Darwinia gets Steaming

By Ellie Gibson Published 16 November, 2005

Yours to download for $19.95.

Valve has announced plans to offer crazy strategy title Darwinia for download via its digital distribution service, Steam.

Darwinia has been much hyped as an underground classic - by the likes of Valve's Doug Lombardi, no less. "After playing the game around the office, there didn't seem to be a reason why a game as great as Darwinia wasn't available to gamers worldwide," he said.

"When everyone gets their chance to play it, we think they'll be staying up all night protecting Darwinians just like us."

Here at Eurogamer we're also big fans - our reviewer described Darwinia as "the first great post-genre game of the year" when it was first released back in March. Also it's got a centipede in it and it's a bit like Tron, hurrah!

Darwinia will be released via Steam on December 14, priced $19.95.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Artemus #1 7 years ago

    Any self-respecting gamer with a reasonable PC should own this.

  • RedboX #2 7 years ago

    Darwinia is an excelent game, and nice to see its getting more publicity via Steam..

    I wonder how Steams going to cope with people who actually have a shop-bought copy.

  • evade #3 7 years ago

    Darwinia is an excellent game?? People should really get there head out out of their arses and actually try to play the game. Its just not that fun.

    I am quite an RTS/Turn based strategy fan

  • Salaman #4 7 years ago

    I got it based on the great review on here.
    It's an interesting game, I'll agree on that. However I found it very tedious to play. There's some very annoying issues with it that prevent me from really enjoying it.
    Completing a level became more of a chore than a fun time.

    Edited by Salaman at 16/11/05 @ 14:18

  • marilena #5 7 years ago

    That's your problem Evade, it's not a RTS :).

    People with better knowldge of the history of gaming than me compare it to Cannon Fodder, what I can best compare it to is Diablo. It's an action game with some strategic options. It's also absolutely brilliant. You can call me a snob, you can call me whatever you want, I thought the game was smart, fun, and it left me with a great feeling of having experienced something unique. The original price was maybe a bit high, but 20 dollars is entirely reasonable and worth it.

    /EG's official Darwinia pimp
    Edited by marilena at 16/11/05 @ 14:22

  • bloke #6 7 years ago

    I gave up on it initially until I played the new version (1.3 - came out a month or so ago) which ditches the gesture controls and uses (for me) more sensible icons.

    Really enjoyed it then - and have since finished it..............and am thinking of doing a mod!

  • Xerx3s #7 7 years ago

    "/EG's official Darwinia pimp "

    So.....How much for 2 or 3 hours?....

  • Eraysor #8 7 years ago

    Bah, Uplink rocks more. I bought a copy.

  • Sko #9 7 years ago

    "It's an interesting game, I'll agree on that. However I found it very tedious to play."

    Aye, spot on.

  • Tyronne #10 7 years ago

    Now I am going to upset people by saying this,but there is a kind of twisted logic behind it.Darwinia is a fine game ( I dont have it as I played the first demo and was put off by not having a clue what to do and the black and white approach to drawing icons in the air) but have read what people have said and taken in on board that its a good game.
    However this is where I will piss people off and it comes down to a simple case of economics.The game itself has been out for 8 months already and what with the xmas gaming rush which has already started,are the wider gaming populace going to pay admitedly a low price for a old game or get hold of this xmas new titles.
    Thing is there are games released by mastertronic and the like which are as old as darwinia but they are not as high budget price wise as the cost of darwinia on steam.This is where one of the issues of getting hold of things by services like steam are iffy.Yes its fine if you know what your buying before/just as a game is released,but 9 to 12 months down the road are you willing to pay full price for something which had it been released normally would of either come down in price or been rereleased as a budget title?
    To be honest I really thought the new release on steam was going to be something new,not something that has already been out for a good while.

  • marilena #11 7 years ago

    I'm not sure I understand you, Tyronne. Has the game gone bad in the past months? The graphics weren't anything to write home about in the first place.

    And that's just for the sake of the argument, because actually the Steam price is lower than the original one. Initially it costed twice as much, if not twice as much and in euros, I'm not sure. Anyway, the price has been slashed.

    And also, I don't get what releasing the old version on a new channel has to dowith making a new game.

  • Tyronne #12 7 years ago

    Im not saying that in the 8 months since release its gone bad,im just saying that by now it should be cheaper as like all games they have a certain life before their price goes down.

  • RedboX #13 7 years ago

    I think its an excelent game, and I dont care what RTS fans think.

    /me covers ears and sings LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-NOT-LISTENING.


    I do agree with Tyronne tho, its been out for 8 months now, it should be into the £10 price point now, surely..

    Ok I take on board its a small developer and they have to recover the costs, etc.. but theres been 2 copies of the game in my local GAME since release day, and they are priced £40.... Strange they wont shift at that price.

  • BraveArse #14 7 years ago

    Isn't $19.95 just around the £11 to £12 mark? Seems pretty cheap to me....

  • marilena #15 7 years ago

    I do agree that the pricing hasn't ben the most fortunate, in fact I remember many forumites saying that they would buy it, but it's too expensive. Especially considering how short it is, the initial price was quite offputing. The new one is ok-ish, though.

  • Tyronne #16 7 years ago

    Funny thing is that I can go into town and get the boxed one for a tenner,or spend 12 quid and get a online one with no box/disk/manual.

  • Merefield #17 7 years ago

    Yeah, currently £17.99 on Play so this would suggest good value - but i bet they add VAT to that.

    /edit Tyronne - where?
    Edited by Merefield at 16/11/05 @ 15:53

  • Tyronne #18 7 years ago

    Sure I saw it as part of a two for 20 quid or 1 for a tenner in hmv,could of been game thinking about it.

  • RedboX #19 7 years ago

    oh $19.95, I read that as it being £19.95... which is a simular price to Play of course.

    thats not so bad... but I'd still want a box :)

  • oerhoert #20 7 years ago

    How ... eh ... unexpected!

    Terrific news, and good to see Steam finally getting something other than HL and mods on it. Would much rather have Valve at the head of the premier pay-for-download service, rather than the inevitable and ugly EA one. :)

    Haven't played too much of Darwinia, but will prolly get it with this new offer.

  • gaijin #21 7 years ago

    anyone know if it runs on a *cough* Mac yet? I downloaded it as shareware a while ago and it was seriously borked, and nothing on the support forums to suggest why. Seems my machine config had invented a new and different borkitude all of its own that nobody else had experienced yet. I felt momentarily special. Then went back to consoles.

  • Merefield #22 7 years ago

    The cool thing about games being on Steam, is you can install them on multiple machines. Sure, you can only play one copy at a time this way, but at least all you have to carry round with you is a password and not a CD. Sometimes use this to play CS Source at folks house when i get bored of them talking bout their next room re-decoration!

  • UncleLou #23 7 years ago

    You can already download it from the developer's homepage, start playing immediately, and then get the game sent by mail

    Still, Steam will of course reach a few more people.

  • Kiigan #24 7 years ago

    Darwinia has been very over-rated at times.

    A part of that is due to the retro-themed visuals, and a part of it is that every games journo out there wants to be seen as being supportive of the indie / homebrew scene. Stripped down to its core elements though, and there actually isn't much of a game in there.

    There' some fun to be had in there for sure, and some great ideas in there fighting for your attention amongst the shit ones, but personally I found it to be a bit of a muddled mess - gimmicky and tedious to play. I found it short, buggy, easy to break, and rather limited in terms of play. It's a mish-mash of half-baked ideas nicked from other games and wrapped up with gimmicks.

    I know, I know. It's awesome, Eurogamer said so. Etc. I didn't like it.
    Edited by Kiigan at 17/11/05 @ 07:38

  • marilena #25 7 years ago

    It's ok not to like it, really. But I think you shouldn't be so suspicios of the people that did. I found the two missions frustrating at first, but then the game cliked for me and became brilliant. Of course, it's not perfect, but Hell, what is?