Valve pipes out Steamworks

This seems like a very good idea...unlike the whole "lets add movies/music/and 100,000 lame flash games to our catalog...

thats awesome!

Value your basically the best thing to ever happen to games. this is probably one of the smastest things done. and obviously people agree, i mean look, rockstar, capcom and id are all on board, id obviously since john carmark is all about giving out software and letting people re work stuff to there liking, hes been doing that since his first major game. and its nice to see that other companies are joining up and do this. i love it.

Valve pwns

I have a very deep respect for Valve.

Only thing I've ever gotten ever gotten from Steam were download problems, activation problems, and a laundry list of unfinished "Episodic Content". I don't understand why this service are so popular, but I suppose it really is a matter of YMMV. Hate me all you want for not seeing the glimmer in their gold, but at least I'm willing to be honest about my experience with them, unusual or not though it may be.

I think that this is a very good gesture from Valve and one that will not only benefit the industry and gamers, but will also be a big PR boost for an already stellar company. Makes me think of life before the monopolies began. It is nice to see someone contributing to the over-all good rather than just horde things or try to make a buck at every opportunity. Kudos once again Valve.

@ctg867 - I think your missunderstanding something. Windows Live is not a online distribution system. Its a unifide system for online play and videogame standards. Even though some games have the Games for Windows - Live logo on the box can probebly still release it through steam

Well yay for Valve. Lucky for them Microsoft is completely blowing Windows Live, otherwise these guys would be completely devoid of an online distributer.

I hope this will fix server problems that they have been having with non-valve games being downloaded.

Suck it, Microsoft. Let the indie scene roll.

Its amazing how well Steam has done since its launch in 2004. I used to hate it until I lost a few of my game discs... Being able to download any game that is on your account at will, for free is awesome.

people that dislike steam obviously haven't visited it since the nightmare that was the HL2 launch. It has it's flaws...but honestly this is great news for independent develops and publishers alike.

tbolt_88: Ummm what? When did that happen... That's what people get for not buying a factory sealed product. I've never heard of anyones cd key not working...

Valve picking up some Steam.

This is cool...even though i dont like Steam due to how easy it is to be screwed over by it. The people who spent Half-Life 2 and trying to play it and being unable to due to someone already stealing the cd key leaving them screwed out of $50 with Valve doing nothing about it.

Orange Box 2? What the hell, why would anyone think that? Even if they had enough material for another compilation like that, they wouldnt calle it "Orange Box 2".

I know a lot of people that said steam sucks because when it first came out it was buggy and hard just getting the thing to come up, that was back when counterstrike got moved to steam. But it runs pretty smooth now.

Valve is the best game developer out there. They really care about the games and the gamers.

Steam?! WHAT, Orange Box 2? Oh, a publishing service, well that is fine I guess...

I love steam, the reason I like it so much is that you can have all your steam games on a single program. I would like to see every game on steam.

cool

Call me old fashioned, but I don't like Steam. It feels very unfriendly.

Valve gives out free software so developers will come to them to get their games on Steam. Sounds like a nice deal. Steam > Games for Windows Live (worst name for a service ever)

suprised they made it free

steam is the reason digital purchases exist. they have the monopoly and sites like gametap are trying to pick up the leftovers. I still find it funny how I thought as valve taking a big step back in the day. They are a juggernaut now.

valve is a bit overrated if you ask me.

All the people saying steam sucks have probably never used it. It keeps everything up to date, and you don't need a CD. Not only that, but they are dedicated to their community, releasing stuff like this. Keep up the good work Valve!

steam is kickin some butt out there.

"Steam is trash. Yea it may keep you up to date but lets say one day you lose your internet. You won't be able to play ANY games." Totally false.. Steam is only needed to activate the game, re-download the game (which can be backed up onto a DVD), update the game, and obviously to play the game online. And if it was "trash".. 13 million people wouldn't be using it.

Steam is trash. Yea it may keep you up to date but lets say one day you lose your internet. You won't be able to play ANY games.

Steam is easily one of the best digital distribution services out there.. and the only people who don't think so are usually on 56k. I mean theres no hassle in finding an update.. does all the updating for yeah, or locating your cd-key and or install disc.

Steam is a great service and Valve is one of best (if not the best) developers in the world.

nice Valve is friggen awsome Even though i Agree with alot of people Steam is S***

Valve once again shows their dedication and support towards their roots and to the fans who made them what they are. Truly the best company in the industry.

I don't see how this will help. I always hear people saying Steam is a load of $#!^ (and I've even caught word that calling Steam $#!^ is a compliment. Not a good sign)...

that's sick

Valve is one of the best game developing companies out there. This is a really cool move of them.

Well, that sure was nice of them. Although the new Steam community does cause some bad slowdowns at times in CS:S (Like all the way down to 20FPS going from 70FPS average on my 8600GT)... Steam is the best and most simple design around... Good move!

More freeware means better and better games. It would even be better if it were open-source.

WoW good karma for them for releasing this for free. Hopefully people can concentrate on the game instead of its background modules now a bit more.

Valve/Steam always impresses me. Good work.

I didn't understand all I got that they are improving communication between gamers?

Valve > all

This is sweet.

That is unbelievably cool.

Holy crapoleey! This is AMAZING! Technicly, it's a step backward for the industry (Which is a good thing!) back to the days where people could make their own content and distribute it, which because of all the laws and money grubbing publishers you just cannot do. This is a fantastic offering from Valve, me and my dev team will be making use of this in the coming years!

Horaaaaay Valve!

Valve rocks. Steam rocks. The Orange Box rocks. What more can I say?

steamy