Valve co-founder Gabe Newell thinks that players controlling games with their minds is coming right around the corner, and it's hard to say if that's fascinating or terrifying. Since its inception, his studio has done much to pioneer what gaming is today and what it might yet become, but it's nevertheless hard to believe that the brilliant innovator's prediction will come true anytime soon.
Of course, the only recent development to come out of Valve that most players care about is the fact that they've resumed actually making games again. True to Newell's forward-looking priorities, the company generally follows a rule of only working on in-house projects when they're driven by emerging technologies, and next week's VR must-own Half-Life: Alyx is proof that Valve isn't deviating from that approach. VR may not seem anywhere as far-fetched as brainwave-input gaming now, but it's worth remembering that VR sounded like an over-priced gimmick a decade ago. Since, Valve, HTC, and Oculus have made strides to prove that it was neither a fad nor unattainable in the intervening years, so it's worth listening when Newell says that more is possible for the medium.
When asked about what his typical day looks like these days in an IGN interview, Newell's answer had next to nothing to do with Half-Life: Alyx or his notorious inability to count to three. Rather, he shared that he's been "spending a lot of time" behind the scenes figuring out how to blend gaming with cutting edge tech based on a "bunch of research that occurred a while ago on brain-computer interfaces." Newell later clarified that statement, asserting, "We're way closer to The Matrix than people realise." Although he seems to acknowledge the dystopian possibilities of "how weird the post-brain computer interface world is going to be," Newell remains optimistic that his envisioned future will "have a huge impact" on how interactive media is created and experienced.
To some, that may sound like a load of nonsense from a rich guy with way too much time on his hands. However, Newell maintained his usual air of pragmatism when admitting, "I think it's one of those things where we're going to learn a lot as we progress," recognizing that mastering the human brain will be "ridiculously hard" in some respects but "ridiculously easy" in some ways he claims to have already been reliably proven. If Newell's efforts pay off, the results could elevate the gaming medium financially and artistically to heights never before thought possible. Half-Life: Alyx has Valve Indexes flying off the shelves, and it can only be imagined how equally well-tailored experiences would sell and inspire if VR was taken to its logical extreme.
Ultimately, Gabe Newell's dreams of mind-powered gaming may hinge on Half-Life: Alyx's success not only in the court of public opinion, but also in the sales department, where it's been issued a potentially grave threat by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Valve has slowly fallen out of the good graces of many since shifting its focus to Steam and service-based games, but regaining its customers' trust may allow it to reclaim a more positive - and perhaps a more literal - place in their minds moving forward.
Source: IGN, IGN/Twitter