Valve and Vivendi Part Ways 55
IGN has news that the long running suit between Valve and Vivendi has finally been resolved. There has been some sort of settlement reached, the immediate result being that as of August 31st Vivendi will no longer be distributing Valve titles. From the article: "Valve has not announced a new publishing partner, or whether the company will now solely rely on Steam for distribution. A new publishing agreement would almost certainly be needed for the Xbox version of Half-Life 2 scheduled for release later this summer."
WOW (Score:2, Informative)
Re:WOW (Score:5, Interesting)
I think this is great news (even though we've been expecting it for awhile). The nice thing is that now Valve can actually focus on their issues with Steam with all their resources as opposed to trying to deal with Vivendi. Hopefully this will also start a new erra of games being released without the silly rules of publishers getting in the way. HL2 probably would have been cheaper via steam than in the store if it hadn't been for Vivendi.
I for one would be more than happy to download (and burn myself) all the software I purchase if it meant saving some dollars. Not only that, but the actualy software company would probably see a lot more of the money for their software in this type of a model.
Congratulations Valve!
Re:WOW (Score:0)
But requiring the gamers connect to a company over the internet, or send any subsequent information to that company beyond key-authentication in an online internet multiplayer service, is bad for the consumer, unless you actually enjoy being a lab rat.
Re:WOW (Score:1, Insightful)
I think even activation/authentication should be criminal, but I'll compromise if the other side's willing to compromise and not make me use a firewall to forcibly cripple Steam every time I want to play Half Life 2 without "reporting in" to the Gestapo.
Re:WOW (Score:0)
Bad news, buddy. Your game runs out of "steam" slowly when you don't phone home to our benevolent leaders at Valve. One day, your game won't work without connecting, what happens when Steam is gone and you're left holding the bag?
New rules, same game. (Score:1)
Also, they are going to get a publisher. Think about who buys games. Mostly teenagers. Now think about how people buy games via Steam. They buy with a credit card. I don't know about you, but my parents never let me use their cards. They risk alienating a lot of their market (under 18, I'd wager a good half) by moving to a Steam only market.
Re:New rules, same game. (Score:3, Insightful)
But a few things about getting a new publisher:
1) Vivendi had a lot of control over HL2 because they put money in at the very start (HL1).
2) Tons of publishers will compete to publish Valve's games, and Valve can set any conditions or terms they want
3) STEAM's price was not much less than retail only because of contractual obligations to Vivendi. Similarly, Vivendi forced Valve to delay HL2's release via STEAM until the retail release date even though the game was done
I see lower prices. Not significantly lower, but with no middle man and no interference, we might see another minor price cut. Right now STEAM was $5 less than retail. Perhaps we'll see $10 less than retail.
In addition, I would point out that STEAM as a concept does not require a credit card to function. Valve could just as easily produce plastic cards that were sold in every game store that contained a CD key. Much like cellphone pay-as-you-go cards, a user could purchase a game (or just plain STEAM credit) in a computer store with regular cash, and use that online with STEAM. Valve does not require a publisher to do this, just a few people to organize it. In fact, Valve is a big/popular enough company that I imagine if they simply printed the cards, stores would ask THEM to carry them, Valve wouldn't even have to go out seeking stores.
Re:WOW (Score:1)
Re:WOW (Score:1)
NCsoft (Score:-1, Offtopic)
Finally... (Score:0)
Screw Vivendi.
Why? (Score:3, Interesting)
Why can't Valve self-publish? Granted I know little about this arena, so I may be speaking directly from my posterior, but it doesn't seem hard. A disc press makes up 500 bazillion DVDs, and they usually do the case for it too, you provide the art. Then contract to a printer to print the boxes and manuals. Box and ship to wholesaler houses.
What does a "publisher" do except manage all that and take a good chunk of money for it? Sure for smaller firms they bankroll the project, but Valve probably has a few bucks to do this themselves. They put out a recent game that seems to be somewhat popular with the kids...
One word: (Score:4, Informative)
As well off as Valve is, I don't think they have the experience or the connections to run the kind of advertising blitz that an experienced publisher can.
Re:One word: (Score:1)
Shelf space is precious, and existing publishers have the relationships with the big box stores that are required to get space for the box. It may or may not be a problem for as high profile game as HL2, but most self-publishers get relegated to a tiny wire cd rack in a forgotten corner of the store if they get into the store at all.
Re:One word: (Score:3, Informative)
Just because Valve is an independent developer doesn't mean they'll be an independent publisher too. It's highly likely they'll have an agreement with another publisher like id does with Activision or Irrational Games had with VUGames for Freedom Force 2. In both those cases, the devs are contracting out the publishers to do specific work; VU got paid to promote and shelve FF2, but the sales revenue itself went to IG since VU was already paid for its work. Valve will just do a similar setup, publishers will all compete for the HL2 contract, and the winner gets a steady income no-risk contract doing work for Valve.
Re:One word: (Score:0)
Re:One word: (Score:0)
Re:Why? (Score:0)
Design marketing materials & commercials, product packaging, negotiate with retailers for product placement, etc... you name it.
Having 500 bazillion DVDs sitting in a warehouse isn't exactly going to get them into the hands and minds of users now is it?
Re:Why? One Word... (Score:3, Insightful)
Distributors are the ones that make sure boxes reach the shelves, at the right box width and height, at stores like Wal Mart, CompUSA, and Best Buy. Having the right distributors signed on is more important than having the right publisher.
As for a developer breaking into the distribution channel, I only know of one example: Id. Back when they were operating their own phone/mail order system for Doom, they offered up the shareware for free. I.e., they wanted no royalty take on the shareware copies that sold everywhere. Hence why you could find the shareware at anyplace that sold software, and some places that didn't (I remember a friend's picture from a convenience store in socal from that period, showing doom shareware up for sale next to the bubblegum).
Re:Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
This doesn't even consider the shelf space purchasing and advertising that is likely needed for a big budget release as this.
These are the sort of considerations that are killing the garage game industry; except for PC games, it is now almost impossible to distribute games without a publisher.
Re:Why? (Score:1)
Valve and Id are probably the only two developers that have that kind of clout these days.
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Close, but I'd include Square-Enix on that list as well. I was thinking maybe Blizzard as well, but a brief search showed they are a subsidary of Vivendi. Any others?
Re:Why? (Score:1)
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Ugh. Just the thought of Half-Life 3 being an X-Box exclusive triggered my gag reflex. Half-Life 1 & 2 are two of my favorite games of all time, I'd hate to miss out on the third one (and any other future sequels) due to another Microsoft assimilation. Grr.
Damn you Microsoft, you took Bungie away from me, don't even thnk about taking away Valve too!
Re:Why? (Score:1)
Meh. Halo turned out to be a very average FPS. It might have been ground breaking had it been released on-schedule for the PC, and only the PC.
Re:Why? (Score:2)
Exactly my point. I had loved every game Bungie put out up until the buyout (okay, Oni sucked, but that didn't actually come out until after the buyout, so I'll excuse it.) Since then all they've done is the two Halo games, which, while I'll confess to having never played either, I have never seen or read anything about them that makes me want to run out and play them. They seem to me to be, exactly as you said, very average FPS games, saddled with the additional handicap of having to use X-Box controllers to play them. Blech.
Would Bungie still be releasing great games were they not gobbled up by Microsoft? Perhaps they still would have only put out those two games, we'll never know.
Re:Why? (Score:1)
However, I recommend you stay away from Halo (except maybe the demo) because of the following: Most levels are very repetitive. The weapon balance is horrible. The frickin' shotgun is more accurate at long range and a better anti-aircraft weapon than the assault rifle. I can count the types of enemies encountered on two hands. Most of the audio is poor to average. There are more reasons, but I'm sure you get the jist of it.
Re:Why? (Score:1)
Re:Why? (Score:1)
Re:Why? (Score:1)
Re:Why? (Score:1)
good (Score:0)
Let me predict: (Score:2)
Gord0wned (Score:-1, Offtopic)
Does this mean... (Score:-1)
Somehow, I doubt it.
Re:Does this mean... (Score:0)
Re:Does this mean... (Score:2)
Your post makes no sense.
Valve was not a Vivendi studio. Vivendi was merely the publisher.
Actual Vivendi studios have supported non-MS platforms, for example Blizzard's long history of Mac support.
Re:Does this mean... (Score:0)
Activision? (Score:2)
Valve's Publisher Asperations (Score:0)
They also saw the potential of standalone products based off of these mods. Factor in piracy due to Counterstrike's popularity, and you see that they were looking at more effective copy protection. Looking into the future, they saw mod groups turning into the next big development studios. When creating business strategies, you always look for business models along the lines of the One Ring.
Thus Valve toiled away, improving the mod SDK and telling mod developers that were interested in commercializing quality mods. This brought a lot of talent to the Half Life SDK. Working on their next generation engine, they saw the need to make it easier to develop with, if only for their bottom line- and to make the next gen SDK easy to use for modders. Steam, an online distribution system, is the ultimate way to commercialize the mods- and distribute Half Life 2 to those users who are network connected, and whom trust Valve with their credit card number.
Thus Valve is trying, nay, has succeeded, in forging One Steam To Rule Them All. What they haven't done is focused on creating standards in such a way as to bring all developers at least partially into their fold. Thus, they've gone off and created their own corner of the universe.
I have no doubt they'll be the number one publisher of commercial Half Life mods. After all, the Eula and SDK license insure that.
They'll probably sign with a publisher that offers them a great royalty deal, and publishing support on at least two of the console systems, to suuport their physical boxes. If they can get enough mindshare via Steam, boxes on the shelf won't be their biggest source (pun!) of income.
Please don't let it be EA (Score:5, Funny)
Please don't let it be EA
Please don't let it be EA
Re:Please don't let it be EA (Score:1)
I'll bet. (Score:-1)
Valve and Vivendi split up? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Valve and Vivendi split up? (Score:0)
Wonder how many nerds are trying to figure out what this has to do with Tomb Raider.
Re:Valve and Vivendi split up? (Score:1)
Re:Valve and Vivendi split up? (Score:0)
Help?
Re:Valve and Vivendi split up? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Valve and Vivendi split up? (Score:2)
Monkey banana raffle!
Whipcrackah!
well...duh (Score:0, Redundant)
Yaaaaay! (Score:5, Interesting)
Onya Valve!
Re:Yaaaaay! (Score:0)
Hurrah! (Score:1)
Re:Hurrah! (Score:0)
Re:Hurrah! (Score:1)