In one of the most unlikely appearances made at the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Gabe Newell, the founder of Valve Software and a vociferous critic of the E3 platform, stepped onstage to announce Portal 2. With Sony Computer Entertainment showing off a debut trailer of the game, Newell revealed that the game will initially hit the PlayStation 3 next year; with PC and Xbox 360 versions to be released subsequently.

Terming the PS3 version of Portal 2 as “the best console version of the game,” Newell also disclosed that Valve intends off-loading the port of its blockbuster compilation, the Orange Box, to its publisher, Electronic Arts, instead of dealing with PS3 development kits.

The apparent reason behind Newell’s crowning of Portal 2 for the PS3 is that the version for the Sony console will be supported by the 2008-released free toolset ‘Steamworks’ which enables developers to integrate Steam content delivery service’s support into their games.

In addition, Steamworks will allow for Portal 2 downloadable content, auto-updates, and community support directly from Valve – a notable plus that will likely not be a feature of the 360 version of the game.

In a statement released after the event, Newell praised Sony Computer Entertainment for proving that the PS3 is “the most open platform of all the current generation consoles and has worked extremely hard to make the platform the most desirable for consumers and developers.”