How will DayZ Standalone be sold?

[sirsetras 0]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if you could help me, how will the DayZ Standalone be sold? Will it be a game like Teamfortress2 that you have to download from steam? Will it be like Mount & Blade where you can get it from the official website or steam, or will it be like Minecraft where you can only buy it from the website?

Cheers

SirSetras

[Blondedash 403]

like arma 3 basically.

[SmashT 10907]

It will be tied to and available on steam, they might also sell steam keys via the BIS store though.

Edited May 25, 2013 by SmashT

[applejaxc 2500]

With money? *facepalm* If I am correct, DayZ will be a Steam-exclusive. You pay Steam, and then you get free updates after that. It will be cheap on beta (alpha?) release, then get more expensive, like Minecraft.

[toxicsludge 406]

Steam.

[BwobBwub 660]

Steam and more than likely the BIS Store.

[Henryllex~ 407]

steam oriented, but probably you will be able to buy it from dayzgame.com(?)

[Mos1ey 6301]

I think it will be a Steam exclusive as it's so easy to distribute updates via Steam, some other places (BIS and DayZ websites) may sell Steam keys though, we don't know yet.

[OrLoK 16185]

I'm also thinking the Steam/BiS combo

[sausagekingofchicago 4711]

I had my hopes on EA Origins but I guess Steam is okay..

[joshfitzpatrick 3]

no not EA origins that system is terrible and then we would have to deal with EA'S terrible support and they might make the dayz creators make the game EA wants all in all steam Is the best way to go

[Hetstaine 10852]

No EA? damn you for getting my hopes up Sausage.

[spankerfist 44]

No origins pleas its so bad. I once waited 3 days for a game to appear on my account .

[badluckburt 974]

EA is great - we're not worthy.

[pxxl 259]

I had my hopes on EA Origins but I guess Steam is okay..

Funny :lol:

[Cap'n (DayZ) 1827]

But, but, but what about those of us who don't have Steam? I have Steam, but I have a lot of things against Valve and their business practices and I avoid getting a game from them unless its a steam exclusive. I bought ArmA 2 CO and all the DLC's off of Amazon. Why can't it be on Amazon?

[fluxley 2228]

From what i've read they went with steam because it allows for much easier quicker updates.

[SmashT 10907]

But, but, but what about those of us who don't have Steam? I have Steam, but I have a lot of things against Valve and their business practices and I avoid getting a game from them unless its a steam exclusive. I bought ArmA 2 CO and all the DLC's off of Amazon. Why can't it be on Amazon?

The game relies on Steam for everything, you need it to play. Rocket has spoken about this previously so I'll just copy paste.

I applaud anyone who stands up for their consumer rights, and I it is important customers vote with their wallets for what they believe in.

From my perspective, unfortunately this decision is not just about digital content distribution.

We've dropped Gamespy for our server browser management (for reasons I hope are painfully obvious). We're using steam not just for it's delivery system but because we are able to integrate it entirely into our pipeline. It is the only method we can use, which allow us to hit something earlier than a Q3 2013 target date.

For the record there has been no pressure, not one iota, from Steam to go exclusive or even to release on Steam. They've simply said they love the game, and asked for any advice of things they could do better. We told them, and they listened, and what we have ended up with is the most impressive build pipeline I have ever worked with. Prior to this, I was not really that into Steam. I was keen for us (BIS) to sell through the BIS store, as then we would keep all the money. But this system, it allows us to push out updates instantly. It means we don't have to worry about anything except making the game. So this is a decision that I supported fully, and wasn't initiated by Steam. To be honest, dealing with Steam has really been like dealing with a company about 5 people in size - it's all very straightforward and not complex for me, it's personal and it's been focused on what we want to do for development.

In the final analysis, it really now comes down to what is possible. There is no way we could release this game in 2013 (let alone this year), if we had to create all these aspects ourselves. We would still be constructing our build pipeline right now. So it doesn't matter if GabeN turns up on the cover of PCGamer in a photo of him consuming the souls of small children - if the game is to release anytime in the near future it stays on the course it is on. It's committed. As a leader you have to make tough calls, and this is a call I made. Our CEO came to me and asked me what I thought - and I weighted it up and made the decision. I still think it is the best decision, even though it goes against those who don't want to use steam.

Sure, the game could handle a delay. I totally believe DayZ could schedule itself for 2014 and it will sell fine. But I won't be fine. I've been doing this, every day, every night, weekends, etc... since March. At the pace that I am working I am on borrowed time, and I don't want to waste that time on developing a content delivery system or negotiating with someone I haven't worked with and who has a strong relationship with our studio.

I hope this doesn't come across as me trying to convince anyone that they should use Steam, I'm simply trying to provide some background on why the decision was made, and why there is no possibility of it being changed now.

I really want to reinforce that nobody should be forcing anyone to "like" steam or consider it as "acceptable" that it is how I decided we would move forward as a project. I can understand people's misgivings. An example is the issue of the terms and conditions preventing class actions. GabeN replied with his thoughts on why they did it. At the end of the day, both viewpoints are valid. I've outlined the reality of the situation, and the decision making process behind it. In terms of announcing it sooner, really I am announcing it as soon as we could.

I feel like I'm really laboring the point here but - it is not just about content delivery. We removed our dependency on gamespy, and we now use Steam's matchmaking API. This costs us (read: you) nothing. We use VAC, this costs us (read: you) nothing. It is also trivial, and seriously I really mean trivial, for us to add support for this through steam. We originally had plans to do our own patching systems and use our own store and all those kinds of things - but those take serious time. I mean, really significant periods of development. You're talking years here. And running a store like Steam is very complex - fraud protection is an extremely big issue, people buying keys with stolen credit cards then selling them quickly for a cheap buck - then the key getting banned, the charges reversed - and both the developer and the person who bought the cheap key left out in the cold.

Like nearly every decision, it wasn't made in a vacuum. The decision was made because I felt is offered the best hope to the project to move forward in a timeline that I could cope with. The only issue I've managed to have as a consumer so far with steam, is the overzealous fraud protection system that causes me issues when buying with my credit card while travelling. But, on the development side, I'm kind of glad their fraud protection is a little overzealous. Chargebacks are a major, major pain.

Let me summarize the main parts we get in this system, that we wouldn't get going through the BI Store alone as it is now (not an exhaustive list):

Auto-updating delta patcher

Anti-cheat system

Multiplayer server browsers and matchmaking

International digitial distribution

World-class Fraud protection

Steamworks (if we wanted it)

Free marketing (steam shop etc...)

Anti-piracy measures

Developer pushed updates

There is no organic capacity at the studio for any of these. We had talked about them. They were on the plans. But the better option came up. Even if we went out, right now, and kickstarter'd it up - and we raised 10mil, hell 30mil - it would still add significant time to the project to have to do all these. And given the vast resources that Blzzard had with Diablo 3 - money AND skilled people is not enough to stop launch failure. So we are going with the partner we have worked most closely with, who are able to best meet our development needs.

Edited May 28, 2013 by SmashT

[St. Jimmy 1631]

I understand that it's steam exclusive. You can probably buy it from BIStore. That way the money goes directly to BIS. Arma 3 was hard to get from their website at first and there was much problems so I recommend buying through Steam if their site is as crowded as then.