5 ms·

In fairness to Valve, they don't take the games you've bought away

js8 4y ago
They don't, because unlike Ubisoft, they're mostly a middleman. They run the marketplace for other game vendors and so they have reputation to uphold. However, Ubisoft is primarily a game developer, so there is a moral hazard of them screwing you. We all hate middlemen but this shows why they're needed (in the absence of regulation).
- iamstupidsimple 4y ago
  Valve is also a games developer, and they never pulled any of their old or failed games. You can still play Artifact or Ricochet multiplayer (if you really want).
JZerf 4y ago
This isn't entirely true. Most (all?) of the games require the Steam client which they are constantly updating and increasing the system requirements for. Systems that could previously run the Steam client and games just fine can no longer run those same games after a while. If I remember correctly the Steam client no longer supports systems running Windows XP, Windows Vista, OS X versions before 10.10, etc... to name a few. This is currently preventing me from running some games I've purchased and I will no longer be making any purchases on Steam until they resolve this problem.
jimbob45 4y ago
Yeah, this is my take. I didn't trust Ubi before this debacle and I'm not surprised now. Now, if Valve, Epic, or GOG pulled something like this, I might be inclined to sweat.
highwaylights 4y ago
What if Steam where ever to shut down? (E.g. it loses to Epic in the long run, or services like Game Pass consume the entire industry and render it obsolete)?
- gspetr 4y ago
  This is the best solution that I know of for Steam shutting down: https://www.gog.com/connect https://www.gog.com/connect It's not perfect, as GOG does not have everything, especially most of the recent titles from EA, but it does alleviate the problem to a large degree.
paulryanrogers 4y ago
But they may change them. For example by taking out music or replacing with remastered assets. Disc based media cannot be changed after the fact.
paulmd 4y ago
Valve doesn't but the companies that use Steam as a platform do. For example, your Titanfall purchase on Steam is now useless, and actually it was useless for the entire time it was available for sale (since the servers were never operational at any time during the period it was available). All of these titles they're talking about Ubi are available on Steam too (and the article specifically notes that some of them are still on sale with no indication they will be removed in less than two months). "Steam games can't be taken away" is false, and "valve as a company hasn't taken away your orange box yet" is not a particularly interesting or insightful observation. And to be clear, they are legally allowed to do so under the ToS under some circumstances!
autoexec 4y ago
Not so far, but the day might come when steam closes shop and then good luck getting your games to work
- gspetr 4y ago
  As I've replied in the sibling comment, GOG can solve this for most (non-big publisher) games: https://www.gog.com/connect https://www.gog.com/connect
  - autoexec 4y ago
    It doesn't say the games will be kept if Steam goes under. In fact, they don't let you keep games if they're removed from Steam "for any reason" > If a game is removed from your Steam account for any reason, such as through manual deletion or a refund – we reserve the right to remove the games from your GOG.com library. (see https://www.gog.com/connect#faq https://www.gog.com/connect#faq) I'd say it's unclear at best how well you'll be protected, but at least you can download and backup the DRM free installers for use even if GOG pulls the games out of your library.

js8 4y ago

They don't, because unlike Ubisoft, they're mostly a middleman. They run the marketplace for other game vendors and so they have reputation to uphold. However, Ubisoft is primarily a game developer, so there is a moral hazard of them screwing you. We all hate middlemen but this shows why they're needed (in the absence of regulation).

iamstupidsimple 4y ago
Valve is also a games developer, and they never pulled any of their old or failed games. You can still play Artifact or Ricochet multiplayer (if you really want).

JZerf 4y ago

This isn't entirely true. Most (all?) of the games require the Steam client which they are constantly updating and increasing the system requirements for. Systems that could previously run the Steam client and games just fine can no longer run those same games after a while. If I remember correctly the Steam client no longer supports systems running Windows XP, Windows Vista, OS X versions before 10.10, etc... to name a few. This is currently preventing me from running some games I've purchased and I will no longer be making any purchases on Steam until they resolve this problem.

jimbob45 4y ago

Yeah, this is my take. I didn't trust Ubi before this debacle and I'm not surprised now. Now, if Valve, Epic, or GOG pulled something like this, I might be inclined to sweat.

highwaylights 4y ago

What if Steam where ever to shut down? (E.g. it loses to Epic in the long run, or services like Game Pass consume the entire industry and render it obsolete)?

gspetr 4y ago
This is the best solution that I know of for Steam shutting down: https://www.gog.com/connect https://www.gog.com/connect It's not perfect, as GOG does not have everything, especially most of the recent titles from EA, but it does alleviate the problem to a large degree.

paulryanrogers 4y ago

But they may change them. For example by taking out music or replacing with remastered assets. Disc based media cannot be changed after the fact.

paulmd 4y ago

Valve doesn't but the companies that use Steam as a platform do. For example, your Titanfall purchase on Steam is now useless, and actually it was useless for the entire time it was available for sale (since the servers were never operational at any time during the period it was available). All of these titles they're talking about Ubi are available on Steam too (and the article specifically notes that some of them are still on sale with no indication they will be removed in less than two months). "Steam games can't be taken away" is false, and "valve as a company hasn't taken away your orange box yet" is not a particularly interesting or insightful observation. And to be clear, they are legally allowed to do so under the ToS under some circumstances!

autoexec 4y ago

Not so far, but the day might come when steam closes shop and then good luck getting your games to work

gspetr 4y ago
As I've replied in the sibling comment, GOG can solve this for most (non-big publisher) games: https://www.gog.com/connect https://www.gog.com/connect
- autoexec 4y ago
  It doesn't say the games will be kept if Steam goes under. In fact, they don't let you keep games if they're removed from Steam "for any reason" > If a game is removed from your Steam account for any reason, such as through manual deletion or a refund – we reserve the right to remove the games from your GOG.com library. (see https://www.gog.com/connect#faq https://www.gog.com/connect#faq) I'd say it's unclear at best how well you'll be protected, but at least you can download and backup the DRM free installers for use even if GOG pulls the games out of your library.