EA Is Now Officially On Steam, Spore Loses SecuROM

Trevor DeRiza writes "Today, Valve and EA revealed that this week's earlier rumors were true: Spore (and other EA games) are coming to Steam. As of today, Spore, Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, Warhammer Online, Mass Effect, Need for Speed: Undercover, and FIFA Manager 2009 are all available for download on Steam. In the coming weeks, EA will add Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, and Red Alert 3. On the official Steam forums, when asked whether or not Spore would contain the dreaded SecuROM DRM that contributed to it being the most pirated game of 2008, a moderator replied, 'It does not have third party DRM.' EA has also finally launched a 'de-authorization tool' to free up limited installation slots." Several readers have written to point out other news about Steam today: they've begun selling games priced in local currency for European customers. The only problem? Their conversion rate seems to be $1 per €1, somewhat less favorable than the current exchange rate, which is roughly $1.40 per €1.

Comments

Re:This is good...Maybe.

[narcberry]

What are the benefits exactly? Digital download?

I don't know why Steam is so popular, seems like another point of failure to me. Someone please sell me on Steam.

Re:Nice Try, but No

[gparent]

Might giving a reason for all that worthless critic? Steam is a kickass platform for game delivery, and has been widely adopted by multiple high-profile companies now.

Its DRM is a LOT less limiting than pretty much every alternative on the market (except no DRM), and it brings a load of features to boot.

But hey, you can just stop playing some of the greatest games ever made because you *gasp* need an internet connection (ONCE). Nobody will stop you.

Re:Steam doesn't suck any more?

[zarthrag]

Obviously, he doesn't have a wife and kids - the only way to get some serious, uninterrupted multi-player is to round up your other man buddies, placate the wives, abandon the non-teenage kids, order pizza & beer (I know you kids like dew, but that goes south once you're done growing pubes).