Game Technology.

Steam & Desura.

I chose to look into digital distribution software, specifically for the PC. This led me to focus in a little more on the opportunities that certain pieces software from this background have created.

While digital distribution had been a valid format for other forums of media since the 1980s, it didn't become a popular method of distributing games till the early 2000s. This was primarily due to bandwidth limitations relative to the size of the average game. Before then, there were a few attempts to create an online distribution service for games, the first of which was GameLine, which operated in the early 1980s and died during the video game crash of 1983. GameLine was used with the Atari 2600 to rent out specific games to users for 5 - 10 days.

During the 1990s and late 1980s, Nintendo and Sega released various peripherals for their consoles in order to enable online functionality, including the Famicom Modem, Satellaview and Randnet. These platforms were used to provide subscribers with extra content such as game cheats, connectivity with friends and occasionally a very small amount of DLC.

The PC platform granted easier access to digital distribution in this time due to the hardware already being available for online connectivity. However, there were no dedicated services for digital distribution and most content sharing was done from person to person in the form of user content.

In the early 2000s, digital disribution changed forever. Valve Corporation had encountered issues releasing patches and content for their online games. Releasing a patch would result in a disconnection for a large amount of their userbase for several days at a time. To counter this, they resolved to make a platform that would enable them to update their games automatically, while providing better anti-piracy and anti-cheat measures.

While Steam started out primarily as a means to provide updates to players for their games, Valve soon began making deals with independent and big name developers in order to bring their games to the platform. Social aspects were also included, allowing players to keep track of and talk to their friends in a streamlined format similar to instant messaging software like MSN and AIM.

This interface, accessible within games through the keyboard shortcut of shift + tab, brought the social aspect of couch or LAN gaming to games that were otherwise single player and cut off. Many gamers began outright abandoning other forms of instant messenger. Steam capitalized on this fact by providing everything a gamer would need on their one platform.

The Steam Workshop is a place to find user-generated content for games like Portal, Tf2, Scribblenauts and so on.

Dedicated distribution platforms like Steam began to create a very centralized, all encompassing and self-contained environment for games and communities that had previously been very spread out or even isolated. Games could be updated and updates applied smoothly and automatically, keeping security and stability intact with little effort from or disturbance to a player's experience. News sections kept players filled in on new and upcoming events on Steam and with Steam-related games, allowing games with little advertising of their own to step into the limelight. The indie community flourished in this environment, especially with the release of Steam Greenlight.

Steam Greenlight was released on August 30th of 2012, and allowed indie developers to put their game at the community's mercy for a small, one time fee. Using Greenlight, Steam users were able to vote on games that appealed to them and that they wanted to play. With enough votes, the game would be put on Steam as a fully fledged item in the store. This allowed indie developers to continue working under their own employ as they always had; without meddling from publishers or executives and, at the end of development, they were able to place their finished product on a platform responsible for an estimated 70% of the digital distribution market (in 2009). [Brad Wardell, 2009]

With the big franchises and developers not appealing to every section of the market, digital distribution platforms allow communities to play and support what they want to see. A big issue indie developers had was finding a publisher for their 'risky' and intuitive game ideas. Steam bypasses this issue, allowing indie developers to put their game straight onto Greenlight and allow the public to decide on whether or not they want it. With Steam collecting statistics for purchases (only available to game companies and secured with an NDA) and votes, hard evidence can be provided in regards to the popularity of each game and each genre, showing exactly what consumers wish to buy and see more of.

Games that may previously have struggled to sell have sold extraordinarily well on Steam. Terraria, a 2D adventuring/building game (think Minecraft) sold over a million units in a year. Demilogic via Youtube on 25 Nov 2011.

Another very similar platform to Steam is Desura. Desura, however, focuses more on the indie side of the games industry (and did so long before Greenlight existed). Desura provides much of the same essential functionality with Steam, and the developers do not view their program as a rival to Steam -- only a similar platform that focuses on another area of the market.

Developing games to place on Desura is transparent and easily accessible even to the average viewer -- the main software page dedicates a section to it.

Desura is more accessible to indie developers than Steam. This is both good and bad; less confident developers can get their game onto Desura more easily but have to compete with a fair few trash games for attention. Notably, unlike Steam, Desura does not use DRM where possible. In regards to games that require DRM (due to requests from publishers/devs), Desura will allow DRM and inform potential buyers of that fact before purchase. [Keith Poole, 2011]

Digital distribution for PC games has vastly improved the diversity and accessibility of what is immediately available to all levels of gamer. These platforms have helped raise awareness of many independent games and have, in some cases, been the cause of the of the success of individual games. In recent years, Valve has expanded Steam's reach onto the PS3 via Steamworks, allowing cross-platform play between PS3 and PC when playing Portal 2. The same will be available for Valve's Counter-Strike: GO, with the additional option of mouse and keyboard support in order to allow for equal play. [Mike Bendell, 2013] This brings once divided communities even closer together, allowing those who were once isolated on the PSN to communicate with gamers using Steam.

Digital Distribution Software and network platforms in general have allowed gamers to expand their horizons and friendship groups. Having developed software that focuses the community of a single console or platform, developers are beginning to focus more on the concept of cross platform play, further expanding the linked network of gamers and bringing an ever-diversifying library of games to the attention of more and more eyes.

Brad Wardell. (2009). Customer Report for 2009. Available: http://www.stardock.com/press/Reports/Stardock2009.pdf. Last accessed 03/01/2013.

Keith Poole. (2011). Interview with Keith Poole from Desura. Available: http://www.gamingonlinux.com/index.php?threads/interview-with-keith-poole-from-desura-part-2.503/. Last accessed 05/01/2013.

Mike Bendel. (2011). Valve Confirms Cross Platform Co-Op for PS3 Portal 2, Steam Copy Free With Purchase. Available: http://exophase.com/20856/valve-confirms-cross-platform-co-op-for-ps3-portal-2-can-unlock-copies-on-steam/. Last accessed 05/01/2013.

Research links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_%28software%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_live
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live_Marketplace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desura
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_distribution_in_video_games
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_video_game_development