Topic: Steam will start selling DLC

[MysterD]

Steam is going to start competing with G4WL now.

Steam will be offering DLC via their very own Steam service to sell -- and it doesn't matter whether you buy the original game from Retail, Steam, digital distribution, or whatever, if you want some additional DLC to buy.

Steam offers gamers in-game downloadable content
March 16, 2009, 5:38 pm - Valve - Press Release

March 16, 2009 — Valve, creators of best-selling entertainment products and advanced technologies, today announced the arrival of in-game downloadable content to Steam, their massively popular PC gaming platform. In-game DLC allows developers and publishers to use their own games as a platform for selling additional content to gamers.

The first game to take advantage of this new in-game DLC capability is The Maw, by Twisted Pixel Games. Their first DLC releases are levels entitled The Maw: Brute Force and The Maw: River Redirect. Each DLC level expands The Maw storyline by fitting in-between the original levels as "deleted scenes."

Twisted Pixel CEO, Michael Wilford, says "We're happy that we can now offer Steam customers significant expansions to the Maw story, delivering more Maw directly to gamers while they're still playing the game."

DLC can now be added to any game on Steam, regardless of whether it was originally purchased via Steam, at retail, or via other digital outlets. It is also a feature of Steamworks, the suite of free tools and services available to game developers and publishers.

For more information about The Maw or Steam, please visit www.steamgames.com.

[Quemaqua]

Wait.... so you have to add the game to Steam to get the DLC to work?  Fuck that shit right up the ass.  If I can buy the DLC from Steam and apply it to a game outside of Steam and still stay Steam-free, then that's not so bad.  I might even actually use that if only because GFWL is so incomprehensibly worthless.  But if it's going to force me to turn my non-Steam game into a Steam-DRMed game, I'll light the game on fire and throw it through the window of Gabe Newell's office before I do that.

[MysterD]

Wait.... so you have to add the game to Steam to get the DLC to work?  Fuck that shit right up the ass.

No clue, actually.

If I can buy the DLC from Steam and apply it to a game outside of Steam and still stay Steam-free, then that's not so bad.

Agreed.

I might even actually use that if only because GFWL is so incomprehensibly worthless.  But if it's going to force me to turn my non-Steam game into a Steam-DRMed game, I'll light the game on fire and throw it through the window of Gabe Newell's office before I do that.

I actually might like to see this...

[idolminds]

Yeah, if it requires Steam to use DLC...then fuck DLC.

[MysterD]

Steamworks is claiming they are making "DRM obsolete."

Steamworks Makes DRM Obsolete
March 24, 2009, 9:01 am - Valve - Press Release

Suite of Services Expands With Customer Executable Generation (CEG), Support for DLC, Matchmaking, and More

March 24, 2009 - Valve today announced a new set of advanced features delivered in Steamworks, a complete suite of publishing and development tools that are available free of charge to developers and publishers worldwide.

Headlining the new feature set is the Custom Executable Generation (CEG) technology that compliments the already existing anti-piracy solution offered in Steamworks. A customer friendly approach to anti-piracy, CEG makes unique copies of games for each user allowing them to access the application on multiple machines without install limits and without having to install root kits on their PC.

The new features also include support for in-game downloadable content (DLC) and matchmaking. The in-game DLC support allows developers to deliver new content as they choose (paid or free) from inside the game itself, allowing users to make immediate purchases and experience the new content in the same game session. The Steamworks matchmaking now includes the robust lobby system shipped and tested in Left 4 Dead.

"Delivering this extension of services on Steamworks first anniversary, demonstrates our commitment to continually develop the platform to better serve the community working with these tools," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "As we roll out these features, we continue to look for new ways make PC games easier to create and better for customers to experience."

Steamworks was launched in early 2008 and has already shipped in products distributed at retail and electronically with major PC releases such as Empire: Total War, Dawn of War II, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, and Football Manager 2009.

The Steamworks services are offered free of charge to developers and publishers around the world. In addition to the services added in this spring's extension, Steamworks offers support for Steam Achievements, Steam Community, Auto Updating, Statistics, Steam Cloud and more.

Steamworks is fully integrated with the Steam, a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC games that has grown to reach 20 million accounts throughout the world, up from 15 million accounts just one year ago. Steam now offers over 500 applications to gamers in every country of the world.

For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com