Valve and Vivendi Universal Games Settle Lawsuit

[kupocake]

Kinda what I was thinking. Also fair to assume that Aftermath won't be out till 1st September at best.

How so? Vivendi have never had rights to Aftermath, and this ruling has no bearing on the release plans whatsoever. Even if they did, a Steam-only release would still be completely possible before that date. September isn't really my idea of "Summer", though if they want to release it that close to my Birthday I say bring it on

 

[SFLUFAN]

Poor activision, UNLESS: when i think activision, i think console. That might be what valve is thinking, hl2 for x-box, and if i was Activision, thats the ONLY way i would go. theres not a snowballs chance in hell i would do business with valve with steam in the works, cause valve will do whatever to undercut your profits and cause you all kinds of grief.

I have a feeling thats what this means. Activision will distribute hl2 for x-box, and the rest of us in the pc realm, will only have steam for all eternity. No biggie imo. Look at the cool mods comming out, im more excited about alot of them then i am about aftermath, so i will get jolllies.
:bounce:
And I don't think VU lost, with all the grief they had, and undercutting, I think ending that relationship was for the best. all a publisher needs is a million fanbois hating you cause valve wants all the $$$. So now, lets all aim our hatred at EA sports

Microsoft is doing the distribution of HL2 for the Xbox (evidence - Valve will be at the MS booth at E3).

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

they should make there own publishing company, vertical buisness

wasn't aftermath confirmed to already be STEAM only?

 

[kupocake]

they should make there own publishing company, vertical buisness

wasn't aftermath confirmed to already be STEAM only?

PC Gamer said something like "This fun will only be available via Steam". However, Doug Lombardi was quoted in an email saying that Valve were exploring the possibility of a Retail release. It is likely that the Vivendi Situation was the main thing making them unsure about Retail - now it's resolved, and Retail may become a reality.

 

[polyguns]

they may be at the microsoft booth cause its microsoft x-box, thats not evidence of anything. plus gabe use to work there, and they share the same business ethics.


I hope that valve doesn't make a verticle business. Game devs should spend 100% of their time developing games, not diverting their attention to publishing.

I knew an old portrait artist once, and people payed 5000 dollars for a portrait, and he only got 2500, and his agent got the other 2500. I asked him why he didn't try to sell his own portraits, and he basically said : he could spend half his time trying to sell his paintings, and only make half the money, or he could spend all his time making the paintings, and still make the same amount. basically he would rather be painting then hunting clients.

same with game developing. publishing is a business, it diverts from you trying to make the best possible game you can if you are focused on publishing.

I think we already saw this with valve, releasing way behind, huge delay, alot of content cut out, levels cut out, and by the time the game hit the shelves, they had no groundbreaking technology. the only advantage they had was what? good mp physics?

If they weren't so focused on fighting vivindi, and making steam, and maximizing their profit, no telling how much hl2 woulda blown the world away had it not had over half its thunder taken away

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

Valve's focus on fighting Vivendi involved Valve's lawyers, and possibly a few of the top guys. The rest of the workforce were happily free to continue working on HL2. I seriously doubt that the lawsuit had any impact on the game, aside from forcing Valve to delay the Steam release to match retail.

Valve aren't attempting to be a publisher in the traditional sense. They just want to make games, but with the ability to deliver directly to the end-user. They still require an actual publisher to handle retail, publicity, marketing and, more importantly, consoles.
You're not going to see Steam on PS3. Or Xbox 360. Or Nintendo Revolution. Consoles are by far the largest revenue stream for games - it's not a market that Valve are ignoring, so they have to go the regular publisher route.

 

[polyguns]

it takes focus, and leadership, plus you need to make the netwrok to feed it to the consumer, then you have to test steam, and test it with your new game, and update.

I garuntee, it delayed hl2, i soooooooooooo garuntee that if there was no steam, hl2 woulda been out sooner. if anything, it woulda kept hte top dogs focused.


make games, love games. let other people worry about delivery. next thing valve will be designing its own console, and its own clone of walmart for us to buy them at

" iPS3. Or Xbox 360. Or Nintendo Revolution" is that what their called? i remember that hte nintendo was origionally called the dolphin, then it changed to gamecube. I liked dolphin better. I don't like revolution, unless its completly wireless, and cartridge based


man i would love to see cartridges again, my lung capacity really needs a workout

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

Steam (as a content delivery system and network) was developed independently of HL2. Then it was integrated into HL2.

Different teams.

 

[Geronimous]

I actually like the news.
Activision rocks as far as I am concerned

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

Steam (as a content delivery system and network) was developed independently of HL2. Then it was integrated into HL2.

Different teams.

I agree, I mean there is even facts provided that HL2 was not on for the sept 30th date, which I won't be saying because its pretty much everywhere. Anyways, Steam has it own 2 programs working on it, separate(as Pi has said) than the development of games.

 

[The Mullinator]

A little late to come in and discover this news but... W00t!!

This makes me very happy indeed. No more worries of Vivendi somehow gaining control of all the Half-Life intellectual property.

 

[Matrix]

IMO that was one stupid move on valve's end, yeah sure they make 7$ per copy on retail but on steam they make 30$ per copy But there were still quite a lot of people who bought the game via retail.

They better get a new publisher soon because thats gotta be one hell of a stupid marketing move to be honest. But at least valve can back it up with steam , its not a huge deal but i dont exactly like not having the game cd of the game i purchased.

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

IMO that was one stupid move on valve's end, yeah sure they make 7$ per copy on retail but on steam they make 30$ per copy But there were still quite a lot of people who bought the game via retail.

They better get a new publisher soon because thats gotta be one hell of a stupid marketing move to be honest. But at least valve can back it up with steam , its not a huge deal but i dont exactly like not having the game cd of the game i purchased.

No it wasn't a stupid move on VALVe's part, not any at all. If you read some of this thread you know VALVe will have a publisher by August when Vivendi stops publishing the games.

 

[oldagerocker]

They'd better publish aftermath... although it'll be just as bad as the retail copy of HL2. I'd have to persaude my mate to let me use his credit card to pay for the game.

 

[Matrix]

Actually they said they are considering it, it's not 100% guaranteed, I'm sure they will get another publisher but if they don't ,that would suck, not everyone likes using credit cards over the internet. I can't say I blame them either since that information is pretty sensitive.

I'd rather purchase my games directly from Valve themselves but I do not like the online credit card method, I have this thing where I like to have my games that i purchased in the box ready to go if i ever want to play.

I mean steam is pretty good too if you leave it on all night it usually gets all if not most of the game(s) your are downloading anyways, it's just you never know.

 

[Gorgon]

Actually they said they are considering it, it's not 100% guaranteed, I'm sure they will get another publisher but if they don't ,that would suck, not everyone likes using credit cards over the internet. I can't say I blame them either since that information is pretty sensitive.

I'd rather purchase my games directly from Valve themselves but I do not like the online credit card method, I have this thing where I like to have my games that i purchased in the box ready to go if i ever want to play.

I mean steam is pretty good too if you leave it on all night it usually gets all if not most of the game(s) your are downloading anyways, it's just you never know.

I agree. pulling valve's products from shelves it will lead to a catastrophe.

 

[The Mullinator]

I agree. pulling valve's products from shelves it will lead to a catastrophe.

They aren't going to pull retail for future products, thats why Valve has already been talking with Activision. Although aftermath may be released via steam only since they stated that before this settlement took place.

 

[mortiz]

Well, I don't think VALVe will have any worries getting a new publisher for Half-Life 3. It's possible that VALVe will just say "screw it" and hope that broadband has advanced to the stages where everyone can buy Half-Life 3 through STEAM.

 

[kupocake]

Well, I don't think VALVe will have any worries getting a new publisher for Half-Life 3. It's possible that VALVe will just say "screw it" and hope that broadband has advanced to the stages where everyone can buy Half-Life 3 through STEAM.

Well, if it takes as long for the next sequel as it did for this one, Steam will be being piped direct to my skull in my retirement flat on the Moon

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

Actually they said they are considering it, it's not 100% guaranteed, I'm sure they will get another publisher but if they don't ,that would suck, not everyone likes using credit cards over the internet. I can't say I blame them either since that information is pretty sensitive.

I'd rather purchase my games directly from Valve themselves but I do not like the online credit card method, I have this thing where I like to have my games that i purchased in the box ready to go if i ever want to play.

I mean steam is pretty good too if you leave it on all night it usually gets all if not most of the game(s) your are downloading anyways, it's just you never know.

VALVe has had a contract with Activison since they published DoD, they just put it on the back burner till the lawsuits were done along with no being associated with VUG.

 

[AMPED]

What was the issues again with valve and VU?

 

[DarkGhost89]

If they are going to pick a new publisher it going to be either Activision or Ubisoft but no matter what a publisher is a publisher and they are all asses just that some are worse then others (Vivendi might want a bigger cut but EA slave drive programmers overtime with no OVERTIME pay for example). In the end it up to the contract and not the publisher to do good for the developer. Activision is probably a better publisher to developers then Vivendi and they did publish dod but it doesn't mean they have no history of pushing developers. For one example, Activision forced a "2 patch only" rule on Creative Assembly which developed the game Rome: Total War and now despite taking alot of time trying to make a patch to end all patches the game still needs a third patch and Activision refused to fund for a third one (and they don't have as much money to divert for spend it themselves).

 

[Mr-Fusion]

But Valve are rich enough to fund their own patches. That's not an issue for them.

The poorer developers are stuck in a endless cycle. They release ok games, get paid to make 1 or 2 patches, then start again on their next mediocre project. Though mediocre still involves painstaking work and suffering. It's a tough industry :|