GamerBlips - Latest Steam News Articles

Steam Early Holiday Sale

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:45:00 +0000

The Steam Early Holiday Sale has begun, and there are some pretty hot deals in there, such as:...

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Alienware Gaming PCs To Come Pre-Loaded With Steam

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:01:00 +0000

Valve Software and Dell's high-end gaming PC arm Alienware inked a deal that will bring leading digital distribution platform Steam to Alienware's line of gaming systems, the companies announced Wednesday. Currently, Steam is the dominant digital distribution platform on the market, and with the deal, Valve's service seemingly gets first dibs on new Alienware gamers. Steam will come on Alienware desktops including Area-51 and Aurora, as well as M17x and M15x laptops. Valve's acclaimed Portal ...

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News: Steam to come pre-installed on Alienware PCs

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:04:56 +0000

Will include a free copy of Portal.

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Alienware PCs coming with Steam

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:31:44 +0000

Download platform will be pre-installed

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Steam Week-Long Sale: 50% Off Plants vs. Zombies

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:20:00 +0000

PopCap's zombie-themed Tower Defence game, Plants vs. Zombies, is the latest sale item on Steam,...

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Alienware Pre-Loading Computers with Steam and Portal

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:54:00 +0000

Typically, a new PC doesn't come with anything noteworthy pre-loaded on the system. Annoying programs branded by the computer manufacturer's name, some crappy games, maybe an anti-virus program -- more than likely, nothing you'll actually be excited to see when you first boot up your computer. Alienware is looking to provide something on its systems that gamers will actually be interested in -- namely, Steam, and a copy of Portal . Among the Alienware computers you can expect to find Steam and Portal pre-loaded on are the Area-51 and Aurora desktops, as well as the M15x and M17x laptops. Portal is only $20 now and Steam is free, so it's not as if this is somehow going to mitigate the cost of an Alienware computer. Still, it's a good addition to any PC gamer's library.

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Left 4 Dead 2 Patched On PC, Addresses Online Issues And Performance

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:49:00 +0000

Valve is not a company to sit around twiddling their fingers. As with most games these days, Left 4 Dead 2 didn't come out of the gate "perfect," but Valve has already issued a patch for the PC version to address some issues that users have been reporting. Gamers who purchased Left 4 Dead 2 will automatically see the patch applied when Steam is booted up. The major changes in this patch include... Fixed performance problem when rendering lots of decals, notably when fighting tanks with shotguns Fixed rcon response not working on Linux dedicated servers Fixed matchmaking problem matching into Advanced and Expert games Fix bug that would cause other specials to try to pummel a player a Charger disconnects or reconnects Fixed versus mode results panel being cut off in transition stats screen in non-english Found games: fixed non-player entries drawing the wrong type of icon in the selected item name label Game mode selector on main ...

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Left 4 Dead 2 patch is out

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:45:00 +0000

PC update sorts performance and matchmaking problems. Valve's released a Left 4 Dead 2 PC patch via Steam. Click here to read the full article

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Valve Releases Left 4 Dead 2 Patch

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:28:00 +0000

Valve has announced that they've issued the first patch for Left 4 Dead 2 , fixing a number of bugs ranging from matchmaking issues with getting into Advance and Expert games to performance issues with rendering decals. The patch will automatically be applied the next time you load up your Steam client. Hopefully, with this bit of housekeeping out of the way, Valve can now get around to releasing the SDK for the game so gamers no longer have to engage in multi-step processes to mod it. A full list of fixes for this patch can be seen below.

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Valve cracks down on MW2 import keys

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:40:37 +0000

Cheap Steam keys banned

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Stardock Estimates Steam has 70 Percent of Digital Market Share

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:09:00 +0000

Valve's Steam service has undeniably emerged as the most well-known digital distribution platform for PC games, but just how much of the digital pie do they consume? Gamasutra reports that according to internal estimates from Stardock, publisher of Sins of a Solar Empire and owner of the Impulse distribution service, Steam takes 70 percent of the market share. "Our estimation is that Steam -- as the current market leader -- enjoys approximately 70 percent of the overall digital distribution market with Impulse at 10 percent and all others combined at 20 percent in terms of actual dollars generated per month," wrote Stardock chief Brad Wardell in their 2009 customer report. Wardell goes on to estimate that digital distribution will have contributed 25 percent of revenue "for a typical PC game publisher on a new title" in 2009. One of the problems in making Impulse more competitive with Steam, Wardell explained, is that ...

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Blood Bowl: Dark Elves Edition Debuting On Steam

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:53:00 +0000

Blood Bowl: Dark Elves Edition will be available on Steam starting November 26, with pre-orders...

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Make Something Unreal's Steam Racers 3.0

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:59:00 +0000

Steam Racers 3.0 releases today, from award-winning development group, Default Games. Steam...

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PC dominated by Steam sales

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:35:32 +0000

Valve platform dominates market

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News: Steam has 70 per cent of PC pie

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:05:00 +0000

Digital rival says Valve's streets ahead. Brad Wardell, boss of Stardock and digital distribution platform Impulse, reckons Valve's Steam is miles ahead of any competition in the PC gaming download market. "Our estimation is that Steam - as the current market leader - enjoys approximately 70 per cent of the overall digital distribution market with Impulse at 10 per cent and all others combined at 20 per cent in terms of actual dollars generated per month," wrote Wardell in a company report this week (spotted by Gamasutra). Wardell also feels Valve is beginning to monopolise on its position by integrating Steamworks tools into games at an early development stage and essentially locking them out from other digital distribution platforms. Read more... > >

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Steam dominates 70% of PC download market

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:46:00 +0000

But Stardock's Impulse second biggest, claims erm Stardock boss. While it's pretty much impossible to give exact sales figures for digital distribution (no-one's willing to fess up to their own figures), publisher and Impulse owner Stardock has estimated Valve's Steam controls a whopping 70 per cent of the market. Click here to read the full article

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Steam Weekend Deal: 75% Off Frontlines: Fuel Of War

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:14:00 +0000

Kaos Studios' Frontlines: Fuel Of War is this weekend's Steam deal, with 75% off the usual asking...

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Stardock Reveals Impulse, Steam Market Share Estimates

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:32:00 +0000

Stardock, publisher of Sins of a Solar Empire and owner of distribution service Impulse, said it believes Impulse rests in second place after Valve's popular Steam in the digital distribution rankings in terms of market share by revenue. "Our estimation is that Steam - as the current market leader - enjoys approximately 70 percent of the overall digital distribution market with Impulse at 10 percent and all others combined at 20 percent in terms of ...

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Valve discuss online pricing of games

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:57:33 +0000

Prices can easily go up, using Steam

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Steam Client Update

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:03:00 +0000

The patch notes for Steam's latest client update explain why I awoke to Modern Warfare 2 running...

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News: RUSE VIP beta starts end of November

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:59:00 +0000

No really, it does. Ubisoft has announced that a VIP extended R.U.S.E. beta will start on 30th November. This tester taster will be offered to Steam users via codes sent to various website partners, so keep your eyes peeled. To begin with, the beta will be a fight between R.U.S.E. factions Germany and the US, a bit like the second half of World War II [it's set in World War II you lunatic - Ed]. The UK, USSR, Italy and France will be added later. Read more... > >

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RUSE 'VIP' beta this month

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:43:00 +0000

"Limited number" of players to get access via Steam. Ubisoft's announced that a 'VIP' RUSE beta will be available to "selected participants worldwide" later this month. Click here to read the full article

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Rogue Warrior Stealth Launches December 1st On Steam

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:27:00 +0000

No PR, no hype, a change of developer, and a stealth launch exclusively on Steam at a...

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Steam Week-Long Sale: 50% Off Game With Stupid Name

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:23:00 +0000

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!: A Reckless Disregard For Gravity is going for a song on Steam,...

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News: Valve: Raise price and digi games still sell

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:52:00 +0000

Dev discusses price variation on Steam. Publishers and developer are free to drop and raise the price of digitally released games without any penalty to future sales or consumer loyalty, according to Valve's head of Steam, Jason Holtman, as reported on GamesIndustry.biz. Speaking at the Montreal International Game Summit this week, Holtman said the digital market flips traditional retail thinking on its head, and that a game discounted for a short time can still go back to full price and increase sales after the promotion. "In a connected world with a connected game it's very different and it bucks some of the traditional trends on the way people think about pricing," said Holtman. Read more... > >

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What Do You Think Of Left 4 Dead 2?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Steam opened the floodgates last night. You probably snuck over to Best Buy to pick up a retail copy on your lunch break. Have you had a chance to pop into Valve's zombie sequel yet? I reviewed the game for G4 (and, as you might expected, loved it), which means I've already dumped many more hours into Left 4 Dead 2 than you have! Take that, Internet. But you'll all surpass me soon enough. If you've been able to give it a spin, what do you think so far?

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Valve's Holtman: Digital Direct Gives Developers More Pricing Freedom

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:00:00 +0000

"Service is becoming everything," claimed Valve's Jason Holtman during a Montreal International Game Summit keynote. "It's going to impact every line of business and every line as you think about your game." As the director of business development at the company responsible for Steam, the PC digital distribution service that now boasts more than 20 million users and 950 games, Holtman has an intimate familiarity with the avenues being made available to game developers by ...

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Left 4 Dead 2 Launches On Steam

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Left 4 Dead 2 has gone live on Steam, and it was only an hour late, which must be some kind of...

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News: Valve says exactly when L4D2 unlocks

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:10:00 +0000

Early doors tomorrow morning on PC. Valve has said that the PC version of Left 4 Dead 2 will be available from Steam at 5am GMT tomorrow, 17th November. The game's available to pre-order and pre-load from the developer's digital distribution service now. In Europe, PC and Xbox 360 owners can pick up boxed versions this Friday, 20th November. Read more... > >

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Rumored Fallout MMO Screens Appear Online

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:44:00 +0000

Interplay is currently embroiled in a legal battle with over the Fallout property, with Bethesda accusing them of failing to move quickly enough to develop a Fallout MMO, among other things. It appears that Interplay has responded to these accusations by mustering the first Fallout Online screens, which were recently leaked online. According to The Vault , the image you see above and others were obtained from an "anonymous, but reliable source." They seem to be actual screenshots from "Project V13," better known to fans as the Fallout MMO. They appear to be in line with the concept art that Interplay has also submitted during the legal battle. The suit stems from Interplay's decision to sell the Fallout Trilogy, which contains the first three games in the series. Bethesda has said that the bundle is "confusingly similar" to Fallout 3, and has also taken issue with the availability of the series on Good Old Games, ...

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Minor Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PC Patch

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:26:00 +0000

A Modern Warfare 2 update just went live on Steam, but don't get too excited, it only contains...

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Finally, A Game About Nazi Dinosaurs

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:26:00 +0000

For years, historians have been asking: "What would have been the result of Hitler and the dinosaurs working together?" Dino D-Day is the Half-Life 2 mod brave enough to ask and answer that important question. The game imagines an alternative history where Hitler resurrected dinosaurs and unleashed them on the Allies in 1942. If this happened in real life, you'd be speaking German right now--or you'd be speaking some hybrid between German and the guttural growls of an enraged Ultrasaur. Hopefully, you'll be able to pick this up on Steam in 2010. I defy you to check out the trailer embedded below, and tell me this isn't the greatest idea for a game ever.

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News: 50 per cent off Crysis and Warhead

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:03:00 +0000

Another Steamy weekend offer. Some combination of EA, Crytek and Valve has cut the price of Crysis and Crysis Warhead on Steam by 50 per cent until Monday. Crysis is available for a frankly derisory £9.99, and so is its little brother. Still one of the best-looking PC first-person shooters ever made, Crysis drops you onto an island in a fancy suit and lets you take it to some of the most advanced AI in the business, employing various super skills alongside ultraviolent gunplay. Read more... > >

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Steam, Impulse & GamersGate Weekend Sale Madness

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:05:00 +0000

Impulse, Steam and GamersGate's attempts to out-do one another are great news for us, the general...

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It Took Too Long, But Modern Warfare 2 Now Unlocked On Steam

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:02:00 +0000

If you're a PC gamers still interested in playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 somewhere other than a console and purchased the game through Steam, it's been a frustrating week. Anyone who picked up Modern Warfare 2 at retail have already been able to jump in and start playing, but anyone who downloaded the game via Steam has been locked out. All parties involved have been silent. Luckily, it's no longer an issue: Modern Warfare 2 is unlocked. Ah, the joys of digital distribution.

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Gamasutra Expert Blogs: From Going Indie To Boycotting Steam

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:15:00 +0000

In our weekly Best of Expert Blogs column, we showcase notable pieces of writing from members of the game development community who maintain Expert Blogs on Gamasutra. Member Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while the invitation-only Expert Blogs are written by development professionals with a wealth of experience to share. We hope that both sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more ...

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Modern Warfare 2 hitting Steam tonight

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:05:57 +0000

Digital download version arriving early

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Steam Mid-Week Deals: 50% Off Battlestations Midway & Pacific; Hearts of Iron III

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:46:00 +0000

Eidos' fun and frantic action-strategy World War II games, Battlestations Midway and...

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Steam Mid-Week Deals: 50% Off Battlestations & Hearts of Iron III

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:46:00 +0000

Eidos' fun and frantic action-strategy World War II games, Battlestations Midway and...

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Steam Locks Modern Warfare 2 Until After Release Date

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:38:14 +0000

Most people either pre-ordered or waited in line for the latest Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare 2. If you thought you could avoid getting out to get the game by downloading it via Steam, think again. Steam confirmed today that the game will be locked until Thursday, November 12. According to Valve: Those who purchase the retail copy will be able to activate and play the game on November 10 via Steam. Those who purchase on Steam will be able to activate and play on November 12. Many users are reporting that their accounts are now stating that the activation date has been moved back to November 11, a day earlier. Nevertheless, PC owners will have to wait a bit longer to play Modern Warfare 2 than 360/PS3 owners.

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No Modern Warfare 2 on Steam until Thursday

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:48:51 +0000

Acti's opus on hold, digitally-speaking

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Steam users denied Modern Warfare 2 launch

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:14:00 +0000

Digital version to launch two days after retail. As if PC Call of Duty fans weren't angry enough, Valve's confirmed that gamers who've purchased the Steam version of Modern Warfare 2 (that's the digi download version) won't be able to play it until Thursday, November 12 - two days after disc customers. Click here to read the full article

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Modern Warfare 2: Digitally Purchased Copies Locked On Steam Until Friday

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:55:00 +0000

Friday if you're in the U.S., that is. The U.K. unlocks tomorrow, whilst mainland Europe follows...

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Modern Warfare 2 PC: Digitally Purchased Copies Locked On Steam Until Friday

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:55:00 +0000

Friday if you're in the U.S., that is. The U.K. unlocks tomorrow, whilst mainland Europe follows...

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News: Steam MW2 locked until Thursday

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:23:00 +0000

But retail PC owners can play now. Those of you who bought Modern Warfare 2 on Steam will not be able to play until Thursday. Meanwhile, those buying a PC copy of Modern Warfare 2 from shops today can play immediately. Both versions use Steam DRM procedures, but Valve has not explained why the Steam-bought copy requires an extra two-day wait to play. Read more... > >

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Zero Gear PC Kart Game Media And Beta Sign-Ups

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Zero Gear is an online multiplayer PC kart combat game, currently in closed beta on Steam, and an...

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MW2 PC locked until Tuesday

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 11:33:44 +0000

Steam controls MW2 on beige box

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Modern Warfare 2 Release Time-Locked By Steam

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 09:04:00 +0000

Hundreds of thousands of people have pirated Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox 360, stores are breaking...

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News: PC version of MW2 locked till Tues

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 07:33:00 +0000

Early delivery doesn't mean early fun. Call of Duty fans pre-ordering the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 won't be able to play it until Tuesday - even if their game is delivered early. "If you bought a retail copy on PC, you can play it on 11.10.09," said Infinity Ward's Rob Bowling on his Twitter page. Bowling is of course American and therefore writes dates backwards - MW2 is officially released on 10th November. As Big Download points out, the PC version uses Steam and therefore won't be unlocked until that date. Even more confusingly, Steam currently lists MW2's release as 12th November, although given Bowling's tweet that sounds like a blip. Read more... > >

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Left 4 Dead 2 preloading on Steam

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 21:27:10 +0000

New title on sale all week

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