Valve: We don’t see big bad and evil side of Microsoft

[Bodhesatva]

This isn't the first time we've heard this. It sounds to me like many studios (including Valve) just feel like Microsoft is friendly and approachable. They also went out of their way to make sure the transition from PC to 360 was painless for developers (which helps explain why so many big name PC Devs have 360 games that aren't on PS3, ex: Valve, Epic and Bioware), designed the system in part in accordance with Epic's wishes, and of course are free spending with comarketing deals and publishing contracts and such. Yes, there are moneyhats (Bioshock). But I think people understimate how effective Microsoft seems to be with third party relations more generally.