Rumor: Xbox 360 Finally Opening Up to Steamworks

[Scott Bullock]

Rumor: Xbox 360 Finally Opening Up to Steamworks

Microsoft's miserly hold on online content for the Xbox 360 might be loosening, if an option buried deep in Steam's customer support menu is any indication.

Valve has been pining for a way to get its digital content delivery system onto the Xbox 360 for going on a year now [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103075-Valve-Would-Love-to-Put-Steam-on-360s], and it might finally be getting its wish.

Of course, a buried menu option is far from anything resembling conclusive evidence, and neither company has as of yet made any announcement of any sort of deal allowing Valve's third party content supply onto the normally closed Xbox 360 platform. On the other hand, perhaps Valve snuck in a subtle clue to a deal being made late last month, and we just weren't paying attention.

Valve's major exhibit at this year's Penny Arcade Expo was a playable demo build of the upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. I had a chance to chat with one of the employees [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112634-Counter-Strike-Global-Offensive-Stays-True-to-the-Source], who walked me through some of the new features of the game. One of these lauded new features was that the game was cross-platform, and that gamers on the PS3, PC, Mac, and Xbox 360 would all be able to play against and with each other.

Wait, hold up ... players on the 360 will be able to go up against PS3 players? Considering Microsoft's stranglehold on online content, that shouldn't be able to happen. Unless, of course, Valve and Microsoft had brokered some sort of deal allowing the use of Steamworks (Valve's home console version of Steam) on the Xbox 360.

Still, until one of the companies makes a formal announcement, the matter is merely speculation. If only there was some sort of immense gathering of industry giants and throngs of gamers coming up in six or so days, perhaps in a major Japanese city, at which to make such an announcement. Wouldn't that be great?

Source: TheSixthAxis [http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/09/08/xbox-support-on-steam/]


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[viranimus]

I think its more a sign of Valve hitting a plateau with saturation, and being in need of continued expansion.

Honestly, I do not see how this is even remotely logical, much less more than wishful thinking on valves part. Seriously there is no real advantage to having valve tied into the 360. The 360s multiplayer platform is just as good if not better (dependent on who you ask)than valves. You could make the case that it would give 360 owners a better old/indie game platform. There is no mention of that, and its sort of illogical to go against something youve been working to build up on your own client side. Giving up on the XBL indie marketplace for example isnt just giving up on indie game profits, its giving up on XNA licensing profits (both of which are not likely to be high considering XBLs indie market, but neither here nor there)

EDIT: Even on a security level there is no benefit to having yet another pointless layer of antipiracy protection for the 360, considering how easily steam is to work around especially compared to the piddly piracy numbers the 360 has to endure compared to steam.

So If its not really going to benefit the multiplayer, and all it can accomplish is cutting into Microsofts profits, what logical reason is there for Microsoft to willingly accept a competitor? I mean if its something obvious I am not seeing, then Ill be more than happy to reevaluate, but I honestly can see no logical reason why Microsoft would want to give up making money for no other reason than to allow Valve in on the console. Basically everything valve brings to the table would end up taking away from microsoft and I am not seeing anything they would be potentially getting in return.

 

[josemlopes]

That Xbox support may be there only for the question "Does the Xbox have steamworks?" and the answer of "No."

 

[The Lugz]

That Xbox support may be there only for the question "Does the Xbox have steamworks?" and the answer of "No."

LOL.. yah.. actually i'm betting on this now considering how-much redundancy there is in steam / valve you just made my day. grats.

 

[Burst6]

I think its more a sign of Valve hitting a plateau with saturation, and being in need of continued expansion.

Honestly, I do not see how this is even remotely logical, much less more than wishful thinking on valves part. Seriously there is no real advantage to having valve tied into the 360. The 360s multiplayer platform is just as good if not better (dependent on who you ask)than valves. You could make the case that it would give 360 owners a better old/indie game platform. There is no mention of that, and its sort of illogical to go against something youve been working to build up on your own client side. Giving up on the XBL indie marketplace for example isnt just giving up on indie game profits, its giving up on XNA licensing profits (both of which are not likely to be high considering XBLs indie market, but neither here nor there)

EDIT: Even on a security level there is no benefit to having yet another pointless layer of antipiracy protection for the 360, considering how easily steam is to work around especially compared to the piddly piracy numbers the 360 has to endure compared to steam.

So If its not really going to benefit the multiplayer, and all it can accomplish is cutting into Microsofts profits, what logical reason is there for Microsoft to willingly accept a competitor? I mean if its something obvious I am not seeing, then Ill be more than happy to reevaluate, but I honestly can see no logical reason why Microsoft would want to give up making money for no other reason than to allow Valve in on the console. Basically everything valve brings to the table would end up taking away from microsoft and I am not seeing anything they would be potentially getting in return.

I think the point is that steam on xbox 360 lets them play with ps3 and PC players online

 

[Catchy Slogan]

Maybe the xbox support is there for the GFWL stuff. They did just lump everything in together, and to reach the suppost forums for GFWL, you have to go to the xbox ones.

Just a guess.

But this would be pretty awesome if it was true.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Although I can see no benefit to this on the part of Microsoft, maybe they're allowing it to, you know, not be douchebags for a change?

Nah. There's a catch. There's always a catch.

 

[Waaghpowa]

That Xbox support may be there only for the question "Does the Xbox have steamworks?" and the answer of "No."

This is exactly what I was thinking, I doubt Microsoft would open up their network.

 

[draythefingerless]

I think its more a sign of Valve hitting a plateau with saturation, and being in need of continued expansion.

Honestly, I do not see how this is even remotely logical, much less more than wishful thinking on valves part. Seriously there is no real advantage to having valve tied into the 360. The 360s multiplayer platform is just as good if not better (dependent on who you ask)than valves. You could make the case that it would give 360 owners a better old/indie game platform. There is no mention of that, and its sort of illogical to go against something youve been working to build up on your own client side. Giving up on the XBL indie marketplace for example isnt just giving up on indie game profits, its giving up on XNA licensing profits (both of which are not likely to be high considering XBLs indie market, but neither here nor there)

EDIT: Even on a security level there is no benefit to having yet another pointless layer of antipiracy protection for the 360, considering how easily steam is to work around especially compared to the piddly piracy numbers the 360 has to endure compared to steam.

So If its not really going to benefit the multiplayer, and all it can accomplish is cutting into Microsofts profits, what logical reason is there for Microsoft to willingly accept a competitor? I mean if its something obvious I am not seeing, then Ill be more than happy to reevaluate, but I honestly can see no logical reason why Microsoft would want to give up making money for no other reason than to allow Valve in on the console. Basically everything valve brings to the table would end up taking away from microsoft and I am not seeing anything they would be potentially getting in return.

thats not particularly true. developing for multiple platforms doesnt affect XNA licensing. In fact, most indie games, many of wich EXCLUSIVE to the PC, are XNA games. thats because you seem to forget, first and foremost, games are made on PCs. and Microsoft, basically owns PCs. this would help not for the 360 part, but would help for a multi platforming basis, wich is something many of us want for ages.
Furthermore, SteamWorks is not necessarily a DRM. Steam has no need to put it as a DRM, because the 360 already has security in place. Steamworks would allow the, as stated above, multi platforming exchange to be incredibly smooth n easy. also, Steam =/= Steamworks. there wouldnt really be any game shop in steamworks. thats just silly

and one final thing. if you think the 360 doesnt have piracy issues...youre wrong. terribly wrong.
example: Deus Ex the new one, was pirated for the 360 a WEEK before it came out. the PC version didnt appear a fewdays AFTER the release, and to this day, the pirated Deus Ex that has been found so far, is shit, since it crashes continuously and majorly breaks the game, the performance evth. there is no decent Deus ex pirated version for PC.
the 360 is a JOKE in piracy. it sells more, but good lord is it pirated as fuck.

 

[Bigsmith]

I no a lot of people that own an Xbox and would like to cross platform with people who have a computer.

Since I'm one of few that play on a PC and the rest of my friends all play on either Xbox 360s or PS3s.

 

[Knaledge]

Just throwing this out there: that has been there forever and is likely related to the old versions of Counterstrike and Half-Life 2 on the Xbox. As in... the original Xbox. There was online play in CS Xbox.

 

[FrostyCoolSlug]

For Science, Lets find that option..

Create Ticket.. Box on the right hand side whilst submitting it.. I'd hardly call that "a buried menu"..

Can we FINALLY get some freaking TF2 updates now?!!!

Now where would be the best place to contact valve and ask that.. Hmm, Let's go to valves support site and ask them.. What would be a good category for this question? Aha! 'XBOX Support'!

Running a "Rumor" based off this is a really, REALLY long shot at best, as valve have released Xbox games in the past, in fact, the same page with that menu specifically states:

Experiencing an in-game issue with a non-Valve game? Please contact the game?s support team.

Which in the case of TF2 on the Xbox, would leave you at this very page.

Whilst yes, Steam is a platform, and the page is called 'Steam Support', it seems like an excessive amount of effort to create an entirely new ticketing system just for the few titles that have been released on the Xbox.

 

[mad825]

Gah, I hope not.

Imagine Steam having a tight grip on the whole motherfucking market, not just the PC, but all platforms. And then suddenly, they "go Kotick". Gamers are fucked.

I think you are misunderstanding what Steamworks does. It isn't a platform to sell games, it can just support games much easier by pushing out updates immediately without having to wait to go through Cert and stuff like that. Also it sounds like it might have some sort of cross platform online support.

Steamworks is DRM.

Because of this being DRM, they can control the market.