goings-on at Half-Life studio.

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Last week, Valve announced SteamOS, Steam Machines, and a Steam Controller. None of these announcements have rattled Sony, but that doesn't mean the PlayStation maker isn't keeping an eye on what the Half-Life studio is up to.

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Speaking with Eurogamer, Sony United Kingdom managing director Fergal Gara labelled Valve's announcements as potentially "disruptive technologies." He said it is important for Sony not only to keep tabs on Valve, but also other companies as well.

"In this market you've always got to expect some broadside disruptive technologies to come along, and it seems like a potentially good example of that," Gara said. "I haven't had a chance to study it in much detail. What I would say is, I don't think anything about it is significantly rattling our confidence at this point in time and what we're doing as PlayStation. We have to keep an eye on Valve and many other competitors."

"We can't afford to ignore it. Steam is arguably the pre-eminent digital download service for gaming. So we'll watch it," he added.

Sony is not the only platform holder keeping an eye on Valve's announcements. Microsoft corporate vice president Phil Harrison said last week that the Xbox maker is watching what Valve does "with great interest."

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