Valve's Director of Marketing, Doug Lombardi, has told IGN that Half-Life 2: The Black Box has been cancelled.
Lombardi said the following:
"The Black Box has been cancelled. We're going to have one package, The Orange Box, available on the PC (US$49.99) as well as the 360 and PS3 (US$59.99)."
The Black Box was orignally going to be available for the PC only, with Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2 included. The Orange Box also added Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One into the box too.
He later added "Those who purchase the PC version of The Orange Box will get three separate Steam product codes: One for the three new games, one for HL2 and one for Episode One. This way a PC Orange Box owner can give away their Half-Life 2 or Episode One unused Steam product codes if they don't need a copy of those games."
It's an interesting move no doubt, but the sceptic in me says that it's a case of Valve pushing more end users towards Steam because it cuts out the publisher's royalties, earning more money for Valve. That's not to say I blame Valve for making the move.
Obviously, this news isn't going to affect anyone that was already planning to buy the games via Steam. For those that prefer having a real copy of the game in hand though, you're going to have to spend a bit more on The Orange Box and hope that someone wants to buy your HL2 and HL2: Episode One activation codes.
Which of the new games are you looking forward to the most? Tell us in the forums.
Lombardi said the following:
"The Black Box has been cancelled. We're going to have one package, The Orange Box, available on the PC (US$49.99) as well as the 360 and PS3 (US$59.99)."
The Black Box was orignally going to be available for the PC only, with Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2 included. The Orange Box also added Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One into the box too.
He later added "Those who purchase the PC version of The Orange Box will get three separate Steam product codes: One for the three new games, one for HL2 and one for Episode One. This way a PC Orange Box owner can give away their Half-Life 2 or Episode One unused Steam product codes if they don't need a copy of those games."
It's an interesting move no doubt, but the sceptic in me says that it's a case of Valve pushing more end users towards Steam because it cuts out the publisher's royalties, earning more money for Valve. That's not to say I blame Valve for making the move.
Obviously, this news isn't going to affect anyone that was already planning to buy the games via Steam. For those that prefer having a real copy of the game in hand though, you're going to have to spend a bit more on The Orange Box and hope that someone wants to buy your HL2 and HL2: Episode One activation codes.
Which of the new games are you looking forward to the most? Tell us in the forums.
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