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."
came across this:
That doesn't come as much of a surprise but it does make it really hard to respect Valve. I'd say it's pretty safe to say development of this game has been heavily dependent on how ready steam was to distrubute it.
As I see it,way back in 97 Valve said Sierra could market, distribute, and publish HL and several other titles. (I'm assuming to include sequels). After the success of their first game Valve was emboldened to make Sierra give them a better deal or never see a sequel come out for their flagship game. Sierra said "ok, but we still get ot distribute it right?" Valve says "yes". Valve then turns around and creates steam, aimed at distrubuting the game completely outside of the Sierra company.
Valve should be in breach of contract if they sell HL2 to the general public via steam. If they provide it to all the ATI video card buyers I don't think they will have a problem. But providing it via steam is the same as letting someone else publish it and distribute it at the same time. Profits will be cut significantly. I don't see a problem with them doing this with other games outside the half life franchise but in this case I think Vivendia has a right to their share of profits. If selling the game on steam sends the same dollars back to sierra/vivendi I'm sure this wouldn't be a problem.
As for that internet cafe complaint, Valve should be compensated the same as any other sale of their software.
"Beginning in 1999, following the success of its first game, Valve began to threaten Sierra that it would halt or slow development of the remaining games it was obligated to develop unless Sierra relinquished certain rights under the 1997 agreements. Sierra eventually capitulated to these demands and, relying on misrepresentations by Valve, entered into a new software publishing agreement (SPA) with Valve in 2001.
That doesn't come as much of a surprise but it does make it really hard to respect Valve. I'd say it's pretty safe to say development of this game has been heavily dependent on how ready steam was to distrubute it.
As I see it,way back in 97 Valve said Sierra could market, distribute, and publish HL and several other titles. (I'm assuming to include sequels). After the success of their first game Valve was emboldened to make Sierra give them a better deal or never see a sequel come out for their flagship game. Sierra said "ok, but we still get ot distribute it right?" Valve says "yes". Valve then turns around and creates steam, aimed at distrubuting the game completely outside of the Sierra company.
Valve should be in breach of contract if they sell HL2 to the general public via steam. If they provide it to all the ATI video card buyers I don't think they will have a problem. But providing it via steam is the same as letting someone else publish it and distribute it at the same time. Profits will be cut significantly. I don't see a problem with them doing this with other games outside the half life franchise but in this case I think Vivendia has a right to their share of profits. If selling the game on steam sends the same dollars back to sierra/vivendi I'm sure this wouldn't be a problem.
As for that internet cafe complaint, Valve should be compensated the same as any other sale of their software.
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