MW2 picks Steamworks over GfW - Live

By Robert Purchese Published 26 October, 2009

Valve gains glitziest supporter yet.

Infinity Ward and Activision have chosen to use Valve's Steamworks suite of tools for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Significantly, they decided against Microsoft's typically more popular Games for Windows - Live.

Steamworks handles a smorgasbord of functions: game authentication, auto-patches, updates, achievements, anti-cheating and persistent player saves via the Steam Cloud.

The news arrives hot on the heels of controversy, after Infinity Ward announced there would be no dedicated multiplayer servers for the PC version of Modern Warfare 2.

Valve's Steamworks offers a matchmaking and lobby infrastructure, but Infinity Ward and Activision made no mention of these functions - suggesting that the bespoke IWNET platform will cover those areas itself.

"Steam is the hands-down leader in offering a community focused experience on PC and the inclusion of Steamworks has allowed us to deliver the most feature-rich PC version to ever come from Infinity Ward, which at the end of the day will mean the most to our fans," said Infinity Ward's community manager Robert Bowling.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be released on 10th November for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. A Wii adaptation of Modern Warfare 1, and DS game Modern Warfare Mobilised, will be released on the same day.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (39) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • skillian #1 3 years ago

    the most feature-rich PC version to ever come from Infinity Ward

    I don't see how they can say this with a straight face. Unless there are some huge reveals still to come, this is surely the opposite of reality?

  • berelain #2 3 years ago

    I don't know why so many people dislike GfWL. As an Xbox and PC gamer, I find having one unified profile and friends list a damn sight easier. I long for the day when a single profile will let me play games on PS3, Xbox, PC, handhelds, and whatever other gaming mediums might emerge.

    Probably never happen, of course. But I have a dream....
    Edited by berelain at 26/10/09 @ 09:44

  • matrim83 #3 3 years ago

    I don't get. Why bring GFWL into the debate at all?

  • Widge #4 3 years ago

    £75 special offer

  • skillian #5 3 years ago

    I don't know why so many people dislike GfWL.

    If you actually want to know why, a quick Google would give you a thousand reasons. The fact that all patches must go through MS certification is a big enough reason for me alone.

    Edited by skillian at 26/10/09 @ 09:49

  • Xerx3s #6 3 years ago

    "Steam is the hands-down leader in offering a community focused experience on PC and the inclusion of Steamworks has allowed us to deliver the most feature-rich PC version to ever come from Infinity Ward, which at the end of the day will mean the most to our fans,"

    Too bad that you don't have any fans on the PC left after your little anal community raping stunt. Stop being such a marketing muppet and pretend that you want to do what's best for the community.

  • Xerx3s #7 3 years ago

    "I don't get. Why bring GFWL into the debate at all? "

    Page hits?

  • bad09 #8 3 years ago

    I'm with berelain, I don't get the hate I think GFWL is great feature on PC games, but then I also have a 360 profile linked to mine. Maybe many of the haters don't have a profile across both platforms.

  • Xerx3s #9 3 years ago

    "If you actually want to know why, a quick Google would give you a thousand reasons."

    A quick google about pretty much anything will give me anything I want. But yes, GfWL most definitely has some points for improvement.

  • GamesConnoisseur #10 3 years ago

    Each platform has its own champion, I thank god for the most at the time innovative and still an unified online system that is now imitated by others, MS's XBL Live, and there will never be a day that there is one single unified system for all the platforms. As the issue of the ownership, rights of access, profits and so on.

    I accept that i will have separate login and has a SEPARATE records of my achievement, friends etc, and as a dedicated gamer I need to be able to remember all of them! Including iPhone's Feint or something like that!

    Darned nusicance still, I got Steam since the day of HL2 online release plus delivery of the huge pack inc guide book, but I dont use it as much as I should. Cos a lazy gamer who prefers the ease of console to PC's superior set up. That is not to insult PC but a personal preference of mine that I suspect is more common.

    Everyone got a PC, and people coming here are a gamers but would be interesting if we can get a poll to see what percentage of us are multi platform, and if so what proportion of time spend on each platform?!

  • skillian #11 3 years ago

    If you don't have a 360, I can't think of one single thing it adds to the gaming experience that isn't already offered by someone else in a better way.

    If you do have a 360, I can understand why you'd like it as it makes playing a PC game feel like a console game. This can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective I guess.

  • miiiguel #12 3 years ago

    Steam also makes it feel like you're playing on a console. As a matter of fact from what I experienced it's very similiar.

    As a matter of fact standards, single sign on, and those "consoley" things are good things, only the most sectarian keep denying that.
    Edited by miiiguel at 26/10/09 @ 10:08

  • Widge #13 3 years ago

    I 'heard' that GfW was a dog to use. Was this the case and has it been rectified?

  • skillian #14 3 years ago

    As I can't have this same debate again about how incredibly annoying GfWL is and how EG seems to be one of the few places on the net where it isn't universally panned by all who come into contact with it, I will refrain from this thread and just leave a couple of interesting articles:

    [link url=http://www.bit-tech.net/columns/2009/01/31/this-was-meant-to-be-a-fallout-3-dlc-review/1
    ]http://www.bit-tech.net/columns/2009/01/...[/link]
    Bit Tech Column: "And it is truly bad, by the way. It’s not just a little flaky and irritating, like Steam was in the early days when everyone was just getting used to it. Games for Windows Live is more like the software equivalent of flossing with barbed wire. It’s negatively impacted on every game I’ve ever seen that features it."

    [link url=http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=1203
    ]http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle...[/link]
    Interview with Stardock CEO: "It’s like, “My friends, you can’t do that on the PC.” … If Games for Windows Live maintains that strategy and they take over, I’m done. I’m not making PC games. I would be done."

    [link url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/01/27/fallout-3-new-content-adventures-in-gfwl/
    ]http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/01/...[/link]
    One of many anecdotal horror stories about actually trying to use GfWl.

  • hiddenranbir #15 3 years ago

    GFWL does voice options best imo. I can't distinguish voice and game sfx from my headset and the setup for it is so easy.


    anyway, back to focus on MW2 rage. Boo no dedicated servers. Are clans really going to be down for having to host/play clan games on a specific gamer's connection?

  • mkreku #16 3 years ago

    I don't like Steam. I think the idea is good, but the 1$ = 1€ is killing it for me.

    I was checking out Borderlands on Steam recently. They want me to pay 49.95€ for it. In the US it costs $49.95. Converted to SEK (Swedish currency) it's 509 SEK in Europe and 338 SEK in the US. If I buy the retail version (with a game box, printed manual and a disk), it costs 378 SEK!

    Now someone over at Steam needs to explain to me WHY their version should be worth 509 SEK over the retail version for 378 SEK.

  • rotmm #17 3 years ago

    @mkreku, "I don't like Steam. I think the idea is good, but the 1$ = 1€ is killing it for me."

    As I understand it, the guys at Valve have licenced Sony's LFECC* system.



    *Let's Fuck Europe Currency Calculator

  • Whizzo #18 3 years ago

    No dedicated servers, no buy.

  • matrim83 #19 3 years ago

    I dont think codmw2 is going to be a massive seller on pc anyway or keep a large community(who will pay for dlc)

    It aint doing too well over at Steam sales wise. Its at #7 in the sales chart, currently being outsold by Killing floor and ArmA2. Even games that havent yet been released (L4D2, DA and DA deluxe edition) are way ahead of it. I guess Acti managed to piss off more people than they thought they could.
    Edited by matrim83 at 26/10/09 @ 11:35

  • BritishBlue1 #20 3 years ago

    "It seems that Modern Warfare 2 for the PC will be a rather lame experience ... just my 2 cents ... "

    Just like the console versions now then...

  • Mooglepies #21 3 years ago

    Crucially, Steam recently got support for paid DLC. I wonder if that factored into it at all? [/tinfoilhat]

    Regardless, while I'm interested in the single player I'm not £35interested in it, and since the multiplayer looks like it's not actually going to be an improvement on that of CoD4, I'm still willing to give it a miss.

  • dsmx #22 3 years ago

    There's no benefit in pre ordering MW2, no demo, no difference in price, nothing. Where as most of the other games higher than it are on special offer or were very recently or had a free weekend.

  • Nameless-001 #23 3 years ago

    GFWL really REALLY sucks.
    Steam is way WAY ahead, both in terms of quality and optimization and platform.
    I hope other delvelopers will do the same.

  • ChthonicEcho #24 3 years ago

    I don't like Steam. I think the idea is good, but the 1$ = 1€ is killing it for me.

    Pricing on Steam now works on a tier-based system. Swedes are among those who are in the highest tier and thus pay the most. From my experience, Brits pay the least, then come North Americans, and then third world countries such as my own. It may vary from game to game, of course. Different publishers set different pricing terms, as far as I am aware.

  • EvilBob_leeds #25 3 years ago

    As I understand it, the guys at Valve have licenced Sony's LFECC* system.

    Now now, MS where there first. I believe its called the microsoft BTCUDIWWMTIAI** system, used by many American companies

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Points#Pricing_differences_between_regions

    I like steam, but the fact that it shows me an advert after I quit out of a game pisses me off no end. Which is one thing GFW doesn't do.

    **Believe The Crappy US Dollar Is Worth Way More Than It Actually Is. Not the most concise acronym out there.
    Edited by EvilBob_leeds at 26/10/09 @ 13:28

  • Buran #26 3 years ago

    GFWL was crushed by PC gamers because it offers nothing that Xfire or Steam couldn't do for free and in a less invasive way. Microsoft came with his bag of trash achievements and pity matchmaking and they even tried to charge a fee over PC gamers. Then was the Gears Of War fiasco, whit legal games unable to be played because the abysmal Microsoft service of validations.

    No surprise, Games For Windows Live was trampled. Now Infinity Ward and Activision come with Steam, a bit better service. Sadly, is a trap: they doesn`t acere about the players and the community, and the dedicated servers (mores than 14.000 are currently supporting COD 4) and mod tools are disabled, and the price raised, and the multiplayer nerfed to a stupid p2p matchmaking system, a ghost town with no future aside per pay crapy DLCs, a well calculated plan from Koticks to avoid the competence of free stuff, premium quality mods.

    So, here we are: a 8 hour "on rails" campaign with a already dead multiplayer asking for your 60 bucks. Will you fall in the trap? Will you feed a company that is moving against you? Would you like to see the next games from Epic, Id Software, Crytek, Relic, Blizzard... without editors, mood tools and the option to run youn own contents in your clan servers? If you want to hurt the PC gaming then buy this "thing". If you want to stand and extend the backbone of PC gaming in the last 20 years then refuse this offensive thrash.

  • rotmm #27 3 years ago

    @EvilBob_leeds, "Now now, MS where there first"

    Yea, that link ignores (as usual) VAT/Sales Tax. As a UK resident you should be pleased that you are actually paying less for your points than our American cousins. Once you take off VAT (using the 2000 points example from that site) Americans pay $25 and we pay $24.15. It's true that Europeans are paying $30 still, but that is nowhere near the 44% more that the wiki page assumes.

    Something else to think of. At current exchange rates, and taking into account VAT, you get:

    Xbox 360 Elite

    US - $299.00
    UK - $283.17
    EU - $311.79

    PS3 Slim

    US - $299.00
    UK - $354.56
    EU - $374.33

    PSP Go

    US - $249.00
    UK - $326.17
    EU - $311.69

    Dunno. Seems to me that Microsoft treat EU and UK customers pretty fairly compared to Sony ;)
    Edited by rotmm at 26/10/09 @ 14:10

  • EvilBob_leeds #28 3 years ago

    Er... what? You mean like the sales tax you have to pay in some states (eg New York), which the Wikipedia article makes reference to below that table? That tax? Phrrrt.
    Edited by EvilBob_leeds at 26/10/09 @ 14:47

  • rotmm #29 3 years ago

    @EvilBob,

    That "Sales Tax" is only built into the price for online points sales. Retail sales of points via both high street and online retailers will add the sales tax onto that base price. Hardware and retail games will always have the relevant sales tax added onto the base price.

    So, for example, a 360 Elite in New York is $299+7%, as is a PS3.

    So the core of what I said remains true. MS pricing is pretty much the same across the EU/US and UK regions.

    Sony, on the other hand, shafts the EU and UK royally.

  • Boomerang #30 3 years ago

    This is all getting a bit accountingy.

  • 5h1nj1 #31 3 years ago

    Sincerely? They can go to hell with steam and no lan.

  • Varsity #32 3 years ago

    #18: I assume there is some sort of certification for steam as well as they are not going to let any old thing onto there network, its just not widely talked about.

    No, they are quite specific that they won't do testing for you. Valve aren't a publisher in any sense of the word.

    There is some level of quality control before you get on there in the first place, though.

    #39: They can go to hell with steam and no lan.

    Nobody's said anything about LAN.
    Edited by Varsity at 26/10/09 @ 18:26

  • TitusCrow #33 3 years ago

    why no article on the biggest news of the last week? IW deciding to royaly fuk PC games by making servers non dedi p2p crap? this is all over the net - eurogamer get on it immediatly. and no activision nuthugging plz! ,

  • Vandrius #34 3 years ago

    GFWL is a joke. Its the most annoying POS system ever, and I actually demerit games that use it a bit because of the pain-in-my-ass factor.

  • Kerome #35 3 years ago

    Yeah, GFWL could have been better ;/

    I mean, it does work, but without the combination of digital-store and download-and-play-anywhere, it's just a server matchmaking framework with a bit of DLC store included, and Steam was already well down the road even if they'd gotten it right at launch without the problems suffered by the early games.

  • promba #36 3 years ago

    YES GFWL sucks it doesnot even work with xfire...

  • EvilBob_leeds #37 3 years ago

    @rottm

    No it isn't!

    a) I notice your examples don't take into account the 360 arcade, which sells at a meagre £117 in the US. Add on vat if you like, that STILL means that Europe and the UK are getting the royal shaft off Microsoft, however you want to spin it.

    b) The only reason prices are roughly approximate at the moment is that the dollar is worth about 20 cents in the pound less than it was when the 360 came out!

    Lies, damn lies and statistics.

  • rotmm #38 3 years ago

    @EvilBob,

    Actually, going by today's live currency rate, the UK price from the $199 RRP is £121.44. Add VAT at 15% and it's £139.66

    So yes, the Americans are paying (based on RRP and excluding sales tax) £10 less than the UK RRP.

    Still pretty close if you ask me and still a fuck of a long way from the stiffing that Sony are giving us.

    Oh, and the Exchange Rate argument doesn't hold any water whatsoever. It has been fairly steady, only a few cents here and there, since about this time last year and very recently Sony released 2 new products where they had ample opportunity amend prices to create a more level field across the various regions. They chose not to. MS has also made price adjustments and have ensured a more level pricing structure.

    I don't know why you are arguing this. You don't seem that thick in your other posts and the figures are as clear as day.

  • EvilBob_leeds #39 3 years ago

    ?

    a) That would be £20 then, wouldn't it? ;-). Or 13.4% of the total cost. The PS3, on the other hand is 18.1%. I'd call that pretty damn comparable, especially since you've got to imagine Sony will desperately be trying to make headway in the states. Being able to say MS are shafting me 4.7% less than Sony are (but they're still shafting me) isn't exactly worth bragging about.

    b) I don't see the fluctuation between £1 = $1.8 then on up to $2.0, then down to $1.4 before finally getting to $1.6 as being minor or "a few cents". I'd call whats been going on in the ERM in the last couple of years as "going up and down like a fucking yo yo".

    And they've corrected price on MS points? Have they? In the UK? When?

    EDIT: Spelt corrected wrong o.O
    Edited by EvilBob_leeds at 28/10/09 @ 12:40