NCsoft MMOs Head to Steam

Online game maker NCsoft may have its own internal digital storefront with PlayNC, but it has now turned to Valve and its 20 million users strong Steam service to help deliver its current line of MMOs to gamers. NCsoft, with U.S. headquarters located in Seattle, said today that City of Heroes, Guild Wars, and Lineage are heading to the Steam digital distribution platform. Over the coming weeks, Steam will have special offers on NCsoft products, the publisher said. As of press time, the games had not appeared on the storefront. NCsoft's products are also available on other third-party distribution services such as Direct2Drive. The publisher said that it plans on releasing the upcoming MMO Aion on Steam when the game launches this fall in North America and Europe. NCsoft West president of publishing David Reid said in a statement, "Extending our distribution reach with Steam will allow more gamers the freedom and flexibility to stay updated and engaged with our games and online communities." Included in NCsoft's Steam deal is City of Heroes's recently-released user-generated Mission Architect. The system led to the creation of over 20,000 mission arcs, just one week after its launch earlier this month.