Steam release now that season 2 is over
I've searched this forum for information on the steam release and only found that it's after the season concludes. Now that it has does anyone have a more accurate idea of if and when I can get it on steam?
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
I suppose people mostly wait for a Steam release for the convenience of having all games available under a single login. But am I right to assume that Telltale makes less money off the Steam releases than those purchased directly from the Telltale store, since Valve will obviously want a cut?
If so, fans should definitely purchase directly from Telltale
The steam version is convienant because as you said, every game is under my one login but also as it is integrated with the steam community features (IM, profile etc) and has a level of security and permanancey considering steam allows you to redownload the game anytime and valve isn't going broke anytime soon.
Granted it's prefferable to have the episodes as they are released but there is of course one way here to have your cake and it eat it too.
Speaking of which I have to question the tactic of delaying the steam release. It seems that it's to encourage you to by it directly from telltale which makes sense but you have to consider that your limiting consumer choice. If someone can't get the game in thier preffered manner they will seek alternatives which will be a lot less profitable than on steam
Implying that piracy is at all a viable alternative to patience is pretty near the top of the list of Things That Are Not Cool. Wink smiley or no.
And I hope that it's a good enough justification for them to consider releasing it on steam episodically, because Valve aren't making a good example of it.
So we cool?
And I can't use gametap as flo points out.
(Only scanned the whole thread, not read it all in full but)
You don't have to use Gametap. You can buy and download it direct from Telltale.
I don't get why anyone would want to a pirate a game though just because they can't get it through Steam. If you're willing to play from Steam, why aren't you willing to play from Telltale (especially when it's cheaper and the DRM's not as restrictive)?
I've used Steam, nothing against it, and it's handy being able to play and download all your games from the same service, but still...
And then you follow it up with:
If people are waiting for the Steam version because it's 'all under one account'. First off the Telltale version does as well, if you buy a season pass and download each episode from our site the game will prompt you for your Telltale username/password. It will then check the site and see if you have a season or episide-specific serial and auto-activate the game if that's true. Once that's out of the way it's exactly the same as playing it on Steam. For individual episodes on Steam you still have to click each one separately just like with our version (it's just the icons will be in a different place). Also if you are in some sort of mega rush, you don't have to start Steam before playing the Telltale versions. Obviously our version doesn't have any interaction with Steam since it's not on Steam but that's not overly relevant.
Secondly, assuming you ignore the fact that Telltale's versions (or Gametap's for that matter) are 'under one account', why, exactly, would someone pirate the games while waiting for the Steam versions? If them being under one account is their main reason for piracy then it would seem like downloading them prior to the Steam version is worthless to them because it lacks the lone feature they wanted them for. It just seems like impatience to me.
Also it's worth noting that if you buy the Steam version you do not qualify for the season DVD, which we give to anyone who bought the full season from us for only the cost of shipping.
Firstly I'm australian and therefore cannot use gametap, which is unfortunate as it looks like a cool service.
Now when I refer to games being under one account I do not mean all Sam and Max games, I mean ALL games. It's also not the only reason I use steam as I detailed earlier. Steam has become a very important tool to me, it's where I buy my games, play them, organise servers, talk to friends, join game communities it's basically a gaming swiss army knife so it's only natural I want sam and max on it.
Ultimately it's a matter of preference, and mine is steam.
As it is the main reason to buy telltale's version is to get it earlier, so the incentive is... impatience. The dvd would cost $10 (more than an episode!) to be shipped while I can burn a steam backup for practically free.
Anyway this topic has shifted a little offtopic especially considering I'm not advocating piracy, infact I'm suggesting an additional method to prevent it with the ulterior motive of hopeing for an earlier steam release.
on the other hand: we don't know the numbers and facts how well the steam release did. so, if telltale decides against it they probably have a good reason..
The last episode was released two days ago -- or in business days, yesterday. That counts as a "delay?" It's awesome to hear people are excited to play the thing, but let's be reasonable, folks.
Ice station santa isn't on steam yet... that was nearly 6 months ago.
Right, but the games are only on GameTap and Telltale's site while the season is running. Now that the season has ended, we'll start looking into bringing it to other sites.
It's no different than a TV show, really. It initially broadcasts on a select number of channels, and then goes into syndication and becomes more widely available.
When we have details about where it'll be available and when, we'll let everyone know! Our goal is to get the games out to as many people as we possibly can.
It's no different with the Telltale version. As far as I can tell there is no benefit to owning the Steam versions over the original ones from Telltale, but that's just me.
Granted it's also on your own site so I guess the analogy falls a bit there. Anyway I still don't see the need to delay, if you are trying to get it out as widely as possible then why can't it be done at the episodic pace? The tv model is really based on two things; ratings and the unwillingness of other stations to take a risk initially untill a show has proven itself. You don't have ratings and you already know whether sam & max does well on steam.
There are 15 million steam users yet it's an afterthought in your distribution.
It's also on an international service. How many people pirate American TV shows if they're available online in an ad-supported instant streaming format? I couldn't give you an exact number, but most all of them surely have some sort of weird rationalization for why they're justified in doing so despite increasingly mounting evidence to the contrary. And yeah, "I don't like to look at the ads" or something like it is a rubbish excuse.
We provide an internationally available instant-delivery-on-payment solution during the run of the series, and once the complete series is done we offer it out to a multitude of other services (which last year included Steam, a full international retail release, and further online distribution through various partners to a ton of game portals). Saying that you prefer your games on Steam and therefore you will pirate it until it is on that service is an unjustifiable load of garbage. You prefer the Steam service. Fine. That said, I don't entirely understand how pirating a hacked copy of our non-Steam-enabled version of the game will help you achieve any of your goals. Would it be an act of defiance only you could see? Would it just be you "tiding yourself over" until you pay for the games effectively on the honor system, potentially months after completing them? I couldn't say, but none of those reasons will make the game appear in your Steam window.
I'm not saying I haven't pirated a game -- I'm pretty sure most everyone who has played a lot of games has "acquired" a game or two. I'm just saying that if you're going to steal a game, just cop to stealing it. Don't act like the world owes you something.
Maybe not all 15 million of us Steam users share your opinion that only once a game appears on Steam can it be purchased as per some sort of warped personal code. I love Steam, and I love that a lot of games are given a second life by being added to its library, but I don't consider it the One Digital Distribution Service to Rule Them All (actually such a thought is kind of horrible and utterly defeats the purpose of digital distribution in general, which allows indie developers such as a Telltale to partially circumvent the issue of shelf space and make their own distribution services without having to give a cut to Valve, who apparently if it was up to you would be in control of everything so that you wouldn't have to exert the effort involved in having multiple internet accounts, which seems to be your sole reason for waiting however long it's gonna take for this to be on Steam).
That said, while I don't condone the 'if it's not on Steam I'll just pirate it' argument, I can understand why people prefer Steam to other download platforms. In fact, if a game is available from multiple legal download services at the same time, I prefer Steam myself, and the reasons are simple.
- Convenience. Having your catalog of games available under a single username/password beats having one account per publisher.
- Activations. Notable exceptions aside (cf. Bioshock), with Steam I don't have to worry whether I will be able to play a game after a Windows reinstall, or after major hardware changes. I've bought digitally distributed games from a number of sources only to find out later that the number of activations is limited and/or tied to certain hardware and/or Windows installations, or that I won't be able to re-download games after a certain time. Sure, I can and do burn my own backup discs of digitally purchased games, but that's not foolproof either (the organic dye in recordable discs doesn't last forever).
- Security. Not in the sense of account security, but a certain security in the longevity of the service. How many download platforms for software, movies, music, etc. have disappeared or been shut down over the years, often leaving people with no way to access their legally purchased items. While I hope that Telltale will remain in business for a good long time (and offer a way to unlock our purchases if they ever should shut down), people put a certain trust in Steam because it's backed not only by Valve but by a number of other developers and publishers as well.
Adding a non-Steam game to Steam does not tie it to your Steam account, or allow for activations and re-downloads. It simply adds a link to that game to your Steam client.
Being dumbfounded that Steam isn't Telltale's default distribution platform, and then threatening to pirate a game because its not on that service, however, is the crazy part. Especially since we've already put a bunch of our games on Steam, and plan to continue doing so, while continuing to sell our games in other places in the meantime. That is the silliness.
Anyway, to each his own!
But then how many indie services would there be in your idealistic distribution method and how reliable would they be? If I bought games on different platforms from say telltale, introversion, stardock, relic, blizzard, ensemble, dice, infinity ward, valve, creative assembly, irrational and gas powered to name a few of my favourite developers; how many of these services could I reasonably expect to be still operating in a few years? Would there be any consistency in the quality of the services? And why should so many manhours be spent designing distribution platfroms when steam can be licesenced like other parts of the game (game engine, graphics API etc).
So the solution to this potential problem is probably going to be a standardised approach and most likely an oligopoly in digital distribution. Fortunately developers on the internet are still able to circumvent the need for said established stores to keep them in check unlike the old brick and mortar era.
In regards to piracy, it is clear that most of what anyone's said here is a kneejerk reaction to the implication of piracy rather than really considering what I'm saying which most certainly was never intended as a threat.
The question of this thread was never should I buy it on steam. It was about when can I buy it on steam. So far despite numerous developer posts I don't even have confirmation there will be a steam release besides the usual PR speak using the word intention rather than something definitive.
The reasoning on why the steam (and other digital distros) is delayed untill the series concludes has not been explained at all and intrestingly the idea that it's delayed to ensure more sales at gametap/telltale was critisized. Why then does telletale take one extra day while steam takes 6 or more extra months? Surely there is not six months worth of preperation into such a release? Why can't it be released on steam episodically, even if there is a delay? I'm not talking about steam as the default distribution method, I'm just wondering why it's a complete afterthought as some kind of post season chore.
Personally, I would evaluate each service/company on a case-by-case basis, but we're not yet at a point where I have that many to worry about. But even if I did, what's the difference between that and shopping at multiple online retailers, which people do all the time, I'm sure you included? I've probably patronized dozens of different online stores in my time from Amazon to Deepdiscount to some pretty obscure ones, and unless the site's url was something like http://www.angelfire.com/wewontstealyourcreditcardnumber/noreally/index.shtml I've always felt pretty comfortable about making online making transactions. Obviously, those risks are mine to take, and you should never buy from a vendor whom you don't have complete faith in but you seem to hold the rather annoying belief that "Valve is trustworthy because they're Valve, and everyone else isn't because they're not Valve." I'm not sure what your particular story is with regard to Valve, but personally I don't trust them anymore than I trust Telltale, who have a proven track record and have vowed to make all games unlockable in the event of the company's improbable obliteration, makers of Half-Life or not. (Additionally, I just want to point out that Telltale products can be installed more than once and on multiple machines. Maybe you knew that but earlier posts from you suggest that you think these are qualities exclusive to Steam. Furthermore, for the collectors and the paranoid they offer a physical CD for the Sam & Max seasons which do not rely on online activation.)
With regard to every developer under the sun making their own service - Obviously, making your own digital distribution system isn't the best answer for every given game developer, but Telltale was built from the ground up to be an online publisher and to release their games this way. (Trivia: Not true of Valve.) I can think of a lot of developers for whom it would make more sense to get their games on Steam than to attempt start their own service, but the select few who want to be their own distribution channel have the right to do so without licensing to other companies. Telltale put Sam & Max on Steam, and every other place they've released it, to expand the game's distribution, with the main place being Telltale's site itself. The advantage of Steam is that it makes people aware of Sam & Max who may not have been aware of it before, due to the large install base. Relatively speaking Steam is probably not a huge priority because once Telltale releases a game on their web site no one is excluded from the chance to buy it. I can't tell you why it takes six months or whatever for the games to get on Steam, but I do know that if the games never got on Steam no one interested in buying Sam & Max would (involuntarily) suffer from it.
It still seems to me that your decision to wait for Steam has more to do with your allegiance to it or its creators than anything else. Which is totally valid, but at the same time there's no compelling reason for Telltale to release their games on Steam any earlier than they're ready to, whatever the rationale behind it may be.
I wouldn't call it paranoia, but you make an excellent point about the physical discs. Most online distribution platforms don't offer physical discs that do not require online activations. At best, you can get a burned backup DVD (that you could well have made yourself).
That actually makes me curious about what percentage of full-season customers have actually taken Telltale up on that offer of getting the season disc. Especially those outside the US who have to pay a significant chunk of the season's price for shipping (mine cost $10 to ship, which I paid happily, btw
The relationship is trust in the company. I'm talking about when a company says upfront that there will always be a way for you to get your games regardless of the company's future, which is the case with both Valve and Telltale. If you simply don't trust a company when they say that, you wouldn't buy from them, just like you wouldn't enter your credit card number into any site with a text box.
It's a good question for Telltale. I imagine quite a few did, since it only costs the price of shipping (though as you noted that could mean a lot of different things depending on where you live in the world). I don't know though.
It's because it's so nonsensical that it almost becomes surreal... one can't help but analyze it. It's like watching a car crash into an art museum.
Come to think of it, I feel pretty much the same way about the "Four years have passed" thread.
Which could possibly be misconstrued as an art project in and of itself.