2K Partners with Steam

[Thunderfall]

2K Games announced today that it has signed a deal to deliver some titles over Valve's Steam digital distribution system. The first batch of games, which are due later this week, will include Civilization III, Civilization IV, Sid Meier's Pirates!, and Shattered Union.

"We are excited to add Valve to our roster of partners in the digital distribution area," said Paul Crockett, Strategic Sales and Licensing, 2K. "Being included in their vast network will assist us in expanding the reach of our products to a much larger audience."

 

[GarretSidzaka]

holy crap! this is pretty big. i thought it could happen, but i never really believed they would do it!

 

[raz0]

So long as it never becomes mandatory, even for new Sid Meier titles. The day that happens, is the day I played my last Sid Meier game. :'(

 

[obe]

as a counterstrike and css player, this is just plain bad news

whenever steam makes a mistake (which is often btw), they take ages to fix it, and it invariably means that you cant play the game u've paid money for until they do.

Check out steams terms & conditions.. they are hilarious, but if u want to play games on their network, u have no choice. "If anything goes wrong, we are not responsible in any way, and u have to lump it" is essentially what it says :/

 

[Newbunkle]

I will never ever buy a Sid Meier title through Steam. Even he's not worth that trouble. Signing onto the net to play a single player mode? Hah, forget it.

 

[Adam7Eight]

Terrible news.

 

[Truronian]

I have to say, if Civ5 only came out on Steam, I would still buy it. Others probably wouldn't though. Can't say this is particularly upbeat news...

 

[Murky]

On the bright side, it should mean that you won't need a CD in the drive to play those games if you get them through Steam.

 

[Artosoft]

But we still can buy civ4 or other sid meier game outside valve right? So no difference IMHO.

Regards,
Arto.

 

[2K_jason]

There is no downside here...several games are being sold on Steam, but there are no plans to sell titles exclusively through Steam. Our games have been available from other download services (Direct2Drive, etc) and this is just another one of those.

Also, let's clear something up right here, because it's a common misconception with Steam: you do not need to have an internet connection to play games purchased over Steam!

You need an internet connection to unlock games, and you'll need it to play any multiplayer games (naturally), but if all you want to do is play a single player game of Civ 3 or 4, you will not need to be connected to the internet. Steam has an offline mode that will let you access any previously downloaded and unlocked games.

One thing you can do with Steam (that's really cool) is put the same game on multiple machines. So if you have Civ IV at home and want it on your laptop, install steam, log in and download it to that PC. Then you can take it with you wherever you go and not lug the disc around with you.

Like I said, no negatives. We're not requiring Steam, it's just another way to buy these games.

 

[GarretSidzaka]

that does have its upsides...

is it to early to ask if the price will be lower on steam versions?

 

[2K_jason]

The games are live now (for purchase and download), so the prices are out there as well.

The prices are the same as retail. We don't have much say in that...the retail stores would be furious if it were cheaper online. It's the same with all games sold through Steam/D2D/etc.

 

[Sub]

No one should ***** about this, it's nothing but great news. I'm happy these games are coming out on Steam, I would rather purchase them on Steam than from a brick and mortar store. This just gives one the option to do that, nothing more and nothing less. Again, there's no reason to ***** about this.

 

[mRhapPy]

Does anyone know if steam is gonna server online games???? personally i hate gamespy, and as a css player, i kno steam is reliable.

 

[Crighton]

Speaking only for myself:

Steam is a great concept, poorly executed.

As far as CIV is concerned it can be good, download the games etc, don't need to connect to the net, have one account on multiple machines, all good.

Beyond that, and the above is really only what should be considered for CIV gamers, beyond CIV, Steam is horrid at best when it comes to execution. Worst thing you can ever see pop up on your screen is: "UPDATING STEAM."

Full Disclosure: I come from a long history of Day of Defeat, Counterstrike and various smaller multiplayer titles which used Steam.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Steam distribution will be great for the accessibility and the lower price. But, steam has its problems and being distributed on steam seems to cheapen the Civilization series for me.

 

[AxiomUk]

There are a lot of Steam haters, which is justified in some cases, although it has become popular just to bash Steam...

I think this is fantastic news, and it would be good if you could modify it so it would use the Steam server browser to set up games rather than Gamespy. Some people may disagree with me on this, but out of every game I've ever played, Valve appears to have got the Steam browser ALMOST spot on (*cough* favourites *cough*).

I think it's a good sign of things to come, and will encourage Valve to fix all the bugs it can in Steam so as to keep up the good work.

 

[Sub]

Haha, yeah, there's no question, Steam destroys Gamespy for their server browser. I've always thought Gamespy was a pos.

 

[Truronian]

It would be nice if some of the older games (Alpha Cetauri, CivII) were released via Steam, although I hear 2K do not own some of them.

 

[Rabbit, White]

Steam is a great concept, poorly executed.

Also, let's clear something up right here, because it's a common misconception with Steam: you do not need to have an internet connection to play games purchased over Steam!

You need an internet connection to unlock games, and you'll need it to play any multiplayer games (naturally), but if all you want to do is play a single player game of Civ 3 or 4, you will not need to be connected to the internet. Steam has an offline mode that will let you access any previously downloaded and unlocked games.

When I purchased Half-Life 2 I didn't have the option of not installing Steam, and as soon as I lunched the game (which I already entered the serial key for, so I shouldn't have to unlock it in any case) it started updating it. If I didn't have internet connection it wouldn't let me lunch because it wasn't updated. This, to me, means that I cannot play single player HL2 game w/o having an internet connection - that's just twisted.

As far as the convenience of buying games online and being able to install them on multiple computers, let me direct you to a company that has been doing that for years and have a much more user friendly implementation - Stardock. These guy distribute all their software (which, in case you're not sure who I'm talking about, includes WindowBlinds and Galactic Civilizations) through their online store, which has all the convenience of what Steam allegedly offers without any of the annoyances. They also run totalgaming.net which is where 3rd-party partners can come in and distribute their games. Now, if you were to partner up with these guys to distribute your games, you'd be supporting a great company, have satisfied customers and probably make a few new ones in the process.

And just to make it clear, I'm in no way affiliated with Stardock other than being one hell of a satisfied customer, and if I sound like a fanboy... well I am, and damn proud of it.