Valve versus Sierra [Sep 20, 2004, 11:34 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Valve vs.
Vivendi Universal dogfight heats up in US District Court on GameSpot (thanks
Democritus) reveals some details of a behind-the-scenes legal battle between
Valve and Sierra (now part of VU Games) over Half-Life and Half-Life 2 that's
been brewing for several years now. The article picks through details of a
recent court filing by Valve that reveals the current state of the litigation,
which has its next court date on October 8, though an actual trial is not
scheduled until March 21, 2005. Included are disputes over what
role Steam is to take in the game's distribution and who actually holds rights
to the Half-Life intellectual property. Here's a segment that summarizes some of
this:
In court filings, Sierra/VUG says that the current distribution of Half-Life 2 via Steam exceeds the scope of the current software publishing agreement between the two parties. It is apparently seeking the court's assistance in compelling Valve not to use Steam as an avenue of distribution.
On Friday, when asked if Valve was remained intent on making Half-Life 2 available to gamers via Steam, regardless of what was determined on October 8, Lombardi replied, "Yes."
Interestingly, and in spite of the ongoing legal dispute, Sierra/VUG still wants to work with Valve in the future and is asking the court via filings to force Valve to work with it on whatever is next in the development pipeline. It asks the court, in filings, "for a declaration that Sierra and VUG have the right to a fourth engine license pursuant to the terms of...the 2001 Agreement."
According to Lombardi, "We're going to meet the obligations of our current agreement."
I find it somewhat hilarious that some people here are siding with the publisher (or at least seem to be). I'm assuming it is more a factor of they want the game without having to use Steam. That's cool. As long as Valve provides this somehow, then I'm assuming you would be happy. Heck if you want updates/patches for the game, you can even go to one of the CD Burning services (think GameSpot has one) and just get your updates burnt and shipped to you (at cost though) or just get them off a friend. There are ways of getting and playing games without having an internet connection.
Still I think the more important issue here is ownership. Assuming Valve hasn't broken their contract with Sierra (no idea where you can find these details), then they should have the right to utilize Steam as their own alternative distribution method and make money from it. In otherwords, they sweated making the game, therefore, shouldn't they be making the profits from it. Yes, Sierra gets distribution rights for physical CD's but Valve should still be able to still make money from their Steam distribution system. I mean this is a long time coming so I can't see how Valve wouldn't have worded their agreement with Sierra appropriatedly to take this in account.
Finally, the main reason that other developers can't take the same path as Valve is because they don't have the money to make the game in the first place (whereas Valve apparently does have their own piggy bank). These other developers need publishers to fund them to help them produce the game and publish it. However, if Valve's system works for them, I can't see why they wouldn't over time (with it being fully tested and proven) that they would offer the same service (or license to use the technology) to other game developers so that they could benefit more directly from their games as well. Of course, I can't see publishers allowing developers to go this path especially if the publisher is footing the bill for the development of the game. However, who knows what the future holds for game development funding.
Still all said and done, if Sierra forced ownership of the game via the courts and didn't allow Valve to utilize steam as an alternative distribution method and more importantly if Sierra screwed Valve with regards to future HL franchise products, well I'd be immediately boycotting Sierra as quick as you can say Gordie. I'm sure people would think I'm nuts but hell I've had enough with greedy corps, thank you very much. The Internet has the opportunity to change a lot of things and I for one am glad it is allowing creative individuals more control and ownership of their creations.
Still I think the more important issue here is ownership. Assuming Valve hasn't broken their contract with Sierra (no idea where you can find these details), then they should have the right to utilize Steam as their own alternative distribution method and make money from it. In otherwords, they sweated making the game, therefore, shouldn't they be making the profits from it. Yes, Sierra gets distribution rights for physical CD's but Valve should still be able to still make money from their Steam distribution system. I mean this is a long time coming so I can't see how Valve wouldn't have worded their agreement with Sierra appropriatedly to take this in account.
Finally, the main reason that other developers can't take the same path as Valve is because they don't have the money to make the game in the first place (whereas Valve apparently does have their own piggy bank). These other developers need publishers to fund them to help them produce the game and publish it. However, if Valve's system works for them, I can't see why they wouldn't over time (with it being fully tested and proven) that they would offer the same service (or license to use the technology) to other game developers so that they could benefit more directly from their games as well. Of course, I can't see publishers allowing developers to go this path especially if the publisher is footing the bill for the development of the game. However, who knows what the future holds for game development funding.
Still all said and done, if Sierra forced ownership of the game via the courts and didn't allow Valve to utilize steam as an alternative distribution method and more importantly if Sierra screwed Valve with regards to future HL franchise products, well I'd be immediately boycotting Sierra as quick as you can say Gordie. I'm sure people would think I'm nuts but hell I've had enough with greedy corps, thank you very much. The Internet has the opportunity to change a lot of things and I for one am glad it is allowing creative individuals more control and ownership of their creations.
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