Steam Now Supports Subscription Payments

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

Now Steam gamers can set up a subscription payment within the platform instead of through the game or the publisher's website.

Valve Software said on Thursday that game subscription plans have been added to Steam. Customers can now sign-up for, manage, cancel or renew game subscription plans at any time, online directly through Steam. This should keep credit card numbers out of databases installed at the publisher or game's dedicated websites.

The first PC game to utilize this new Subscription Plans feature is Darkfall Unholy Wars, a real-time PvP sandbox MMORPG where players form clans and "battle for dominance across the seamless, zoneless, uninstanced open fantasy world of Agon." The game costs $39.95 up-front and an additional $14.95 every thirty days.

To buy a subscription Plan, customers can head to the game's Steam listing and select a Plan. Once it's added to the cart, the customer's credit card will automatically be charged throughout the duration of the subscription. Valve states that subscriptions cannot be frozen, but they can be cancelled at any time via Account Details on Steam. The company also does not offer partial refunds for unused subscription time.

"Will reactivating my Subscription give me access to my old game history?" asks the FAQ. "This depends on the game. In some cases, your game data will automatically be re-linked to your Steam account. If this has not happened, you will need to contact the publisher of the game and have them re-initiate your previous game account and link it to your Steam account."

Prior to the launch of Steam's Subscription Plans service, publishers handled subscription fees within the game's client or through a related website. This method simply keeps the customer on the Steam platform, and makes monthly payments more convenient and secure. Additional subscription-based games will be supported at a later date, Valve said.

Valve began adding free-to-play games on Steam back in June 2011, many of which offer subscription-based models for premium content. Spiral Knights, Forsaken Worlds, Champions Online: Free for All, Global Agenda: Free Agent, and Alliance of Valliant Arms were the first five to appear, but the library has expanded to bigger players like Star Trek Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online, The Secret World, SyFy's Defiance and loads more.

Kevin Parrish
15 Comments Comment from the forums
  • slomo4sho
    Yay, exactly what we need! More subscription based games!
    Reply
  • Might as well be able to do it through Steam. They have my credit card info anyway.
    Reply
  • dalethepcman
    With the high quality free options within steam (and outside), why would anyone want a subscription based service?
    Reply
  • CarolKarine
    this is great, if you like paying monthly for a game...
    Reply
  • hoofhearted
    freemium, subscription, "constant connection required for single player" ... all this crap can just die. These greedy ass game companies would just assume stuck an iv in us and constantly suck the blood out if they could.
    Reply
  • samuelspark
    That's one EXPENSIVE game.
    Reply
  • fonzy
    Gabe Newell hinted a few months ago that HL3 is going to be subscription based too. With a RPG element to it.
    Reply
  • echondo
    10719784 said:
    Gabe Newell hinted a few months ago that HL3 is going to be subscription based too. With a RPG element to it.

    Source?

    OT: The subscription based model is to allow other publishers and developers to put their MMOs on Steam and have Steam handle the payments of the monthly subscription.

    Think of WoW on Steam and you pay your monthly subscription to Steam. This will expand Steam's catalog even further and gives more options to consumers. This could also rid any games of 3rd party software if you install your MMO and pay for your monthly subscription all on Steam.

    This will make it easier for the consumer and expand Steam's reach even further. Remember people, the Steambox is coming out, maybe they're gearing up so you can play all types of games without the hassle of trying to run WoW without Steam and on a Linux platform.
    Reply
  • fonzy
    I forget where he said it, or maybe it was just a rumor...just type in HL3 RPG in Google, Tom's did an article on it.

    I hope we hear some concrete information on it soon, it's fucking ridiculous.
    Reply
  • Aoyagi
    All glory to Steam! *hypnotoad sound*
    But seriously, it's nice. Keeping my credit card number to only one place does sound like a good idea.
    And some commentators here seem to have a very narrow tunnel vision. They seem to lack the ability to see other people's preferences, such as hating pay2win games and rather paying for a good service instead. No doubt some of them pay for crap services, like XCrap Live Plus, or whatever is the name of that thievery.
    Reply