Fan-favourite game developer Valve has said that it moved into the esports space as it wanted to pick and solve "interesting problems."

That's according to Edge magazine's 334th issue – as reported by The Loadout – in which Valve CEO and founder Gabe Newell said that the firm veered away from single-play experiences as it would have more control by going elsewhere. The exec also said that it's glad to be back in this space again.

We think esports is great, we love it, it’s growing super-fast – and these things take a long time,” Newell said.

“People have seen us sort of step away from immersive single-player experiences for a while, and a lot of that was that we saw more tractable experiences elsewhere. I mean, a typical gaming company would just keep cranking out sequel after sequel – but the reason people value Valve is that we’re supposed to be the ones picking interesting problems and solving them. It’s super exciting to be back in that space.”

Following the launch of Portal 2 in 2011, Valve appears to have moved away from narrative experiences with the rollout of MOBA Dota 2 in 2013. The firm has started making more single-player experiences again, such as the recently-released VR title Half-Life: Alyx.

Valve is also working on a new version of its collectable card game Artifact, which launched in November 2018.