Poll: What if Steam were to stop existing

[Lazy Kitty]

I've recently purchased quite a few games through Steam, [sup]and I doubt I'm the only one[/sup].
Now I've been thinking: "What if the Steam service were to suddenly stop and none would be able to play their Steam games?"
This could be due to a lack of money or complete bankruptcy.
What would you do if Steam were to become unavailable for all time? Is there a backup plan for such a situation?
I think I'd be quite displeased about it.
/understatement

 

[Twad]

then prepare offline mode, problem solved.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

then prepare offline mode, problem solved.

What about all the games that haven't been downloaded yet? What if I were to get a new OS?
[sup]It's about time I installed Windows 7.[/sup]

 

[DanDeFool]

I think Steam has a clause in its user agreement where they will allow all of their users to download standalone versions of their games if the company goes belly-up.

Could be wrong though.

 

[DanDeFool]

I think Steam has a clause in its user agreement where they will allow all of their users to download standalone versions of their games if the company goes belly-up.

Could be wrong though.

EDIT: HOW THE HELL DO I KEEP FROM DOUBLE-POSTING!?!? ARRGH!

 

[RedShift]

Valve is a excellent company, if they knew they were going out of business they would provide a alternate matchmaking service for their customers.

On a more important note, the day valve goes out of business you're going to be more concerned with fending off flying hogs then playing games online.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

I think Steam has a clause in its user agreement where they will allow all of their users to download standalone versions of their games if the company goes belly-up.

Could be wrong though.

I'm gonna check that out.

 

[Lucane]

We'd probally never make the combustion engine....*Whisper in my ear* What? *Whisper whisper* The internet one? *Nod*

Oh um... someone would attemp to take over the PC downloading service in thier place like when a King dies without an aire or the neiboring kindom would consume it's power or several smaller sites would grow but never florish to it's size becuase the community would all move to the same site.

 

[StuddedZombie]

Well the two games that I play the most on Steam would be Counterstrike Source and Left 4 Dead 2. I have both of the discs for them which if they did close steam down id still be able to boot them up. Thats the nice thing about steam in my opinion is the ablility to play your games without the disk in the drive.

naturally though I wouldnt be too worried since my disks are intact.

 

[iron codpiece]

I would probably throw an impressive hissy fit.

 

[Frequen-Z]

Valve is like Marmite, you either love them, or loathe them. I loathe them, I wouldn't care. I'm not even a PC gamer.

 

[Amnestic]

Of interest to the OP [http://www.humbleapostrophe.com/where.html]

I assume D2D would suddenly get a lot more service.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

Of interest to the OP [http://www.humbleapostrophe.com/where.html]

I assume D2D would suddenly get a lot more service.

Thanks for pointing that out, it's corrected now.
How did I make the same error 4 times without noticing any of them?

 

[Idlemessiah]

If Steam dies and irreversibly takes the games with it (unlikely I imagine) then I'd just dig out my old games like AoE2 I guess.

 

[MetaKnight19]

I've only used Steam about 3 times, to download AudioSurf, Garrys Mod and The Complete Commander Keen Collection. So no biggy if it went down.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

If Steam dies and irreversibly takes the games with it (unlikely I imagine) then I'd just dig out my old games like AoE2 I guess.

I would probably do the same, though it still is a lot of games to lose in one time blow (For me that is.).

 

[oliveira8]

then prepare offline mode, problem solved.

What about all the games that haven't been downloaded yet? What if I were to get a new OS?
[sup]It's about time I installed Windows 7.[/sup]

Steam supports Windows 7. If the games don't support Windows 7 is not Valve's fault now is it. Either way you can backup your games and Valve said if something happens they would unlock the games. The only way to see if they mean it is if the company fails.

 

[DazZ.]

If it goes down they release the games without DRM.

You get to play all the games you have without needing Steam, so it benefits you in some ways.
This has been said before.

 

[bor3ds0ul]

It would be really hard for me to buy games

 

[BlackWidower]

What really sucks is if you aren't a fan of DLC and only use steam for the Valve games you bought hard copies of, you still need steam to verify so you are still screwed if they go belly up.