Software publisher Strategy First and Valve have announced a multi-title distribution deal that will deliver a collection of Strategy First's front line titles and new releases via Steam, Valve's online platform for digital content distribution and management. Strategy First is the first entertainment software publisher to move forward with Valve's Steam, which connects nearly 6 million gamers worldwide.
The deal means that Valve is trying to lure even more publishers into its Steam idea, possibly digging in for a fight with other publishers as they get their content distribution systems up and ready. A question on many lips remains the exact nature of Valve's relationship with EA and its own service, the imaginatively named, EA Downloader. Earlier this year we had an announcement regarding a partnership between EA and Valve but that concerned the publishing rights to Half-Life 2: Game of the Year, Counter-Strike Source and Half-Life 2 for the XBox console; there was no mention of any partnership regarding Steam technology. It is likely then, that Valve and EA will be direct competitors in the online content distribution market, especially if EA decides to push its Downloader system.
S.C.S - Dangerous Waters, a naval simulation game due for arrival in December 2005, will be the first Strategy First title made available to millions of Steam gamers.
Stay with MegaGames for further details regarding the other Strategy First titles available through the Steam service, as they are released.
