The Inquirer reported earlier today that "well placed sources" had told them that Google was going to buy Valve in order to get their hands on the game company's successful digital distribution tool Steam. It seems like those well placed sources weren't all that well placed, even though the idea seemed pretty logical. Gaming superblog Kotaku contacted Doug Lombardi at Valve and asked him about the supposed deal and was told that the whole thing was nothing but a rumor.
For many, that will probably be a relief. Valve have earlier stated that they could see themselves being bought by a powerful company, but obviously that company is not Google (unless Lombardi is lying to cover something up...come on, conspiracy nutters, I know there's a lot of you in the gaming industry).
Personally, I can't help being a bit disappointed. Yes, Google is super powerful and will conquer the world within the next decade or so considering the pace of their expansion, but I am a complete Google junkie. I use Gmail for all my mail needs, Google Reader for my RSS-subs, Google Docs for all my writing (including this)...so the thought of downloading and buying games from the Internet giant didn't seem like such a bad idea when I first heard this rumor.
Oh, God - what have I become? Yet another slave to the capitalist Gods of the Internet. And I'm loving it. Go Google!