SiN Episodes gets Steam release

Ritual Entertainment's long-awaited sequel to SiN is to be released episodically over Valve's Steam digital distribution system, with chapters lasting around six hours each to be released "every three to four months" for around $20 (£11.38) a pop.

Formally known as SiN Episodes (taking place in what's been described as the SiN 2 universe), the first chapter is set to be released on Steam this Winter, but it's not yet known whether the game will also be released in boxed form at some point.

In a rare interview with PC Gamer, Ritual CEO Steve Nix said: "We've been talking to Valve about Steam for about four years now, and we've always wanted to get back to the SiN universe.

"We talked to publishers about doing it, but we never felt able to make the product we wanted to make with the next SiN." That is, until the relative freedom offered by Steam came along; something several developers must be seriously looking into at this point.

The Valve-Ritual relationship is to go even further than that, with SiN Episodes being developed using a tweaked version of the same Source engine that powered the legendary Half-Life 2.

An exclusive eight page cover feature on the game is the main focus for the UK version of PC Gamer (available to subscribers today, and on sale in newsagents soon), and goes into detail regarding the hopes of the team, and some of the core innovations. Check back shortly for an overview of what to expect.

Interestingly, the Ritual feature is followed by an exclusive four page interview with Bill Van Buren, Marc Laidlaw and Bill Fletcher from Valve - the key men behind Half-Life 2.