The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
SteamWorks - Valve's latest move towards making history
Centipeed
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
The digital distribution system is proving extremely successful for Valve. Given that they have an electronic platform through which to sell games, they can (And do) also use that platform for offering services around those games, such as finding multiplayer games to join, stat tracking, communicating with friends who have the same games, voice chat etc.
So now Valve are offering SteamWorks, a suite that allows developers to implement any and all of these features so that their game can make use of Steam's offered advantages.
An important aspect of this suite is that it allows you to sell your game however you wish. Steam merely acts as a medium through which to activate the game, similar to the required activation for games that you pre-load or buy on disk. This provides obvious benefits in terms of piracy.
The most fantastic feature is the price, which is set at nil. It's easy enough to argue that this move is simply Valve moving towards being the pre-dominant face of digital distribution, but until they start doing something wrong, I can't see a problem with that. The very real benefit of this suite is that suddenly independent game developers have a method by which they can implement stat tracking, multiplayer game matchmaking, voice chat, social networking and a whole host of other features in a much easier and less costly manner than if they tried to do it all themselves.
So, the reason I decided to start a new thread rather than post this in the Steam/Source thread: Is this Valve's first attempt at world domination, or are they being truly benevolent and attempting to further the cause of digital distribution by allowing anyone to take advantage of it no matter their position in the market?
So now Valve are offering SteamWorks, a suite that allows developers to implement any and all of these features so that their game can make use of Steam's offered advantages.
An important aspect of this suite is that it allows you to sell your game however you wish. Steam merely acts as a medium through which to activate the game, similar to the required activation for games that you pre-load or buy on disk. This provides obvious benefits in terms of piracy.
The most fantastic feature is the price, which is set at nil. It's easy enough to argue that this move is simply Valve moving towards being the pre-dominant face of digital distribution, but until they start doing something wrong, I can't see a problem with that. The very real benefit of this suite is that suddenly independent game developers have a method by which they can implement stat tracking, multiplayer game matchmaking, voice chat, social networking and a whole host of other features in a much easier and less costly manner than if they tried to do it all themselves.
So, the reason I decided to start a new thread rather than post this in the Steam/Source thread: Is this Valve's first attempt at world domination, or are they being truly benevolent and attempting to further the cause of digital distribution by allowing anyone to take advantage of it no matter their position in the market?
Centipeed on
0
Posts
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
With Source not seen as a 'premier' game engine anymore this seems like a reactionary move to try and extend the lifespan on the engine and the platform.
Yeah, I kinda have to agree here.
Well, you both get an A+ for "Contribution to the discussion". By which I mean an F-. If you happen to live in a country that is different from mine and don't understand my easily understandable grading system, I'm saying that you've failed.
Or, in other words: Please explain why it's fucking ridiculous.
Their point, I think, or at least it should be, is that Valve is nice. But Valve is also a business. they would absolutely not do this 'out of the goodness of their hearts'. They are getting paid somewhere. You just have to find out where.
One Hand, World Domination.
Other Hand, True Benevolence.
The post or trying to get people to talk about SteamWorks isn't ridiculous, but that part is. I'm sure the Valve people are nice guys, but as a business everything they do is dictated by what will or won't generate revenue. I understand that this system is "free" to companies interested, but it gets more people to download Steam due to a larger variety of titles and ultimately it's a business move.
That's why your last sentence comes off as a little ridiculous.
Plus you know, online activation and control over your ability to use that program, especially if you lose net access. Dunno how it is now but Half Life 2 wanted me to log onto Steam first all the time.
-Is this for indie developers (read: anyone) or is it for established, "real" development/publishing companies. If I am developing an independent game with some friends and by some act of Allah it becomes good enough to sell, can we just call up Valve and be all like "sign us up"?
-Does this get your game sold via the Steam store itself or not?
As far as I could tell, it's for anyone. It's being "freely offered", which doesn't strike me as something they'd give only to established high end development studios.
Also, this only lets you integrate Steam services with your game. It doesn't mean that it gets sold through Steam. That wouldn't be free. You control the sale of your product entirely independently of Valve.
As for digital distribution, Galactic Civilizations 2 could be bought offline but if you want the expansion packs you had to go online. Same for a lot of other great games, but more specifically, independent games.
I think this move goes to support the idea of whoever said it earlier that Valve is doing this to allow people to buy indie games on their system and use that as a means to increase users and thereby increase the number of sales they get on steam.
For example, John Doe likes ccg games and playing them with his friends. The game mentioned on the front of PA this morning gets upgraded to be bought on steam and multiplay on steam. John Doe buys said game and has fun playing it and playing with his friends on steam and searching for servers while checking his email and not having too wait too long as he switches between steam and Firefox. playing on steam for a while, he wonders what this TF2 game is like and gives it a go and boom! he is king medic. He also feels like exploring other game and searches the store for more things he likes and in the end he is a happy gamer and steam has let him buy the games he likes and the games he didnt know he liked.
This story can go in reverse with a person buying team fortress 2 and feeling like browsing the steam store and finding an indie game giving it a go and being surprised with the joy in his buy, all thanks to steam. This move has the possibility of allowing valve to market their games to newer users and also allows indie game developers to advertise and sell to larger markets. Making it steamworks free breaks down barriers to this process by making it a win win situation and since they make money if the developers make money, no reason to charge extra.
BTW, when I first saw this thread, I thought it was talking about Steamworks, a new FPS from valve with a steampunk theme.
That, of course, makes sense. So does Royce's post. I guess we won't know until they elaborate more on the site, but I sent an email to the contact they gave. If I get any tasty info I'll let PA know.
It still would require Steam to be running on the computer, and Valve advertises and sells games through Steam. Getting Steam on as many computers as possible and getting more people involved with it equates to more money for Valve. They're not doing this out of charity. This is just a way to expand their market and look amicable at the same time.
I wouldn't be surprised if selling your game on the Steam store itself involves giving Valve a cut. Not that that's unreasonable.
Someone needs to 'shop up a new "prints money" meme.
Oh yes, selling it in the store itself would, I'm quite sure. But I thought this had to do with any game being able to use it no matter how they sell it (store or not). Which means Valve pretty much doesn't necessarily get anything. Either way, they get what's bought off of Steam, like Microsoft gets what's bought off of Xbox Live. So.... yeah, this still makes Live look even cruddier in my eyes.
'course, there really isn't a 'premier' game engine for modding anymore, what with Crysis and UT3 selling precisely $crap.
And the premier engine I would have to state at the moment is the unreal 3 engine, although if you looked at the stats, I would probably say that in development right now, both engines probably stack up equally. (postal 3, ep 3(is 4 started yet?), L4D come to mind for source...
This has nothing to do with Source; you can use Steamworks without having anything to do with Valve's engine.
They may just wait for it to pick up, ahem, steam, before they start charging. I'd imagine if they did, though, that it still wouldn't be a lot of money.
Take that, Europe and Australia!
Which is a pity, because those are all the reasons I was excited about it. But hey, its still good news for PC gaming.
Yeah, because that stuff costs Valve money.
I don't really see what this has to do with Source, but yes, It'll probably help make Steam even more popular.
Sure, they are set to benefit from it. Everything everyone does, practically, is done so that the person doing it is set to benefit. But the benefit to game developers versus the benefit to Valve seems a little bit weighted toward the former here.
And there's no doubt that we see companies doing benevolent things. Google are a good example of making things free. And yes, I know that they do it because they can then advertise on whatever they make free, but it's still not intrusive and it's still benevolent, at least from where I'm standing. Which is all that really matters (The consumer perspective).
Really, I don't get what all the complaining is about. Valve is taking steps to make Steam ubiquitous and more of a de-facto standard. If a game is released that's compatible with Steam features but isn't published directly on Steam, people are going to be asking why not. Heck even the developers will probably be asking why not, If only for the simple reason that they've already implemented this functionality, and Digital Distribution affords them a larger cut than publishing in brick-and-mortar stores.
@ Mumblyfish: If those developers were intent on restricting sales by region, they'd be doing it beforehand, only on the physical format. It's not Valve's choice when developers choose to charge crazy amounts depending on region (something which a lot of the developers publishing via Steam at the moment simply don't do).
This + your avatar = win
or is it won? past tense and all. Am I doing this right?;-)
...suggesting that you can if you want. Choice is good. Go valve.
I like this already
I also like his take on piracy:
What? your customers aren't criminals? Did you miss a class in B-school or something?
also:
He's got me pegged. And, at this point, if "give it away" means "to Bioware and PopCap Games, sorry Monolithic_Dome," I am going to burn the state of washington to the ground.
By getting all these different companies to sell through steam, it's drawing more and more eyes towards their marketplace, resulting in more potential sales of their software?
Having used Steam exclusively for nearly two years now I'm totally sold on Digital Distribution. I see it as the future of PC gaming.