Fallout: New Vegas PC Using Steamworks DRM

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The PC edition of Fallout: New Vegas will use Steamworks for its digital rights management, publisher Bethesda has confirmed, meaning that the RPG will require players to have Valve's digital distribution client and platform Steam installed. "Fallout: New Vegas will fully utilize the Steamworks SDK," senior producer (and former Shacknews staffer) Jason Bergman revealed in a fan interview, explaining:
Fallout: New Vegas uses Steamworks for achievements and other features (such as friends lists, cloud storage of user preferences and so on). Use of Steam will be mandatory at retail. So what does that mean? We've implemented Steamworks in as light and unobtrusive a way as possible. Yes, you will have to install Steam when you install Fallout: New Vegas if you don;t already have it. And yes, you will have to be online at the time of that initial install. However you can install the game on as many systems as you want (with no restrictions!), and you do not have to be online to play the game after your initial activation. Not only that, but once the game has activated on Steam, you can throw out the game DVD entirely and just download the game over Steam. If you don't even have a DVD drive, you can just take the CD-Key from the box, enter it into Steam, and download it without ever using the disc at all.

For those concerned, this will have no affect on mod development whatsoever. Modders will still be able to create and distribute their plugins the same way they have in the past.

We made the decision to use Steam after looking at all the various options out there and decided that it provided the best, least intrusive experience for PC gamers. We think you'll agree.

Developed by Obsidian Entertainment--a studio founded by veterans of original Fallout maker Black Isle--Fallout: New Vegas is due on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this fall.

Thanks to Shacknews reader acare84 for the heads up.

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 8, 2010 3:14 PM

    • reply
      June 8, 2010 4:58 PM

      <feigned excitement at Steamworks while secretly being really outraged by DRM>

      Sorry, couldn't resist.

      Maybe for the GFWL'ers we can get an online only version of it ala Dark Void. One could hope...

      As a GFWL player and supporter, this is disappointing. But considering the reception GFWL users got from the Obsidian forums a few weeks back, it is not surprising.

      At least now if the FO3 engine in New Vegas crashes on your PC folks, you will not be able to blame GFWL for it (and believe me, people have tried that line MANY, MANY times in the GFWL forums).

      That is a victory as well.

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        June 9, 2010 8:40 AM

        I feel like one of the few people who had no issues with GFWL, but in fact loved the integration/cross community with my friends on the 360. That, and the Achievements made it worthwhile. Steam may have achievements, but they're pretty much a joke as far as anything long term.

        GFWL gave me reasons to want to replay games to try to get to 100% of the Achievements. Some people may scoff at that, but when all was said and done, and I played the hell out of a game... I could still find some reasons to want to push forward just a little bit more.

        Granted, GFWL 3.0 is much *MUCH* better than the initial versions that gave most people a conniption fit.

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