hl2 release while valve vs. vivendi?

[exoeight]

i was just thinking, after reading that article where a vivendi spokesperson or what not says that end of november is a likely release target.

...ok, and the major concern in court is valve taking all the proffits by releasing on steam right?

what if the court case isn't over, are they going to release the game while they are in court, when the whole deal in court deals with how the game will be released?

obviously this is going to be a deciding factor in the release date, vivendi will obviously not release the game until the courts help decided what exactly is going to happen concerning how valve wants to sell the game over steam.

after all, vivendi would lose proffits if steam played a major major roll, i myself may buy off of steam.

they say that vivendi is fighting to be the primary means for getting the game out, not steam, vivendi didn't realize how big the plans for steam were.

...so i guess the question is... how long until the court thing is over with?

 

[exoeight]

nooo!! *bump*

 

[I Eat Babies]

I don't think VU will wait for the court case to be over, things like that can take several months/years to be solved completely. Even if they lost profits via Steam, they would lose much more money if they delayed the release for 6 months or however long it takes to sort out the dispute. Not to mention the fan base they could lose by pissing off every person waiting for HL2. I know that i would never buy from them again if they delayed the game another few months.

 

[Someone]

Ditto to what "I eat babies" said.

What I can see happening is them releasing the game when they think they can make the most money (and November fits that)....then dealing with the court stuff over time. If the courts find someone guilty, they will end up paying damages at that point.

 

[exoeight]

that would suck, valve or vivendi will be super happy with all the money, then one of them will have to give up a large amount if they lose... >_<

 

[Homercidal]

Losing money sucks, but the case is a good way to clear up the whole mess with online publishing. Someone has to make a precedence. Apparently Valve is.

I suspect that both Valve and Vivendi understand the desire for this game, especially after the yearlong delay and will opt to settle the money after the case is decided.

 

[BlackMesaDude]

it will not affect it.