Valve's former director of business development, Jason Holtman, is now employed by Microsoft, where he will be working on PC gaming and entertainment strategy, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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"Yes, I have joined Microsoft where I will be focusing on making Windows a great platform for gaming and interactive entertainment," he confirmed in a statement sent 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."Holtman, who worked at Valve for nearly eight years until parting ways with the company at the same time a number of its employees were laid off in February, is often credited as being a key player in the overwhelming success of Steam, the company's digital distribution platform. He was a major proponent of digital distribution and helped to champion things like the summer sales that have helped to grow Steam's user base.The reason for Holtman's departure from Valve remains unknown. At the time of the layoffs, the amount of speculation going on prompted co-founder Gabe Newell to issue a statement, although it failed to provide any indication for the reasoning behind the moves. "We're not going to discuss why anyone in particular is or isn't working here," Newell said in February.Holtman's move to Microsoft could be indicative of plans to put more of an emphasis on PC gaming, an area that has been underserved by the company. It's made some attempts in the past, launching Games for Windows Live and developing PC exclusives like Age of Empires Online and Microsoft Flight, but these projects haven't panned out.Support for both of those games came to a halt . Games for Windows Live, meanwhile, is routinely criticized by gamers for a variety of reasons, and the gap between it and Steam has only grown . The supposed PC gaming push coming with Windows 8 has yet to materialize in any substantial way, and the Games for Windows Marketplace continues to call a section of Xbox.com its home on the web.Former Microsoft executive Joachim Kempin stated earlier this year that Microsoft should be focusing on PCs rather than consoles . While it's clear the company is intent on pushing the Xbox One as hard as it can, perhaps Holtman will help to make Microsoft a more prominent player in the PC gaming space.

Chris Pereira is a freelance writer who spends his spare time agonizing over the final seasons of The X-Files. Check out what he's saying on Twitter and follow him on IGN