News - Valve adds subscription-based game transactions to Steam

[HEXUS]

The first game to utilise this new payment option is the Darkfall Unholy Wars MMORPG.

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[shaithis]

TBH, I am surprised it wasn't already in there....

[hb904460]

So roughly £175 for a years worth of playing 1 online game!! No thanks

[kingpotnoodle]

So roughly £175 for a years worth of playing 1 online game!! No thanks

Agreed, it'd have to be pretty special and entertaining for that. But then I've barely played a PC game since last year because I've been so busy. Skyrim, Empire and Shogun Total War etc I've notched up over 300 hours on each though for just the initial purchase price a few <£10 DLCs.

[chaotic_russ]

why does greed come to mind when I read this ? , I said something like this was on the cards when steam first launched and everybody said I was speaking B$ . this is the way it will end up for all of steams games tbh

[Kirano]

This is nothing to worry about at the moment. The first game being released is an MMORPG. Lots of MMORPG have a subscription service (you've all heard of World of Warcraft, right?) it's just that before you either couldn't buy that game through steam, or couldn't manage your subscription to it through steam. Now you can. It's not about greed at all, it's just about increasing the range of games that can be easily bought and played on steam. I mean, I suppose if you wanted to twist it that way it's about greed, in the sense that more customers equals more people exposed to advertising, sales etc. equals more game purchases etc. but I don't really consider that greed at all... That's just perfectly reasonable business sense from steam...

Now if a single player title that under no previous circumstances would be released under a subscription model (for sake of example, Rome II Total War, AC:IV etc) was suddenly released on steam under a subscription model, then I'd be worried. Exceedingly worried....

[aidanjt]

So roughly £175 for a years worth of playing 1 online game!! No thanks

Eh, that's pretty much World of Warcraft payment strategy, Steam only automates the payments for you so you can be a blissfully ignorant sucker. It makes sense for MMO saps.

[hb904460]

Eh, that's pretty much World of Warcraft payment strategy, Steam only automates the payments for you so you can be a blissfully ignorant sucker. It makes sense for MMO saps.

I don't care who's payment strategy it is, anyone paying that much for 1 year of 1 online game needs their whitecoat tightening!

[Malphas]

why does greed come to mind when I read this ? , I said something like this was on the cards when steam first launched and everybody said I was speaking B$ . this is the way it will end up for all of steams games tbh

Don't be dense. This type of game and subscription payment already exists, this move is just bringing those games into line with the rest of Steam by allowing customers to manage their purchases through Steam rather than the the publisher or another third party. They did the exact same thing with DLC a few years back. This is a good thing for consumers as Valve are a much more accountable and reliable company to deal with than a bunch of miscellaneous publishers.

[Matsy]

Kirano, what you need to realize is that sub based games have no place anymore.
Sub based is a echo from the days when the sub was needed for server costs and bandwidth costs (everquest among others), the games wouldn't even be able to keep running without the sub money. WoW was created when that era was coming to a end. The only reason WoW is still sub based is because it still works because people have too much time/effort invested in the game to walk away from it with hundreds or thousands of dollars/pounds etc down the drain. Also people are stupid.

Buy 2 play is the way company's should go, buy the box and you can play forever.
Add in a COSMETIC (listen to this...) COSMETIC!!!! micro-transaction shop to the game (SO many companys fail at this though and decide to add power/something not cosmetic)
Release expansions which are required to be bought to access the new content in the expansion but not necessary to continue playing the game.

Anyway...end of rant!
Stupid idea valve.

[aidanjt]

I don't care who's payment strategy it is, anyone paying that much for 1 year of 1 online game needs their whitecoat tightening!

That's what I said to my Warcrack-playing friends. Never the less, there's clear demand for people throwing their money away thusly.

[CK_1985]

Sensible move for Steam I would say - especially if they're serious about launching a steam console in the near future. Wouldn't feel much like a console if you had to jump into a web browser to manage your subscriptions... this allows them to create a much more consistent user experience, which is essential if they want to compete in the console space.

Having said that, the particular game they've started with sounds horrendously over-priced to me!! Or maybe I'm just out of touch... Never played WoW so no frame of reference really.

[rootminus1]

I'm not worried about this method of monetisation happening on steam, as people say, it's a natural progression, but its the next step I fear..

Now if a single player title that under no previous circumstances would be released under a subscription model (for sake of example, Rome II Total War, AC:IV etc) was suddenly released on steam under a subscription model, then I'd be worried. Exceedingly worried....

With EA determined to ruin everyone else's good ideas, I forsee them pulling that crap with Origin