Without Steam

[Wytewolf]

I am looking to buy X3AP online, but i do not want steam. Is it possible to get it without going through steam?

[CBJ]

No. You can buy it from other online providers, but what they will sell you is a Steam code for the game.

[Wytewolf]

Ok, thank you for the info

[Len5]

When will the boxed retail version be for sale? And will this be playable without steam?

[CBJ]

Release date information for the boxed retail version will be announced shortly. It will require Steam but obviously you won't have to download most of the files as they will be on the DVD. More information about the Steam requirements can be found in our Steam FAQ.

[atomota]

The news that the boxed version of Albion will require steam is most unfortunate. I'll assume the same will be true of thre forthcoming X: Rebirth. I've been an avid player of the X games since X2, but I can assure you I won't be buying more any steam infested games: been there, done that, won't go back. One of the much appreciated side perks of your games was the unobstrusive disk based copy protection, always removed through update patches about a year after release. Having to put a dvd in a drive when you want to play (but only while the game is still relatively new) beats the heck of out installing spyware intent on, among other things, tracking all your game usage. Not to mention the all the savegames of steam X3 players broken by steam's forced update patches. And no, "Do not update this game automatically" doesn't work- steam ignores your stated wishes, a right they give themselves in the EULA if you bother to read it.

As well, your assertion that steam will only download updated files when you install from a retail disk is false, as I discovered when tried to install Skyrim, my first steam infected game since I got my only other one years ago, the Orange Box. I was informed the install was going to take 6 hours! It is possible to install from disk, but only by killing steam, then relaunching from the command line using an " -install N:" switch, N being the drive letter to install from. And you won't find that out from steam; I got the info from a game forum through google after fruitlessly searching steam's own faqs, help and support.

Again I am truly disappointed that Egosoft has chosen to abuse its customers by forcing them into using steam to play Alion Prelude and presumably future X games, when in the past they at least had the choice of going with steam's dubious convenience or buying a retail version that would eventually be drm free.
I, like all customers, do retain the right to choose, and I choose not to buy steam- enabling games, even if that means giving up on the future of X. Bye.

[Alan Phipps]

And that neatly brings this thread to a close given the dedicated Steam debate thread in the Rebirth forum.