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Steam To Begin Hosting Game Mods

Posted by Soulskill on from the upgrades dept.

Valve made a brief announcement on Friday that they will be allowing the download of user-created game mods directly from Steam. "Once installed, these MODs will appear in your 'My Games' list and will receive automatic updates just like other games on Steam. Also, these MODs now take advantage of Steamworks, which provides stat tracking and tighter integration with the Steam community." Mods will be available for five different games to start, and more in the future.

5 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. Double-edged sword by winphreak · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I can see the benefit of free hosting to this, but I also sense it'll be a while before all the mods take advantage of this new system.
    I'd like to think that Garry's Mod 10 counts as the first MOD to try this approach, and as long as I've been playing, it seemed to work pretty well.

    --
    "I'm a well-wisher, in that I don't wish you any specific harm."
  2. About time by JimBoBz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's about bloody time. When i bought Half-Life 2 i assumed that the popular MODs would make it on to Steam. I hardly play any of my Steam games anymore however being able to install and play MOD without having to search them out is just the ticket for a casual gamer like me...

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  3. Steam is a good example by jer2eydevil88 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Valve Games sold through Steam are a good example of what can go right with PC gaming. I am sure they are going to do great things for the modding community as well. Oddly I initially hated Steam when they launched HL2 thanks to the bugs and speed of that product but since that time they have really improved the system. With companies like EA putting more and more DRM into games like Spore I am glad that Valve released Team Fortress with the same lax licensing that accompanied all their previous launches. I also look forward to what http://www.gog.com/ will be bringing to the table in terms of competition for Valve older release title bundles.

    1. Re:Steam is a good example by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Steam's the only DRM I'll ever accept, because in exchange for requiring me to inconvenience myself to use a product I OWN they offer me great services while still leaving it pathetically easy to get to my product without using their system.

      I don't think it's an accident that it's so easy to run legitimately bought games with steam-free hacks.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    2. Re:Steam is a good example by gehrehmee · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nonetheless, it's still the sort of DRM where:

      • The owner gets to know when, where, and how you use the product
      • If the owner dissapears or goes bankrupt, you'll be unable to use your purchased content
      --
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