Portal Will Come To Android Via Nvidia And Shield

Portal, the now-classic first-person puzzle game from Valve, will finally get an Android port thanks to Nvidia, the company announced today (via Verge). It’s going to be a full port spearheaded by Nvidia, optimized for the Shield Android-powered game console, and while there’s no timeline on its launch, it is “coming soon” so expect it in 2014 at least.

The game is being ported by Nvidia, not Valve, which is why it’s going to launch at first for Tegra-powered devices built on Google’s mobile OS, but it won’t necessarily always be that way; Nvidia says it’s not going to be locked to the Tegra in any essential way, and could make its way to the general device pool further on down the road.

Valve is touting its new Tegra K1 mobile processor, which makes it easier to port games from PC to Android without sacrificing much in terms of graphics and gameplay, but this is designed for the existing crop of Shield and other Tegra 4 devices, so don’t worry about not being able to cozy up to that Companion Cube with your current-gen hardware.

Video game companies should know that taking my favorite games from years past and making them work with my newer gadgets is the best way to separate me from my money, just FYI.