Strategy First joins Steam, Aftermath pre-load details soon
Valve turns to strategy.
Valve continues to build its digital distribution empire with the addition to Steam of titles from PC publisher Strategy First.
On a related note, Valve marketing man Doug Lombardi yesterday told us that he expects information on Half-Life 2: Aftermath pre-orders and pre-loading to be made available in late February ahead of the pack's 24th April release date.
"We will be offering pre-purchase and pre-load of Aftermath via Steam. We haven't yet announced details on those, but I would expect that info to come late next month," he said in an email.
In the meantime, the first two games in the SF deal are naval simulation Dangerous Waters and strategy title Space Empires IV Deluxe, both of which have been fairly well received according to the review aggregators.
Both will be available for pre-order (and presumably pre-load) from January 24th - something that gets you a 10 per cent discount on the respective $39.99 and $19.99 price tags.
More SF titles should be released via Steam during 2006, Valve said.
Good news for strat-minded folks with no love of bricks-and-mortar then. Some of Strategy First's other US-published titles include Europa Universalis 2, Hearts of Iron, Cossacks, Sudden Strike and Disciples II: Dark Prophecy.
We'll let you know what else turns up on Steam.