EA Signs Publishing Agreement with Valve

[RainOfTerror]

EA announced today that it has reached a multi-year publishing agreement with Valve (http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=26785) to deliver a collection of Valve games to the masses worldwide. A few months back Valve and long time publisher Vivendi parted ways after a years long legal battle over Half-Life distribution agreements.

The first two games to be released under this agreement are Half-Life 2: Game of the Year (includes HL2, HL2:DM, CS: Source, and HL: Source) and Counter-Strike: Source for PC, both expected somewhere this fall. On top of that EA will also publish the Half-Life 2 Xbox version which is now scheduled for release in October.

Editor: The move sees EA as the publisher of HL2-xbox and the distributor of HL2 GOTY+CS:Source. VALVe maintains self-publishing status for all of its PC products (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/18/news_6129331.html).

A hardy thank you to those who submitted the same news.

[Draft]

I submitted this with a funnier headline.

[Reanimated]

It's the end of days.

[bgivnin]

I submitted this with a funnier headline.

You don't happen to go to Fark.com, do you? :)

[Draft]

You don't happen to go to Fark.com, do you? :)I may have been once or twice >.>

[StoneGut]

I still don't like Electronic Arts but this is a GREAT deal for Valve.

[jBusy]

I guess I have to boycott Valve now :(

[Last of the Red Hot Mamas]

You could just buy their stuff via Steam, which would cut EA out of the process. Unless you were already boycotting Steam.

[Royal Fool]

...ewwwwwww.

[Liquidize105]

I guess I have to boycott Valve now :(
Only the xbox version of HL2. Like Red Hot said, for PC stuff just buy steam.

You bet I'll buy Aftermath through steam.

[TwistedPixel]

The only reason I'll buy the box version of Aftermath is if EA / Vavle offer something compelling in the box...

1) Extra mission or two (not going to happen)
2) Extra weapon (not going to happen)
3) Craptacular™ collectible

...I guess I'll stick with Steam.

TwistedPixel
------------
"Me and my arrow"

[Kefkataran]

Shudder. It'll take days to get the stench off. Good thing the only Valve stuff I'm interested in I can get off of Steam. I guess since EA won't be coming close to touching Valve's dev team, this isn't SUCH bad news.

[Taco]

Just a way for Valve to make money by doing nothing, no problem with that. I just wish that they had picked someone else.

[Beelzebud]

I've been happy with Steam, and I'll be happy to keep using Steam. EA isn't getting a dollar from me.

[51|RandoM]

As long as Valve maintains their own internal QA, I don't care who publishes them.

[ldi222]

Ill buy from EA before I buy from Steam and that's saying a lot.

[Taco]

Ill buy from Steam before I buy from EA and that's saying a lot.

[Dirty Harry]

Ill buy from all of them before i buy from none of them, and that is saying a lot.

[Kefkataran]

Ill buy from all of them before i buy from none of them, and that is saying a lot.

Addict! He's addicted! Lock him up!

[Nameback]

My most hated publisher, and my most loved devloper......... together? I feel betrayed :(

[51|RandoM]

I'll buy from steam before buying from EA, and that isn't saying much at all.

[Fuzzy]

I'm in awe of how damn smart Gabe / Doug / Valve are. By hooking up with EA, the most hated publisher in the industry, they're adding another great enticement for gamers to buy Valve products over Steam.

Even people who up until now have resisted using Steam will see this as a compelling reason to use the lesser of two evils.

[Orphiuchus]

I just hope EA doesn't somehow get its claws into valve.

[Fuzzy]

I don't see how they could. Valve hold all the power in this deal. This isn't an on going publishing deal, what's being announced here is that Valve are using EA to get the collectors edition of HL2 and CS:S out into the retail market.

Gabe has said that in the future Valve will be self publishing.

[dark_inchworm]

Oooooh MAN. Um. I'm no super fan of Steam, but I'll buy any damn game from Steam before EA even sees a penny of mine. To hell with them.

/prays that this doesn't lead to a buyout immediately followed by a closing and franchise rapage

[Hijinx]

I think EA is a Steaming pile and everyone says that.

[RevGored]

I'm just glad it's distribution and not anything else, because fucking honestly, Electronic Arts has devoured and shit out enough of my childhood as it is.

[Redline]

A company that dislikes publishers so much that they created their own content dilvery system working with one of the most dispised publishers in the industry. I know it's just business, but the universe has a sense of irony!!! Hooray! :)

[Karmakaze]

I'll buy through Steam, especially if it avoids that annoying "ITS IN THE GAME" splashscreen.

[Deadend]

EA will get their claws in.

Valve is doing some risky biz right here, EA will find a way to sue them and force Valve to pay in shares. I know Valve beat Vivendi, but EA is... diffrent.

[TrackZero]

I submitted this with a funnier headline.

What was the funnier headline (since it appears noone asked)?

[Varsity]

How the hell did I miss this? Now I've gone and posted a dupe and made myself look a fool. :p

I would have an opinon on this, but it doesn't affect me at all...;)

[Player 1]

So much misplaced hate. Shame. Have you guys ever tried using some objectivity?

Did EA ever try to sue or buy out Square when they earned publishing rights for the PlayStation Squaresoft games like FF7, FF8, FF9 and more? Did that ever happen? No.

EA's distribution and marketing muscle in this industry is unparalleled. Square's 32bit stuff was awesome - but there's NO WAY it would have sold like that if it didn't have the kind of global distribution that EA could offer.

If you're a developer and (for now) need to get your AAA product OUT THERE then EA are top of the list. Additionally, after the VU Games mess you can be pretty certain that Valve didn't just make some quick decision and sign the first contract offered.

Bu the EA hatin' goes on and on and on

General tone being:

"EA SUCK - they make their staff work long hours!!"
And then after the Battlefield 2 patch
"EA SUCK - why did they let their developers go on vacation NOW??"

or how about

"EA SUCK - they just produce bland, cookie cutter games with no effort to them"
After the recent 'Godfather delayed' stories
"EA SUCK - they have to hold games back and can't release them on time"

I *hate* the mentality of EA haters. EA aren't totally innocent, I admit, but they're not worse than 95% of the industry. They just take 100% of the flak.

Back on topic - All in all this seems like a win-win deal for Valve. Great conventional distribution and if people blindly hate EA that much then the profile of Steam (something else I never had issues with) gets raised.

Let's just hope Hillary Clinton doesn't stick her oar in this time.

[Taco]

EA will get their claws in.

Valve is doing some risky biz right here, EA will find a way to sue them and force Valve to pay in shares. I know Valve beat Vivendi, but EA is... diffrent.

Not likely. Vivendi was in much deeper, I believe their contract was a holdover from the Sierra days, before Valve had any clout or money. That's no longer the case, I doubt EA signed for any more than distribution scrappings.

That's like saying Activision could of screwed over id, not going to happy because id holds all the cards.

[Taco]

Did EA ever try to sue or buy out Square when they earned publishing rights for the PlayStation Squaresoft games like FF7, FF8, FF9 and more? Did that ever happen? No.

That's only because Square was a self sustained company(as is Valve). The dev houses EA fucks over are not and depend on a publisher to keep them afloat.

[Player 1]

That's only because Square was a self sustained company(as is Valve). The dev houses EA fucks over are not and depend on a publisher to keep them afloat.

Such as?

Do you have any idea the sheer number of developers that get fucked over by all the other large (and small) publishers?

Valve and VU, Eidos and Core, Eidos and Ion Storm - there's three off the top of my head.

Developers get fucked over by publishers every single day in this industry! The last developer I worked for got fucked over by the games arm of Fox - and they're not that big or powerful. Friends working at a small publisher got fucked over by Take 2. Happens all the time.

But (and this is what I'm saying) people only mention EA because they decide they're the bad boys and never bother to look any further. Just like the whole working hours / EA Spouse thing. Happens in 95% of the developers in the industry but gamers just bitch at the most obvious target.

I feel the same outrage at this narrow-minded, unthinking criticism like this as I do when I hear what Jack Thompson and Hillary Clinton got up to last week.

I don't blindly love EA, but I can't stand the ridiculous bias of today's gamer culture against them - it's totally out of proportion to what they do and is generally unfounded bias borne from a lack of understanding of what is going on on an industry/buisness level as opposed to "You suck - how DARE you touch my mate Gordon Freeman!".

There's a big difference.

[Mrbunchypants]

My guess is that this works better for valve. I'm not a fan of alot of what ea has done in recent months, however i do like valve games. guess we will have to wait and see.



ps: Valve pwn my steam account. :( I guess vac really does work.

[xcalibur]

Player 1,

I have been in the industry for 7+ years, and worked directly with EA, as well as had many, many friends work either for or with EA. I have plenty of info to base my opinion of EA. And my opinion is EA sucks ass.

All publishers suck ass, but EA is definitely the top of the list.


-X

[H.Bogard]

hmmm.......atleast EA isnt gonna be as bitchy as vivendi was :).......or are they?

[mister_slim]

If you're a developer and (for now) need to get your AAA product OUT THERE then EA are top of the list. Additionally, after the VU Games mess you can be pretty certain that Valve didn't just make some quick decision and sign the first contract offered.

If only Oddworld Inhabitants had gone with EA instead of whover that publisher was who couldn't be bothered with advertising Stranger.

[Player 1]

If only Oddworld Inhabitants had gone with EA instead of whover that publisher was who couldn't be bothered with advertising Stranger.

I'm sure if EA can be bothered to market and distribute a game then we'll see the results. We'll see the results in print ads, online ads, tv spots, cinema spots and heaps more.

IF they choose to.

If they choose not to, I don't think you can claim that EA don't have the ability - just that their plans don't match with your gaming preferences.

<digressing>

This is what I'm talking about though folks. Prime example of pulling *anything* out the bag they can hurl at EA to try and take them down. Let's ignore EA's total marketing and distribution power and overall industry influence that they clearly have - just because they didn't push a favoured game. The total and utter loss of perspective demonstrated here is staggering.

Look at the sales charts and tell me EA don't have what it takes to put any game they want into the top ten.

[mister_slim]

Look at the sales charts and tell me EA don't have what it takes to put any game they want into the top ten.
Obviously they do. But it's more profitable to slap a license on a by-the-numbers game.