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The Daily Grind: Are digital game platforms a convenience or an annoyance?
Everyone wants to be Steam, I guess. These days, it's all the trend for studios and publishers to tie their products down to a digital game platform for the "convenience" of offering news and game access in one place. Glyph and Arc are just two of the more recent high-profile programs taking a shot at Steam's dominant grip on the gaming community, and I suspect that more will come. So do you see digital game platforms as a convenience or an annoyance? I am of a divided opinion on the subject. Yes, it's nice to have multiple game launchers streamlined into one place, but that's convenient only if I'm playing more than one title. More often than not, it's an extra click or two plus an ongoing background program that I didn't really need in the first place. What say you? What say we all? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Perfect World's Arc expanding to include Path of Exile and APB
Perfect World is making a strong play to establish Arc as a vital digital platform for gamers. The company announced today that Arc will be expanding to include several titles outside of the PWE brotherhood, including Path of Exile and APB: Reloaded. The announcement of Arc's embrace of third-party developers comes with the platform's transition to "fully live" status. PWE CEO Alan Chen hopes that this will make Arc a one-stop gaming experience: "Our goal is to make Arc the premiere destination for the best free-to-play online games for both our players and partners, and to achieve this by growing the platform with new games, a constant stream of content, and features specifically designed for the PC gaming audience."
Trion Worlds introduces Glyph gaming platform
Trion Worlds is getting into the digital gaming platform business, as the studio announced today that it will be releasing its own "lightweight digital hub" called Glyph. Glyph was created to connect developers with audiences, and is purported to be friendly to use from both sides and DRM-free. The platform will take over the responsibility of being the launcher for Trion's titles, including RIFT, Defiance, and Trove (we'll believe ArcheAge when we see it). Trion says that the studio has already handled "more then 10 million gamers" in the past three years and that Glyph will be a great help to pair those players up with current and future titles. Glyph will also handle games from Trion's partners, as the studio has already begun signing on developers. It will launch shortly after GDC 2014. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
