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Black Ops going full steam ahead

by: John -
More On: Call of Duty: Black Ops
Not too surprising but Valve and Activision announced today that Call of Duty: Black Ops will be available on Steam. You can pre-purchase now and start playing on November 9th.

What I do like is that Treyarch's going to using the tools for such things as auto-updates, achievements, and the ever-loving Cloud support. You won't have to be online to play as there will be an offline mode.

I'm just happy that dedicated servers and mods are being supported again. No more migrating of servers!
CALL OF DUTYŽ: BLACK OPS COMING TO STEAM WITH FULL STEAMWORKS SUPPORT

Most Anticipated Title of 2010 Prepares for PC Launch

Oct 22, 2010- Valve and Activision Publishing, Inc today announced the upcoming holiday blockbuster, Call of DutyŽ: Black Ops (PC), is now available for pre-purchase via Steam, a leading platform for PC and Mac games with over 30 million accounts around the world.

Those who pre-purchase Call of Duty: Black Ops on Steam will be able to start playing immediately upon release on November 9, 2010, when Activision expects the title will be available worldwide. Developed by Treyarch, Call of Duty: Black Ops utilizes the Steamworks suite of tools. The title is rated "M" (Mature - Blood, Drug, Reference, Intense Violence and Language) by the ESRB.

In addition to leveraging Steamworks' Auto-Updating, Achievements, and more, Call of Duty: Black Ops will support Steamworks Cloud technology. The PC version of the product will be powered with Steamworks for both the digital and tangible versions of the game and, as with all Steamworks titles, offline play will also be supported.

"We are delighted to be delivering the year's most anticipated title with Black Ops to PC gamers around the world," said Jason Holtman, director of business development at Valve. "We've collaborated with the development team to leverage the Steamworks suite of services to deliver the highest level of service to Call of Duty: Black Ops PC customers."

"Steam has been a great partner throughout development of Black Ops," said Mark Lamia, president of Treyarch. "We're working closely together to take full advantage of Steamworks to ensure we deliver the most polished and secure PC experience that our community deserves."

Call of Duty: Black Ops is slated for worldwide release the week of November 9 at retailers and via Steam. For additional Call of Duty updates, visit www.callofduty.com/blackops and also via Twitter @JD_2020.

Steamworks is a complete suite of publishing and development tools -- ranging from product key authentication to social networking services -- offered free of charge to publishers and developers. For more information, please visit www.steampowered.com.