Sports Interactive signs with Steam

Football Manager developer Sports Interactive has signed up to use Valve’s Steamworks service for its 2009 management games.

Steamworks offers a suite of tools for those looking to add a variety of multiplayer and online connectivity options to their games, promising users a reliable networked experience and developers accurate and detailed metrics. The service will be used in both the retail versions of the game and the digital download versions.

Sister digital delivery platform Steam will also allow players to access their Football Management game from any PC in the world without needing their DVD copy of the game.

"Many of us at Sports Interactive have been big fans of Steam since it’s inception, so to be working with them properly this year across releases of Football Manager on the PC is fantastic" said Miles Jacobson, studio director at Sega-owned Sports Interactive.

"It gives us the opportunity for all of our games players to get any patches or updates that we make available quickly and easily, as well as a place for us to host any other downloads, such as demos and promotional videos, with super fast broadband speeds for download, and no issues with bandwidth, which we are hit with each time we release a demo."

Game Newell, president of Valve, added: "The Football Manager 2009 team has an incredible plan to extend the product beyond launch and achieve a level of connectivity with FM 2009 players that surpasses any prior release in the category.

"We’re delighted to have Steamworks selected as the vehicle to help take this legendary franchise to the next level and look forward to offering the game to the millions logging onto Steam each week."