Rock, Paper, Shotgun

The Big K has news that the major digital download services are boycotting troubled enormo-shooter Modern Warfare 2 because of the inclusion of Valve’s Steamworks. Apparently Direct2Drive were first out with the news, saying they had “told publishers that they’d stop selling games bundled in such a manner until Valve “decoupled its retail marketplace” from Steam’s other services.”

GamersGate and Impulse will also be boycotting the title for the same reason. The implications of this aren’t clear. Does it play into Valve’s hands and given them an even larger grip on the market? Or is this the bell tolling for Steam’s retail service as a part of Valve’s gaming community?

Valve has announced Steamcloud. That’s the headline that should be at the top, I suppose. That will be the headline on all the gaming sites that respond to today’s news. A new system for storing player data, from save games to keyboard configurations, on Steam is a brilliant idea. Your games are now available on any PC, and you can play exactly where you left off, without having to invert the mouse and disassemble your friend’s lunatic configuration.

But what I think what’s most exciting about this afternoon’s mini-conference (about seven journalists are here) is the motivation for its existence. PC gaming is strong, and getting stronger, and Valve wanted to say so.

Read the rest of this entry »

And we’re done. Thanks for tuning in to RPS’ first ever live blogging. There’s a LOT of information below, and it’s worth going through. The headlines are in the post above. Valve care about PC gaming. Of course this is because it’s how they make their money. But when they state that they want to see other platforms doing the same, it really seems like they mean it.

Today happened because Valve were pissed off with the declarations that the PC is dying or dead. It’s not, and they wanted to make sure everyone knows.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hello the internet. This is an early warning that at approximately 10.15pm UK time (2.15pm Pacific) we’ll be performing some abortive version of live blogging from within the golden walls of Valve HQ. What’s it about? Steamworks of course. But for more exciting details you’ll have to tune in.

And by “tune in” we of course mean, “refresh the site to see if changed every minute or so because we’re about as technically competent as fingerless cavemen.” You know, that’s unless we can’t get online at the last minute, or if Gabe Newell confiscates my Eee. It should at least be an entertaining mess.

Valve’s Steamworks SDK is now available.

This gives developers access to all the gubbins that goes on in Steam, for free, to enormously aid development. Valve explain the features it offers:

“These include product key authentication, copy protection, auto-updating, social networking, matchmaking, anti-cheat technology, and more. The features and services available in Steamworks are offered free of charge and may be used for both electronic and tangible versions of games.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Because I’m an internationally awesome globe-trotting journalist of excellent repute, I was able to sit down with Valve’s Doug Lombardi and have a chat about Steamworks within a few minutes of yesterday’s announcement being made. Because I forgot my laptop and was really tired, I didn’t get round to posting the conversation until now. Head clickwards for enlightenment.
Read the rest of this entry »

[Update: The press release offered lots of confusion - the story's been updated now for clarity]

Valve are rocking the boat in a really big way, especially for PC gaming piracy. They have just announced the release of a complete collection of publisher power, called Steamworks, available to developers and publishers completely free. Valve describe it as,

“A complete suite of publishing and development tools – ranging from copy protection to social networking services to server browsing – now available free of charge to developers and publishers worldwide.”

What does this actually mean? Well, its extensive. The complete press-release is beneath the cut, as well as our explanation of what it means. And what it means could be huge.
Read the rest of this entry »