We already heard from Valve head Gabe Newell last week that the company would be revealing some news about its long-rumored efforts to bring Steam to a wider audience, including (possibly) news about the (supposed) SteamBox console. Now there’s a cryptic email from Valve PR head Doug Lombardi, which reads as follows:
“Valve – Three announcements coming next week”
As Gabe mentioned a few days ago, we will be talking next week about the steps we’re taking to make Steam more accessible on televisions and in the living room. Specifically, we have three announcements to make beginning with the first one on Monday morning. Below is the URL where we’ll post the information, so please bookmark this address and check back at the start of the week. Thanks for your interest, and as always, ping me with questions.
http://steampowered.com/livingroom.
That’s all Lombardi had to say on the subject. Typically, a major announcement from a publisher or manufacturer would mean the media getting some information ahead of time (under embargo) so that articles could be prepared in advance. Key outlets might even be given exclusive interviews, photos or videos about the new products. It seems quite odd to merely throw this out to the media, without even a specific time, and expect excellent coverage. The media and the world will be getting the info at the same time . . . whatever time that may turn out to be.
Usually you’d see a carefully crafted, laudatory press release complete with quotes from the CEO or other key executives about how wonderful the product is, how important it is, and why it’s going to have a huge impact and make a ton of money. Perhaps Valve feels they don’t need to say all that, and the product will speak for itself. Maybe that’s true enough, but heading into an exceptionally crowded and noisy marketplace for the fall you would expect more effort to stand out.
It will be interesting to see just how important or impressive these new announcements are, whenever they appear.
