gamersgate posts

It looks like other download sites have decided to drawn a line in the sand over the decision by Infinity Ward and Activision to incorporate Steamworks into the PC port of Modern Warfare 2. Direct2Drive has already stated it won't sell the upcoming shooter because it intergrates the Steam features into the game. Now Voodoo Extreme reports that Stardock's Impulse won't sell the game either for the same reasons. Furthermore Kotaku reports that GamersGate has confirmed they won't make Modern Warfare 2 available for sale on their stores for the same reasons.

While we again point out that Steam-supported games have been sold by IGN's Direct2Drive in the past (Empire: Total War and Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II) it looks like they and the other two sites have all put their finger down in this case to protest having Steam be a requirement for purchasing Modern Warfare 2. We have emaield Valve, Infinity Ward and Activision for comment.

While everyone else is waiting for pre-Black Friday sales, PC gamers know that sales on downloadable PC games can be found all the time, especially on Thursdays.

• Steam has cut the price of the original Mass Effect to just $9.99 for the weekend
• Impulse has a number of weekend game sales going on including Flock for $7.49, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl for $9.99 and Mosby's Confederacy for $12.99.
• GamersGate has cut the prices of several of their games. That includes Painkiller, Painkiller Overdose and Painkiller Universe which are down 30 percent each. It has also put Grappling Hook (for PC and Mac) on sale for 50 percent off its normal price this weekend.
• Direct2Drive offers up $5 off Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising if you put in the promo code 5OFFOPFLASH at checkout.
• Telltale Games is offering full seasons of Sam and Max Seasons One and Two, Strong Bad and Wallace and Gromit for $20 each, a savings of $15 each from their original price.
  

It's Halloween Eve but for PC gamers looking for good deals, the treats are already here:

• GoGamer.com has launched a new 48 Hour Madness sale with lots of PC games on sale, including Painkiller Black Edition for $4.90, Velvet Assassin for $12.90, Prototype for $19.90 and Stormrise for $7.90.
• Impulse has several games on sale at their download site including all of the Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War games for $37.49.
• GamerGate also has a bunch of games on sale at their download site including Space Siege for $9.99
• Direct2Drive has the PC version of Ghostbusters on sale for $9.95. Don't forget their special Halloween-themed sales that we mentioned earlier this week
• Steam has put Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on sale for 40 percent off its normal price. So do Impulse and Direct2Drive
  
• GoG.com has three horror-themed games on sale for 30 percent off this weekend.

It's the eve of the weekend which means PC download sites are having their regular weekend sales deals. A quick check of the Internet can yield a lot of savings:

• Steam has put ArmA II on sale this weekend for a mere $24.99. They also have the new version of AI War: Fleet Command on sale for $14.99.
• This weekend, the Impulse service has several titles on sale, including Red Faction Guerrilla for 50 percent off its normal price.
• GamersGate has Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II on sale now for 50 percent off. Tomorrow it will have ArmA II at 50 percent off and Ëuropa Universalis III Complete for just $9.99 until Sunday.
• Direct2Drive will take $5 off a purchase of Aion until Sunday if you put in the code 5OFFAION at checkout.

Thursday is usually the day when PC game download services offer up some cool weekend sales. It's Thursday so where are those price cuts? Ah, there they are:

• Impulse has several games on sale from now until Sunday, including Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor for half-off its normal price and Street Fighter IV for just for $29.99.
• Gamersgate has put X-Com Complete and Hollywood Pictures 2 for 50 percent off each on its site. Also, Sword of the Stars Ultimate is just $9.99 this weekend.
• Steam is selling Saints Row 2 for just $7.50 for today only. All of the Dawn of War games are still on sale for 50 percent off until Monday.

We've already reported on what PC game titles are on sale via Steam this weekend but there are other price cuts to go around in the next few days. Let's look at them right now:

• The GamersGate download site has put a number of titles on sale, including Velvet Assassin for 50 percent off its regular price, Fairy Tales: Three Heroes for 40 percent off its normal price and the The Golden Horde for 50 percent off.
• The Impulse service has several games on sale this weekend including a four game bundle of THQ shooters (first two Red FactionTen Ton Hammer games) for $29.99.
• GoG.com has put two RPG game bundles (Ishar Compilation and Robinson's Requiem Collection) containing a total of six games on sale for just $5.98 until Monday.
• Direct2Drive has taken $5 off the Battlefield 2 Collection until Sunday. You have to put in the code 5OFFBF2CC at checkout to receive the discount.
  

You have been waiting for this day all week; the start of the weekend PC sales period. As usual the various PC game download sites all have something to offer.

• Gamersgate will put one JoWood game on sale every day for 50 percent off its normal price this month. Today its Gothic Universe on sale. Also from now until Sunday Red Faction 1 and 2 along with Campus are both 50 percent off.
• You have just a few more hours to check out the many PC games on sale at GoGamer.com. Their sale ends at 3 am ET Friday morning.
• Impulse has a number of games on sale from now until Sunday. That includes Company of Heroes Gold Edition for 25 percent off.
• Steam has put Audiosurf on sale for just $4.99 from now until Sunday and the Oddworld games are on sale for 66 percent off for the same period. Finally you can get the recent FPS Legendary for free when you buy Raven Squad via Steam. Also don't forget those week long sales events we reported on earlier this week. Finally you have until Friday to buy Left 4 Dead for 50 percent off.
• Direct2Drive is still offering a selection of indie games for just $5 each until Monday.

If you like sales of PC games you know that you usually have to wait until at least Thursday to see a bunch of them pop up. Guess what? It's Thursday! Let's see what we can find, shall we?

• GamersGate has put a number of their titles on sale from now until Sunday on their site. That includes the Unreal Compete Pack for 60 percent off, games in the Panzers Elite Action series for between 40 and 50 percent off, and X-Blades, Crusader Kings Complete and Aztaka for 50 percent off each.
• Impulse has put several games on sale this weekend including Project Aftermath for just $4.99 and Scrapland for $6.99.
• The retail web site GoGamer.com has put up a number of current and older PC games on sale from now until 3 am ET on Saturday. They include games like ArmA II for $34.90, Majesty 2 for $24.90, Order of War for $34.90 and City of Heroes for $12.90.
• Amazon.com has one day sales in their "Gold Box" for Wolfenstein for $20.
• Steam is selling F.E.A.R. 2 and the recent mini-expansion F.E.A.R. 2 Reborn for 50 percent off each.
• Don't forget the previously announced $5 game sales at Direct2Drive and the Strategy First sales at GoG.com.

Valve launched its Steam download service with the release of its own game Half-Life 2 nearly five years ago. Since then the service has grown into one of the biggest, if not the biggest, service to download and purchase full PC games. It has hundreds of titles available from nearly every major PC publisher and has also opened up its service for independent game developers to offer their games via Steam. It has changed the way PC games are sold and, along with similar services, is slowly moving the PC game industry away from the brick-and-mortar retail store model.

But Valve is also a successful game developer and also sells its Source engine for third party developers to use. Does Valve's ownership of Steam ultimately become a problem for the PC game industry? Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford seems to think so. In a new interview with Pitchford for the November 2009 issue of the Maximum PC print magazine (now on newsstands), Pitchford says,"It would be much better if Steam was its own business. There's so much conflict of interest there that it's horrid. It's actually really, really dangerous for the rest of the industry to allow Valve to win."

In fact, developer/publisher Paradox Interactive did exactly that when launched its GamersGate PC game download service in 2006 and in 2008 spun off the that business into its own company. Stardock, yet another PC game developer/publisher, runs the Impulse PC download service that offers games from third parties.

Pitchford also believes that " . . . Valve is exploiting a lot of people in a way that's not totally fair. Valve is taking a larger share than it should for the service it's providing. It's exploiting a lot of small guys." We've emailed Valve to see if they wish to respond to Pitchford's comments but so far have yet to hear back.

Like creatures that only come out at night, most big PC game sales only come out for the weekend. Let's look at them together so we won't be so scared:

• Impulse has once again put a number of their titles on sale this weekend including Droplitz for just $4.99 and Gratuitous Space Battles for $19.99.
• GamersGate has put Takeda 3 on sale this weekend for just $14.95, a 50 percent savings.
• Steam has put The Secret of Monkey Island remake on sale this weekend for just $4.99.Also the classic Interplay games MDK and MDK 2 are on sale for 10 percent off their normal price or get both for the bundle price of $14.99. Also the previously announced free weekend trial for Unreal Tournament 3 plus the sales are now live. Finally you can save 20 percent for the just released Madballs in Babo: Invasion game plus give a one day guest pass to a friend if you buy the game in the next week.
  
• Gametap has added Prey to it's list of games available via its subscription service.
• Direct2Drive also has The Secret of Monkey Island remake on sale for 50 percent off. They also have a $5 off sale for Call of Duty 4 if you put in the code 5OFFCOD4 at checkout from now until Sunday.