A multi-developer panel on digital distribution, “What’s Next in Digital Distribution & Mainstream Games”, is to be held at GDC 2006. The speakers and their relevance are:
Hopefully the event will be better recorded than Gabe’s DICE speech, which I have yet to track down.
When they said “drive revenue”, I didn’t quite realise they had this in mind. IGA Worldwide made headlines around the web earlier this year when they began offering an service that added in-game adverts to the servers of their clients. This was all done without Valve’s blessing, a violation of the SSA, and it seemed that IGA had got themselves into a tricky position when Valve got on the case. But now it seems that things have gone the other way:
“Valve…and IGA…today announced an amicable resolution of differences regarding in-game advertising…This amicable resolution also absolves IGA’s advertisers and IGA’s advertising agencies from any liability. Valve and IGA have announced that they are pleased to have reached a swift and professional resolution of any issues that may have existed between them, IGA’s advertisers and IGA’s advertising agencies. Valve and IGA look forward to discussing mutually beneficial opportunities in the future.”
Cutting through the PR speak, it seems that Valve are going to be running experiments with in-game advertising, with Steam being the obvious platform for serving them. I trust anything Valve to implement to be tasteful, but if control is granted to server operators we can expect cash-farm servers to flood our browsers very quickly indeed.
It’s too early to make any concrete assertions of course – there might not even be any deal reached. We can only wait and hope that things don’t take a turn for the worse. And they needn’t: when properly applied, in-game adverts can add authenticity to a game world and pass price savings on to consumers.
Two new entries have appeared on the Jobs section of Valve’s website, both regarding Steam.
Software Engineer, Steam
Help build future versions of Steam, the digital entertainment platform that is changing the industry. As a Software Engineer, you’ll design and deliver new features to enable new game experiences, better deliver all kinds of digital content to millions of customers, enhance community features, and drive revenue…
It isn’t quite as intriguing as their vacancy for those with experience in “3D puppet construction and complex skin deformation” (which has been up there some months now), but confirms nonetheless the direction Steam is being taken in: new game experiences, community features, and what would presumably be new billing models. Anyone taking a shot?
I don’t normally cover game updates, but this one is important enough to make an exception for. A part of the current Friends beta is an update to the Source engine aimed at the longstanding stuttering issue. And what do you know? It works. With mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware enabled in the console, the only noticeable stutters on my system are from autosaves.
To see for yourself, add -beta steam3friends -clientbeta steam3friends to your Steam shortcut, as described here.
I’ve
talked before now about the concept of public events on Steam: tournaments, for instance, where anyone can watch, even if they don’t own the game in question. The primary source for the idea was Valve head Gabe Newell’s
one and only post on the Steam forums, where he supported the idea of free spectation of online matches. That was in mid-2004, and up till now nothing has come of it. But the quiet success of the recent
HL2:CTF match broadcast, and now the news that this Saturday Day of Defeat: Source will enter a
‘Free Weekend’, suggest that things are stirring in Bellevue.
The Free Weekend is a remarkably simple idea that probably requires very little work to make possible (though today’s coinciding platform update suggests that some tweaking, perhaps to VAC, was needed). And yet it could well herald a major shift in the way the industry views and provides trial software. After all, what is a better advertisement for your online game? Sending would-be customers out to find a server and get smashed by experienced players, which for all of Valve’s good intentions is what will happen come the 10th, or giving them the chance to spectate a pro tournament with live commentary and for a bit of extra revenue sponsorship? Perhaps you could go farther and take the social risk of charging a small fee. Thanks to the flexibility of connection-centred platforms like Steam, the possibilities are practically endless, and one of the most exciting prospects digital distribution brings to the table.
It seems highly likely that the HL2:CTF match broadcast and Free Weekend are Valve testing the digital waters, so to speak, for the popularity of the initiatives. As yet there is no concrete confirmation that anything is happening, but make no mistake: Valve’s plans, if this analysis is correct, are well worth waiting for.
More changes to the site. I’ve upgraded to WordPress 2.0.1, made some minor tweaks (including alt+f to search and alt+s to submit your comment) and through the power of CSS added a new style, TSR Slim. Firefox and Opera users can switch to it through View > (Page) Style. The theme can now be chosen from the Options section of the sidebar.
On the subject of IE, the IE7 beta makes large improvements on 6 and does a much better job of rendering the site correctly. If you can bear the UI, it’s worth an install.
Slim is a work in progress, so please leave any feedback you’ve got!
