Well, the PS3 version of Portal 2 is coming with Steamworks features, which is not quite the same thing. Using your Steam friends list, in-game chat, possibly cross-plaftorm play. No mention of other titles, or autoupdating (which would potentially bypass Sony's QA).Anery (in Dreamcast classics thread) wrote:now that steam is coming to PS3
It would be pretty amazing if Steam did get integrated into the PS3, especially if that meant you would collectively own all the the games you had on both systems (where available) when you purchased one, but that's rather unlikely.
While what is effectively Steam's DRM could be publishers answer to hacked PS3s and the "problem" of second-hand game sales, I'd be surprised to see anyone but Valve giving anything back in terms of "buy one platform, get them all" deals, or indeed using it at all.
Some indie outfits might see it as a good way to widen their audience, but the big guys who would be manufacturing the CDs anyway would just see it as Valve taking a cut of their profits.
While having automatic updates and linking with your Steam friends would provide benefits to gamers, it doesn't offer much to a third-party publisher, the former isn't restricted in the way XBL games are and the latter (which is all they're talking about doing at the moment) is pretty similar to the inbuilt PS3's friends system, crap though that is. Some might even be angry if Steamworks were to start taking over, as it would devalue games which didn't support it.
I'd love to see something which unifies all your profiles, friends lists and achievements across all systems, even if that was only to chat rather than play. While consoles and PCs have their different selling points, to my mind it counts against them all that they don't work with one another. I suspect it won't change soon.
I'm also sick of buying games twice, once (like Mass Effect, Bumout Paradise, Red Dead) when they first come out on console, then again when they finally come out on PC and I have people to play the online bit with. That's even more unlikely to change, though honestly few games merit it.