In a recent interview at E3, Valve Software’s Erik Johnson stated that the PS3 port of The Orange Box was done “mostly” by EA. So if it was only “mostly” done by EA, does that mean that Valve actually had a hand in making a game they consistently denied being a part of? Why does that even matter?

The only reason this could be a big deal is because Gabe Newell has always been down on the PS3, even going so far as to call it “a waste of everyone’s time.” Valve has always denied having a hand in the PS3 port, placing all of the blame for The Orange Box’s issues squarely on EA’s shoulders.  If Valve did, in fact, help make the Orange Box suck-fest, it would certainly make them look like a bunch of dicks.

There is a very vocal member of the GameTrailers forums, shhhoff, that has gone to great lengths to compile a list of “evidence” to support the claim that Valve worked on this game. The thing is Valve did work on the game — they fucking developed it! They did not, however, work on the port of the game to the PS3, or so they’ve said for the past 10 months.

Now Valve’s Erik Johnson says, “Well, EA handled most of the PS3, so I don’t have a lot of insight into that — they did most of the work”. The use of the word “most” is supposedly an indicator that not all of the work was done by EA.  The conspiracy theorists out there fail to realize that EA has a history of farming out it’s work, and have taken that to mean that at least some of it must have been done by Valve.

So shhhoff would like you to believe.  The reason I don’t buy it is because I’m a logical person.  Shhhoff’s blog is called “Gabe Newell – the fat princess” and is filled with animated gifs making fun of the Valve co-founder.  He even has a petition for a “real” patch to fix the game, which he is apparently very upset with.  His efforts reek of fanboyism, even if the PS3’s Orange Box does, in fact, still need some attention.

Of course, it’s easy to take that comment to mean whatever you want. It’s easy to assume that since Erik Johnson said “most” that he inadvertently spilled the beans on Valve’s involvement. I, personally, don’t think he said anything incriminating, but I’m interested to see how everyone else decides to spin his words.

Thanks to Mike for the tip.