Steam operator Valve has released a new version of the digital distribution client, which resolves the issues Earth 2160 owners have been experiencing for over two months.

After a February client update, the Steam version of Reality Pump's strategy game refused to load due to Steam-specific error. Though aware of the issue, Steam sold the broken game for more than two months, but pulled it shortly after our report.

While the game has yet to return to the Steam Store, owners of Earth 2160 will be prompted to download the client update when they try to boot the game... Read more

Update: In the few hours since this article was published, Steam has stopped selling Earth 2160 and removed the product page. Still no word as to when a fix might hit.

Original: Some, if not all, of those who have have bought Reality Pump's 2006 PC strategy title Earth 2160 from Valve's digital distribution platform Steam have been unable to play the game since February, going by this Steam Forums thread.

Prior to February 2009, the game ran just fine. But after an update to the Steam client, owners began reporting a "failed to get SteamID" error that prevents the Steam version from launching. The message links to a support site that offers no help.

The "failed to get SteamID error" exists to this day, Shacknews has confirmed, as the copy we purchased and downloaded this morning suffers from that... Read more

Midway has announced it has snapped up the North American publishing rights to Earth 2160, the sci-fi strategy game from Reality Pump Studios. The game will be released in the U.S. and Canada this November.