GAMING NEWS: EA & Valve Sign Publishing Agreement

Electronic Arts and Valve today announced that the two companies have entered a multi-year agreement to deliver a collection of Valve games to players worldwide. The first two games to be released under this agreement are Half-Life 2: Game of the Year and Counter-Strike: Source for PC, both launching this fall. Half-Life 2: Game of the Year is a special edition release that includes Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source, plus Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, and Half-Life: Source. Day of Defeat: Source is included in the separate Counter-Strike: Source package. In addition, Half-Life 2 for the Xbox, currently in development at Valve and targeted for release in October, will be published and distributed worldwide by EA. All of Valve's PC products will continues to be available for download and purchase via their Steam service.

In related news, Valve's Doug Lombardi confirmed to VE3D that Half-Life 2: Aftermath will indeed be published to retail via EA at an undetermined point in the future.

EA are practically owning the entire game market with just a few large players left.