UPDATE: Google Buying Video Game Maker Valve? No. (GOOG)

UPDATE: Valve tells MTV's Multiplayer video game blog that the rumors are a "complete fabrication." That's what we thought.

Earlier: Google is reportedly minutes away from buying video game maker Valve, most famous for the Half-Life and Counter-Strike games, the Inquirer reports.

The rumors are unconfirmed and Google has already declined to comment, saying that they’re just that -- “rumor and speculation.”

Google reportedly isn’t after Valve’s game development. They’re after Valve’s game distribution platform, Steam. Steam is often described as one of the best and easiest content distribution platforms on the web.

But the rumor rings false to us. Google already distributes content throughout the Internet, and they could probably develop an advanced solution on their own, rather than buying a game company and then having to figure out what to do with its game development business.

Google has made some forays into content, but always as a distributor. (Think: YouTube, Knol, Google News.) So we definitely don’t think they would want to keep the game developers on staff.

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