Luisfius told me about this...

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/195975/Linden_Lab_acquires_distribution_service_Desura.php
http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/10/second-life-maker-linden-lab-buys-desura-for-games-distribution-plans-to-keep-it-open/

... am I the only one that sees this as a very bad thing(TM)?

I'm not sure of the significance of this move, but from what (admittedly little) correspondence I've had with Linden Labs' Rod Humble, I don't expect this to be any kind of death knell for Desura.

hmmmmmmmmmmm

Second Life for Linden Labs? If LL didn't buy them cheap, they will stick to it as a distribution platform which they can become a cash cow.

Woah! What does this mean for Moddb?



edit:
Not looking forward to scavenging all the good files from that service. :/

Pardon my ignorance but what is good about Desura? I've heard it mentioned here a few times but don't really know what it is. Is it like Steam?

If anything bad happens to Desura, don't blame the buyer, it's their property now. Blame the seller.

That news was so out there I seriously checked to see if it was April.

It is a digital download store, focusing a lot on indies and also have a general DRM free approach. It does have a client like steam, but it is optional to use. 98% of their games are DRM free installers you can download from their website.

They also hosts ModsDB and you can install and manage mods from there through their client.

Basically, it is the indie DRM free underdog.

That would highly depend on what aspect you wish to emphasise for the discussion. Like Steam it's a game store and distribution platform, and has a client you can install and play games from. Unlike Steam it also provides DRM free versions, and the client isn't required, and there's virtually no barrier to entry, so indie devs can put their games on Desura without any problem. Desura also provides an API similar to Steamworks (but will less functionality) which developers can integrate with their games.

The short of it is, Desura is for indie devs who can't get on any other store, like GOG or Steam.

My thanks to the both of you. It sounds like a very worthwhile platform.

To be honest Desura has been going down the drain for some months now imho. They basically opened the "alpha funding" thing to every crappy indie game made in flash over a weekend, and it shows.

This isn´t looking good. I doubted initially and was about creating a topic asking what´s going on. So seems true. Errh, I am going backup everything, just to prevent.

Forgive my ignorance, but why, how and for whom could Linden Labs aquiring Desura turn out bad?

I know next to nth about Linden Labs - I actually just found out that they created and run Second Life (never cared about it) - so can't really understand what's so worrying about this news.