Skip to main content

Microsoft bolsters its PC gaming cred with Steam’s former business maestro

steams former director of business development joins microsoft games for windows wallpaper 3 by thewax
Image used with permission by copyright holder

After suddenly leaving Valve after eight years, Steam’s former director of business development, Jason Holtman, has found a new home at Microsoft. Holtman will focus on “PC Gaming and Entertainment strategy.”

holtman“Yes, I have joined Microsoft where I will be focusing on making Windows a great platform for gaming and interactive entertainment,” Holtman confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz. “I think there is a lot of opportunity for Microsoft to deliver the games and entertainment customers want and to work with developers to make that happen, so I’m excited to be here.”

While at Valve, Holtman was in charge of interacting with developers that distributed games via Steam. During his eight year stint, he was a major proponent of digital distribution, and is credited for brokering many of the deals between Valve and third-party developers like EA and Activision, in order to bring their games to the Steam service. He was also a champion of smaller developers and publishers, and helped encourage the growth of indie games via Steam.

Although neither Holtman nor Microsoft have gone into specifics about the former lawyer’s new job at Microsoft, his title does specifically state that he will be working with PC gaming.

The Games for Windows Live service has been struggling for years now, and is generally viewed as an inferior service compared to that of competitors like Steam. Holtman should be able to provide an immediate boost to Microsoft, but PC gaming may just one part of Microsoft’s strategy.

Microsoft has made no secret of its desire to make all of its products connect, so the PC gaming and console gaming digital distribution models are likely to be linked. The Xbox One uses architecture that is similar to a PC, and the idea of improving the online distribution for the new console and making it more like Steam is intriguing.

Holtman left Steam back in February, following the firing of hardware engineer Jeri Ellsworth. No reason was given for Ellsworth’s departure, but she did confirm that she was fired. Nine others were removed from Valve’s employee list at the same time, with no explanation. Shortly after the departures, Holtman announced that he was leaving Valve. Co-founder and managing director Gabe Newell stated that Valve’s priorities were in no way changing, but beyond that he refused to comment on personnel matters. We have contacted Valve for comment, and will update the post as necessary.

Editors' Recommendations

Ryan Fleming
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…
PC Game Pass will now tell you how long it takes to beat games on the service
Microsoft Edge gaming updates on screen in a room.

Microsoft is integrating data from the website How Long To Beat into Game Pass. The company announced its partnership with the IGN-owned website Wednesday, saying it will update the Xbox app on Windows to give Game Pass subscribers time estimates on the game details pages for most of the service's titles on PC.

How Long To Beat is a community-driven website that specializes in calculating the amount of time it takes to play through games, depending on your playstyle. If you just want to get through the main story for Death Stranding, for example, it will take you 40 hours to see the credits roll. If you're a completionist and want to finish the main story, side quests, and unlock every single achievement the game has to offer, it will take you 113 hours (which is a little less than five days) to achieve 100% completion.

Read more
Goat Simulator 3’s sandbox is 18 times larger than its predecessor’s
Goats fall from the sky.

It takes more than just a bit of confidence for a game as silly as Goat Simulator to casually jump from its first installment all the way to a second sequel. As such, it’s safe to conclude the nonexistent Goat Simulator 2 was, indeed, all the friends we licked along the way. Still, we’re looking forward to Goat Simulator 3, which is, as the name would suggest, all about goats -- and the wacky things they do when given gravity beams and a license to chill.

Goat Simulator 3 - Announcement Trailer

Read more
Why I sold my gaming laptop to buy a Steam Deck
A Steam Deck sitting on top of a PC.

After waiting for almost a year, I finally have a Steam Deck. I've been excited about this device since Valve first announced it, and although the Steam Deck has some problems, I love using Valve's handheld gaming PC. I love it so much, in fact, that the Steam Deck is replacing my Razer Blade 15 -- a gaming laptop that costs over four times as much.

I won't pretend like the Steam Deck is as powerful as a proper gaming laptop, or that it will kill gaming laptops overall. Calm down. But for me, I can't find a reason to open the lid on my Blade now that the Steam Deck is in my hands. Here's why.
Less powerful, more practical

Read more