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Valve Inks Deal With Lionsgate Adding Over 100 Movie Titles To Steam Platform (hothardware.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the everybody's-doing-it dept.

MojoKid quotes a report from HotHardware: Valve took a major step in growing its Steam digital distribution platform today by adding movie rentals to the mix. The addition of movies to Steam's catalog is a first, and it was made possible through a deal with Lionsgate Entertainment that immediately fleshes out the service with more than 100 flicks. Steam is currently the biggest digital distribution platform for games, and while it has a long way to go before it can claim the same for movies, there's little doubt Valve wants to take it there. In a press release announcing the deal, Valve said Lionsgate was "one of the first major studios to license films" for streaming on Steam, which hints that it's attempting to lure other studios as well. You can view the entire catalog here.

6 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Insane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why would I pay $5 for a rental?

    1. Re:Insane by JeffSh · · Score: 4, Insightful

      i dunno. i feel the same but isnt it funny? My family ran video stores in the 90s and 3 dollars was the usual rental fee for new releases.

      look at how much our value perception has changed because of technology.

      also whats changed is our ability to afford minor entertainments.

  2. Smoking Man by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I wish Valve would ink a fucking deal to make Half-Life 3. I don't need their movies.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  3. No benefit? by barc0001 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Unless they're planning on renting movies for 50 cents a pop on here, I don't really see what they can bring to the table. You can already stream movies elsewhere for flat subscription fees and they have an integrated UI that works with most smart TVs and playback devices. From the screenshot of this I saw earlier today they want to charge you $4 to rent Kill Bill 2 for 48 hours and you'll have to watch it on a computer unless you've already got a Steam Box, Steam Link, or other PC with Steam installed already hooked to your TV. That's not value for money. The reason Steam is so liked with PC gamers is because of 2 things:

    1. Easy game and save management where it didn't exist before, with excellent social/community integration

    2. Steam SALES where you get games that are a couple of years old at rock bottom prices.

    Neither of these things will apply to movies on Steam from what I see so far, so there's just no benefit to renting one there.

  4. Where are all these films then? by jonwil · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I only see 10 films (none of which I would watch even if they were free) when I look at the list of Lionsgate stuff on Steam.

    No doubt Lionsgate is being its usual stupid self and denying Australians access to most of the films they have added to Steam (if people cant buy the films they want, they will pirate which hurts studio)

    1. Re:Where are all these films then? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You are not an American, you are not important to the studios.

      Europeans in the same boat. Well, everyone not USA.

      Also the prices are hilarious. I might consider that for a DRM free high resolution downloadable file, but for a time-limited streaming rental? LOL