QuakeCon 07: id's catalog full Steam ahead

Aside from offering a portal for the developer's massively successful shooter series Half-Life, Valve's downloadable-game service Steam has acquired a reputation for instilling new life into aging game franchises. Beginning with Majesco in September, several major publishers including Activision and 2K Games signed deals with the Bellevue, Washington-based game company to digitally distribute games from their back catalogs over Steam.

That trend went international in March this year when UK-based publisher Eidos announced it too would follow suit, striking a deal to deliver several of its Hitman and Tomb Raider games, among others, to the service. The games of many smaller developers have also found new life on Steam, not the least of which being Telltale Games' popular adventure series Sam & Max.

Now another major player in the gaming industry has signed onboard Valve's service. During a keynote address at QuakeCon today, id CEO Todd Hollenshead revealed that his company's lineup of games through Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil would be available on Steam as of today, and will be compatible with all Windows operating systems, including Vista.

Beginning with id's first game, Commander Keen, the games slated to appear include other notables from the Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein series. While the games can be purchased individually, a bundle package containing id's entire lineup on Steam is also available for $70. As a limited-time promotional offer, all purchases will be discounted by 10 percent.

While it may seem odd that id would partner with a competing studio, the developer has made similar moves in the past. In 1998, id announced it would be lending its Quake 2 engine to rival 3D Realms for use in Duke Nukem Forever.

A complete list of available games is listed below.

Commander Keen, Episodes 1 through 5
Wolfenstein 3D
Spear of Destiny
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Ultimate DOOM
DOOM II
Master Levels for DOOM II
Final DOOM
DOOM3
DOOM3: Resurrection of Evil
QUAKE
QUAKE Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon
QUAKE Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity
QUAKE II
QUAKE II Mission Pack: The Reckoning
QUAKE II Mission Pack: Ground Zero
QUAKE III Arena
QUAKE III: Team Arena
Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders
HeXen
HeXen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel
HeXen II

Bundles
DOOM 3 Pack: Includes DOOM 3 and DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil
QUAKE III Pack: Includes QUAKE III Arena and QUAKE III: Team Arena
Wolf Pack: Includes Wolf 3D, Spear of Destiny and Return to Castle Wolfenstein
DOOM Pack Complete: Includes all DOOM games released by id
QUAKE Pack: Includes all 8 QUAKE Titles available on Steam
Heretic\HeXen Pack: Includes Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders, HeXen, HeXen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel, HeXen II
id Super Pack: Every id game on Steam