There were days in the past when Valve Software didn't have a kind thing to say about the PlayStation 3. Sony's console has a quite different setup for developers compared to the more PC-like Xbox 360, which could have been one of the causes.
Either way, Valve looked like it was going to stay as far away from the PS3 as it could – but then Gabe Newell took to the stage at Sony's E3 and told everyone that the PlayStation 3 would have the best version of the game possible on consoles.
That was a considerable change of tune. Then at Gamescom, Valve told the media more nice things about Sony's machine, and that the developer wanted to make things right in light of how bad the Orange Box port was for PS3 gamers.
"PS3 is incredibly important to us," said project manager Erik Johnson to CVG. "We don't feel that the PS3 users had the Valve experience that we like to deliver.
"So it that case it's incredibly important to us; we kind of fix everything wrong in the products that we delivered before for the PS3, which we thought were good but weren't quite the Valve experience."
Johnson added that Valve currently employs a number of PS3 veterans to work on Portal 2 on PS3.
Part of what will make the PS3 version better than the Xbox 360 version is the integration of Steamworks. The more open nature of Sony's platform allows for Steamworks, while Microsoft likely wants to keep things under control on Xbox Live.
Portal 2 launches on February 9, 2011.
