Half-Life 2 bundled with R360?

[Natoma]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11406

ATI and its partners have won an exclusive deal to ship the game with every Radeon 9800XT high end R360 card, scheduled to be introduced later this month.

If true, this is a huge HUGE win for ATI. Though if the R360 is supposed to ship on the 30th with HL2, should we be seeing some R360 official "launch" any day now?

[jb]

I remember in the past if the software was not ready...then you got a certificate in the box....hope thats not the case (one before the other)

[Malo]

If true, this is a huge HUGE win for ATI. Though if the R360 is supposed to ship on the 30th with HL2, should we be seeing some R360 official "launch" any day now?

It's more likely that they will "launch" the R360 on exactly the same day. So no paper launch or pre-launch, but throw the card out the door the same day as the HL2 launch. and if they manage to convince Valve to release their bundled versions before the stand-alone HL2 game, then it's surely going to be a winner for ATI ;)

[Joe DeFuria]

I have a feeling that a Half-Life 2 CD will NOT be bundled with the new Radeons...but Half-Life 2 "via Steam" will.

There is lots of motivation on both sides to do this.

Valve wants to push Steam as a new delivery mechanism, and it's just cheaper all around. Consumers of course, being consumers, will be weary of the new distribution mechanism. But who is really going to complain if it comes "for free" with their new hardware? This is a good strategy for Valve to have an initial push for the Steam model.

It also negates the issues with the game being "finished" or not in sync with the hardware. Just supply a login ID and password (with multiple options for purchase type) for STEAM with every Radeon, and whenever Half-Life is ready, the end users have it.

[Dave H]

On a related note, Valve has confirmed that they will be shipping several different HL2 SKUs, including a cut-down single-player only version, the standard version, and a deluxe edition with unidentified goodies; all in addition to several tiers of Steam packages. Point being, there's plenty of room for them to offer one of the lower-end models (perhaps single-player only) with the R360, get a bunch of good PR for doing so, and still get full sales from the vast majority of those who would spend $400 on an R360 in the first place.

Seems to make a lot of sense all the way around. Only problem is that a few remaining Nvidiot dead-enders might use this as "proof" that HL2's vastly better R3x0 performance is due to Valve being in ATI's pocket or some such.

[Joe DeFuria]

On a related note, Valve has confirmed that they will be shipping several different HL2 SKUs, including a cut-down single-player only version, the standard version, and a deluxe edition with unidentified goodies;

Yup.

Point being, there's plenty of room for them to offer one of the lower-end models (perhaps single-player only) with the R360, get a bunch of good PR for doing so, and still get full sales from the vast majority of those who would spend $400 on an R360 in the first place.

I don't think that would fly. Though I could definitely see something like the "single player only" version being offered for free with ATI cards, with the option to purchase the "upgrade" to one of the higher versions for a nominal cost.

I don't think Valve would try and make people pay the "full price" for the full copy if they bundle a single player version with the Radeon...that would be a major PR blunder...as it could give steam a bad rep as "a way for Valve to rip you off" right from the get-go.

[Saem]

Joe I have simillar suspicions. I'm wondering does anyone know if the Radeon 8500 was the only card to have HL, CS and TFC bundled with it -- subsets welcome.

[incurable]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11406
ATI and its partners have won an exclusive deal to ship the game with every Radeon 9800XT high end R360 card, scheduled to be introduced later this month.
If true, this is a huge HUGE win for ATI. Though if the R360 is supposed to ship on the 30th with HL2, should we be seeing some R360 official "launch" any day now?
Agreed, that would be a great deal for ATi, but timing is crucial. As a European customer I fully expect to either not see this bundle at all (though Sapphire and the likes probably wouldn't complain if they were offered the option, too) or see it no earlier than November which, given the supposed shipping date for HL2, would be entirely to late for quite a few gamers. I know I wouldn't wait 6-8 weeks after the release of HL2 for a graphics card to arrive bundled with the it.

cu

incurable

PS: < insert rant about 9800XT possibly continuing the legacy of its predecessors by again missing the second DVI-I out here >

[Doomtrooper]

Joe I have simillar suspicions. I'm wondering does anyone know if the Radeon 8500 was the only card to have HL, CS and TFC bundled with it -- subsets welcome.

AFAIK yes it was....I still have my 8500 retail box and bundle.

[jvd]

Joe I have simillar suspicions. I'm wondering does anyone know if the Radeon 8500 was the only card to have HL, CS and TFC bundled with it -- subsets welcome.

AFAIK yes it was....I still have my 8500 retail box and bundle.Yea i had half life and counter strike on one cd out of my 8500. Man i think i need to buy another ati card. Lets see since last sept . 9700pro , 9500pro , 9800pro . Dang ati you should send me a r360 for my birthday :-)

[cthellis42]

Consumers of course, being consumers, will be weary of the new distribution mechanism.

I'm going to assume you meant "wary," as otherwise how would we be tired of a distribution mechanism we haven't yet seen? :P :wink:

[nyt]

Speaking of HL2, http://www.compusmart.ca/ plans availability on 11/20 !? Anyone knows places to preorder with earlier shipping dates?

[T2k]

Joe I have simillar suspicions. I'm wondering does anyone know if the Radeon 8500 was the only card to have HL, CS and TFC bundled with it -- subsets welcome.

AFAIK yes it was....I still have my 8500 retail box and bundle.

Same thing here - except the box, I can't see it right now. :D

[T2k]

Speaking of HL2, http://www.compusmart.ca/ plans availability on 11/20 !? Anyone knows places to preorder with earlier shipping dates?

Dunno, I pre-ordered from Gamefixx of CompUSA, it shows the same thing:

Expected Ship Date: Thursday, November 20, 2003

I think it's just a safe way for them...

[cthellis42]

Last comments coming out of Valve were still "It'll be tight but we're on for 9/30" though, so far as I know.

This is always so confuzzling... :?

[T2k]

Last comments coming out of Valve were still "It'll be tight but we're on for 9/30" though, so far as I know.

This is always so confuzzling... :?

Check this - last question from a Lombardi interview, week ago:

Finally, obviously there's been a lot of talk about, and confusion surrounding, Half-Life 2's release date following statements from Vivendi. Can you confirm now whether you're still on track to hit the September 30 date?

Lombardi: The release date's unchanged.



Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php?id=95556 and http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php?id=95628

[cthellis42]

I know, that's who I was quoting! But every retailer and their mother seems to have them for 11/20, so if they were definitely making it out by the end of this month... Shouldn't some of these stores KNOW?

[Geeforcer]

Actually, expanding on Joe's idea: Stream release on 9/30, store release weeks later.

[Trawler]

Actually, expanding on Joe's idea: Stream release on 9/30, store release weeks later.

Makes sense. That way it gives them an extra week or so extra to finish up. The saving coming from the time spent producing CDs and getting them out to retailers.

[WaltC]

I read a blurb somewhere in the last couple of days about Valve implementing Steam as a subscription service delivery vehicle for HL2--and saw one fee of $9 a month mentioned which would "entitle" players to "new content" and so on, after you purchased the game at retail. I also read about the multiple SKU plan for the game in the same story.

IMO, this sucks, if true. Even if they were to provide the full game via the subscription without requiring a copy be purchased first at retail, a mere year of this would come to $108 US. Add in the price of the game and you're looking at ~3x the cost of the game itself. Anyone else heard about this?

Whatever happened to the idea of companies selling millions of games and making their profits up front, and supporting their customers in the interim so that they'll be interested in the next game they market?

[Joe DeFuria]

IMO, this sucks, if true.

Well, it's not true.

You can subscribe to steam for $10/month...which IIRC gets you access to EVERY GAME and all content that ever comes out over steam. Not just Half-life2.

TF2 and CounterStrike will be new games for example, that you can purchase separately once they are released in stores. Or, if you have a monthly subscription to steam, you'll automatically get access to them once they are out.

I don't see anything wrong with the steam model itself. The potential issues, IMO, are going to be technical....(supplying necessary server and bandwidth capacity for the peak downloading times, like when new games or content is released.)

[cthellis42]

I wonder if you can just sign up right before a game gets release over Steam and cancel afterwards, so you're only ever paying $10 for them. ;)

[Joe DeFuria]

I wonder if you can just sign up right before a game gets release over Steam and cancel afterwards, so you're only ever paying $10 for them. ;)

I was wondering that myself. Or how about, 3 years from now, with presumably lots of content on Steam, you sign up, download everything, an then cancel. That's $10 for All!

I don't know how they plan to control sign-ups / cancellations, but I have to believe they have some sort of control on it. It may be something like: if you download a game based on the monthly access fee, you can only play the games while you still have the account. That sounds pretty drastic though.

They could do something like requiring a minimum subscription length.

[digitalwanderer]

I wonder if you can just sign up right before a game gets release over Steam and cancel afterwards, so you're only ever paying $10 for them. ;)
I have a bad feeling Valve is going to shoot themselves in the foot with this one the same way Id did with their infamous "Quake demo disk" which you could call up a number and unlock the entire Id library up to that point.

It was a great model, 'cept when someone put out a crack program a week later that allowed you to generate your own key to unlock everything...then they were selling a $10 CD that basically had the complete version of every game they had on it. :(

I think the same will happen with the Steam release, I think someone will crack it and spread it. :(

[Mark0]

I don't see anything wrong with the steam model itself. The potential issues, IMO, are going to be technical....(supplying necessary server and bandwidth capacity for the peak downloading times, like when new games or content is released.)May be they will use some sort of file swarming delivery method, like Bittorrent...

Bye!

[digitalwanderer]

I don't see anything wrong with the steam model itself. The potential issues, IMO, are going to be technical....(supplying necessary server and bandwidth capacity for the peak downloading times, like when new games or content is released.)May be they will use some sort of file swarming delivery method, like Bittorrent...
I have no doubt Bittorrent will be used to spread HL2.... :(

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I wonder if you can just sign up right before a game gets release over Steam and cancel afterwards, so you're only ever paying $10 for them. ;)

They've already said you can't - in effect there will minimum contract which will be equivalent to buying the boxed game, in order to stop exactly this.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I don't see anything wrong with the steam model itself. The potential issues, IMO, are going to be technical....(supplying necessary server and bandwidth capacity for the peak downloading times, like when new games or content is released.)May be they will use some sort of file swarming delivery method, like Bittorrent...

Bye!

I thought Steam was a P2P type app - which of course worries me in terms of bandwidth usage and storage space. I sure don't want my PC serving gigs of bandwidth to other Valve customers for some indeterminate amount of time in order make Valve more money - and I'm sure my ISP would not be too happy about it either.

[Joe DeFuria]

They've already said you can't - in effect there will minimum contract which will be equivalent to buying the boxed game, in order to stop exactly this.

Source?

The reason why I question this, is consider 2 years from now:

Half-Life2 - $50
Team Fortress - $50
Counter Strike - $30
Half-Life2 Expansion Pack 1 - $25
Half-Life2 Expansion Pack 2 - $25

If I want to "subscribe" to Steam 2 years from now, I'll have to shell commit to $180 worth of subscription time? And it just gets worse as time goes on?

Why not just buy all the games off the shelf then?

I think subsciptions are more likely to be like rent. You can only play the games that you acquired via subscription, for as long as you are a subscriber.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I wonder if you can just sign up right before a game gets release over Steam and cancel afterwards, so you're only ever paying $10 for them. ;)
I have a bad feeling Valve is going to shoot themselves in the foot with this one the same way Id did with their infamous "Quake demo disk" which you could call up a number and unlock the entire Id library up to that point.

It was a great model, 'cept when someone put out a crack program a week later that allowed you to generate your own key to unlock everything...then they were selling a $10 CD that basically had the complete version of every game they had on it. :(

I think the same will happen with the Steam release, I think someone will crack it and spread it. :(

Steam is a great experiment that people have been talking about for years - a way of delivering games directly to your PC. For the segment of the market that has broadband, it could potentially mean the end of distributers, publisher and retailers, with all the money going direct to the developer, who can make more profit and charge less to the customer (or offer "added value"). It means no pressing of CDs or packaging, no storage in warehouses, no shipping, no distribution, no returns, which all adds up to more cash in Valve's pocket. In addition, it creates a continuous income stream that has not been seen outside of pay-to-play MMORPG type games.

It's a risky venture to be in the vanguard of, but with a big title like HL2 that will have loads of mods and quite a long life, in addition to being used as an engine for other games, it seems like the huge potential prize is worth taking that risk for.

If you are a broadband user who has experience of P2P apps or large updates for online games, it could be very attractive. If there is sufficient extra content that you would want anyway, if you are going to play the game and it's variations with as much dedication as a Counterstrike player, the price could make econmic sense. I think Valve need to allow people to download the game, install it and then archive it off onto CD so that in the event of a reinstall, you only need re-download the latest update, but otherwise completely online distribution could be done, much in the same way as a game like Darkspace from Palestar.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

They've already said you can't - in effect there will minimum contract which will be equivalent to buying the boxed game, in order to stop exactly this.

Source?


I really tried to find the link for you, but I couldn't :cry: It was definatly one of the numerous Gabe Newell/HL2 interviews floating around the net recently, the one where he describes the various packaging.

Don't you think that Valve will have thought of the same thing that everyone else thought of? Or do you think they'll let someone subscribe for $10, download a $50 game and then cancel their subscription?



The reason why I question this, is consider 2 years from now:

Half-Life2 - $50
Team Fortress - $50
Counter Strike - $30
Half-Life2 Expansion Pack 1 - $25
Half-Life2 Expansion Pack 2 - $25

If I want to "subscribe" to Steam 2 years from now, I'll have to shell commit to $180 worth of subscription time? And it just gets worse as time goes on?

Why not just buy all the games off the shelf then?


If that's going to be the prices, and that how the economics work out, then yes, it's better for the customer to buy everything off the shelf and forget Steam. Obviously, if more content comes out, the balance shifts the other way, depending on how long you subscribe.

My understanding of the various packages are this (which is taken from Shacknews commentary on Gabe's emails posted in various forums):



1: Retail box, singleplayer, no multiplayer - ONE TIME FEE!
2: Retail box, singleplayer and multiplayer - ONE TIME FEE!
3: Retail box, singleplayer, multiplayer and other unknown cool stuff (collectors edition) - ONE TIME FEE!
4: STEAM, singleplayer and multiplayer - ONE TIME FEE!
5: STEAM, subscription model. Pay a montly fee and have access to all Valve titles, including the stuff on STEAM now (HL, OpFor, CS, TFC, etc), Half-Life 2, all future stuff they put out, and so forth.

Second, patches (bugfixes, maintenance releases, etc) will be free no matter which of the six option you decide to go for.

Community-based mods will be free unless the authors want to charge for them. Free community based mods will/can be made available though STEAM free of charge.

[WaltC]

IMO, this sucks, if true.

Well, it's not true.

You can subscribe to steam for $10/month...which IIRC gets you access to EVERY GAME and all content that ever comes out over steam. Not just Half-life2.

TF2 and CounterStrike will be new games for example, that you can purchase separately once they are released in stores. Or, if you have a monthly subscription to steam, you'll automatically get access to them once they are out.

I don't see anything wrong with the steam model itself. The potential issues, IMO, are going to be technical....(supplying necessary server and bandwidth capacity for the peak downloading times, like when new games or content is released.)

Thanks for straightening me out there, Joe...Put this way--that's not so bad and probably has a nice upside. I was thinking that if I bought the game at retail, I'd *have* to subscribe in order to get bonus packs, patches, etc.

Actually, if I could download the game and pay them directly--provided I'd be able to back it to CD once having done so--I'd have no objection to buying it direct and downloading it. I'll have to look more closely at the subscription terms, though, to see if that would interest me.

From what I gather from you, then, I can buy the game as usual and be privy to patches and other things without the necessity of subscribing. That's fine and like I say, if they structure it right I'd have no problem buying direct from them online.

[Dave H]

Once you cancel your Steam subscription you are no longer able to play any of the games (or access any other content) you've downloaded. Even though downloaded games/content are stored on your hard drive Steam authenticates you to the server before it lets you use it.

Of course this isn't a guarantee that this authentication model won't be cracked, but assuming they did a reasonably good job implementing it there's no good reason why it can't be secure.

As for the "issue" that most games are only worth playing for a month (if that) and then never looking at again...that's indeed something that will either need to be solved with a minimum subscription length or by making the content compelling enough to keep people paying.

[Joe DeFuria]

Don't you think that Valve will have thought of the same thing that everyone else thought of? Or do you think they'll let someone subscribe for $10, download a $50 game and then cancel their subscription?

Of course...but there's more than one way to deal with that problem. The "solution" that ou offered (I'll add emphasis) "in effect there will minimum contract which will be equivalent to buying the boxed game, " is what doesn't make sense to me.

If that's going to be the prices, and that how the economics work out, then yes, it's better for the customer to buy everything off the shelf and forget Steam. Obviously, if more content comes out, the balance shifts the other way, depending on how long you subscribe.

You are not describing your earlier solution. You solution is that the minimum subscription is equivalent to buying the game off the shelf. Or is that not what you mean?



1: Retail box, singleplayer, no multiplayer - ONE TIME FEE!
2: Retail box, singleplayer and multiplayer - ONE TIME FEE!
3: Retail box, singleplayer, multiplayer and other unknown cool stuff (collectors edition) - ONE TIME FEE!
4: STEAM, singleplayer and multiplayer - ONE TIME FEE!

That's my understanding as well.

5: STEAM, subscription model. Pay a montly fee and have access to all Valve titles, including the stuff on STEAM now (HL, OpFor, CS, TFC, etc), Half-Life 2, all future stuff they put out, and so forth.

Right...the issue is your proposed soltution to the "subscribe and cancel" problem. Are you, or are you not claiming that Valve said there would be a "minimum subscription" effectively equivalent to buying the game off the shelf?

[digitalwanderer]

Once you cancel your Steam subscription you are no longer able to play any of the games (or access any other content) you've downloaded. Even though downloaded games/content are stored on your hard drive Steam authenticates you to the server before it lets you use it.
Well that seems insane to me. I do NOT like the idea of just renting a game. :(

Of course this isn't a guarantee that this authentication model won't be cracked, but assuming they did a reasonably good job implementing it there's no good reason why it can't be secure.
Well, except for the fact that no "reasonably good job implementing it" has happened yet to date. (I'm already giving this round to the crackers. ;) )

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Right...the issue is your proposed soltution to the "subscribe and cancel" problem. Are you, or are you not claiming that Valve said there would be a "minimum subscription" effectively equivalent to buying the game off the shelf?

That's what I remember reading. It doesn't seem too improbable as many, many online subscription type services carry a minimum term. However, given Dave's recent posting above, it may be the case that I am wrong and the solution will be as you suggest, that you rent the content, and once you stop subscribing, you can no longer access the content.

However, if Dave's model is correct, it would still be possible to buy the game over Steam, play through the SP in a few days or weeks, and then cancel the subscription whilst only paying $10. If you are not interested in MP, or it's syle doesn't appeal to your tastes, this loophole enables you to play the full SP for a small portion of the retail SP-only box price. A mimimum price in the form of a minimum contract period for Steam subcription seems the only way to close this loophole.

I would guess that buying the one-off SP/MP version via Steam will cost a little less than a store boxed version, and that the subscription Steam model will cost you the equivalent over X number of months.

Have you any thoughts on how Valve might close this loophole in the Steam subscription model? Bear in mind, that that there is no way that any solution will end up with Valve making less money from the deal.

[parhelia]

I definitely won't want to get HL2 through STEAM, nor want a version without MOD support

[jjayb]

I would imagine they would have a sign up fee as well as the monthly charge. Say, $50 sign up fee plus $10 a month.

[cthellis42]

Not if they're going to cancel your access when you unsubscribe. With a $50 surcharge people MIGHT go for it if the later model was appealing (read "abusable") enough, but from the way it's sounding Steam more like a rental service, which on the whole isn't a bad idea. You could end up paying for a month or two periodically just to play new games and have fun, or even continue with Steam for a while and if you get 2-3 games worth a year, you've basically paid for the service.

...and of course since game cost always goes down over time, you could also play some things for a month or so and wait for retail prices to go down or bundles to be included to stretch your buck.

(Of course this all changes the moment someone figures out a way to hack it. :P )

[T2k]

As per release dates:

Gamestop

HL2 + Blue Shift (free): http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=B645118A - 9/30

HL2: http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=645118 - 11/19

CompUSA

HL2: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=293507&pfp=BROWSE - 11/20

EBgames

HL2: http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/235059.asp - 11/19

Gamesplanet (UK)

HL2: http://www.gamesplanet.co.uk/?AFC=S33&FORMAT=PC&CLASS=Product&DBID=ca9aee42cd877ea54535cfc2034f0bfa - 11/28 (!)

Gameplay (UK)

HL2: http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/productpage.asp?ProductCode=RM00327 - 9/30

Weird, huh? :shock:

EDIT: Weirdest thing is Gamestop has two different dates... :D

[Natoma]

I reserved my copy of HL2 ($5 deposit) at my local videogame shop for pickup date 9/30. :)

[cthellis42]

I guess I'll find out on 9/30 if cries of extreme anguish wake me up in the morning. :P

[sir doris]

Anyone know how big HL2 will be? I've only got 512K broadband (like most here in the UK), If it;s the same size as say UT2003 I could walk 10 miles to the shops, buy the game, walk back and be half way through it before it would be downloaded.

Also the way I see it working is if you subscribe to steam then you can only play the games while you are still subscribed, and to make things even worse there is a thread in the 'Games' forum that sugests once you have played MP (requires Steam) you will require an Internet connection to even play single player!

As for the other content I can't say I'd be interested in anything enough to subscribe, HL2 and maybe CS2, but that would far from convince me to pay $9 a month. Especially if they are unusable once you have cancelled your subscription.

It's all pants!

[T2k]

Yeah, thats weird for me too. $9 per month? What for, actually? Even the full version - if I understood correctly - gives you singel+multi+mods options. So? Why should I pay nine bucks? Just for the option to keep all my buddies on one list and get the updates automitically instead of manual update?
If that's not the reality but actually HL2 online gonna be a SUBSCRIPTION based online version of the single player game, if ONLY the subscrition gives you the chance of online playing and updating at all - then this whole Steam will go down within months.
No way to charge those zillions of CS players for playing. That would generate two things: everybody will start using some prated/cracked versions and/or they'll change to some free mod. Either way, subscription-based online gaming would be a very stupid idea from Valve, they'd shoot themselves... its gonna be VERY stupid move, IMHO.

[aaronspink]

[quote="Bouncing Zabaglione BrosI would guess that buying the one-off SP/MP version via Steam will cost a little less than a store boxed version, and that the subscription Steam model will cost you the equivalent over X number of months.

Have you any thoughts on how Valve might close this loophole in the Steam subscription model? Bear in mind, that that there is no way that any solution will end up with Valve making less money from the deal.[/quote]

Yes, I have a fairly good idea on how they will do this. The same way to do everything else in MP HL/CS. During game startup the game sends a signature to a Valve owned server which authenticates the game.

A week or two ago when there were some network issues I saw a non-autherised error message from CS 1.6 via Steam.

[Joe DeFuria]

Yeah, thats weird for me too. $9 per month? What for, actually?

For all of their content that you would otherwise have to pay for at retail, or some content that might not be offered at retail.

Even the full version - if I understood correctly - gives you singel+multi+mods options. So? Why should I pay nine bucks?

There will be other content besides HL2, it's mods, and expansion packs.

If that's not the reality but actually HL2 online gonna be a SUBSCRIPTION based online version of the single player game, if ONLY the subscrition gives you the chance of online playing and updating at all - then this whole Steam will go down within months.

That is NOT the reality, so you don't have to worry about it.

Think of it this way: do you know what NetFlix is?

You pay something like $20/month, and you get to "rent" as many DVDs as you want. You order something like 3 DVD, you keep each one individually however long you want, and you get to pick a new DVD each time you turn in one of yours. You always have 3 DVD's "rented" at any given time.

Now, this is a dumb idea for someonw who would "own" a DVD: that is "rent" The Matrix, and then keep it forever while paying $20/month.

However, for someone who doesn't care to "own" the movie, jsut wants to watch it once or twice, and move on to the next one....it can be a great deal.

The issue here, is CONTENT. There are a million DVDs out there. So the NetFlix model works nicely. Now, the steam model is slightly different, but I hope you see the relationship here.

We know that there is a market for game rentals.

What we don't know, is how much "content" will be available from Valve via steam. If there's lots and lots of content, subscription could be worth it.

So that's the big question mark. How much content will Valve offer?