Available digitally...but via what service? And will there be a physical version?

It will be through Steam, and unless someone corrects me, I don't believe there will be a physical version.

Looks like it will all be Steam, the following text is in blue at the bottom of the 'buy' page

Awesome Very happy to see that.

Ah, I was looking at store.stardock.com (https://store.stardock.com/product/ESD-SDE-W036). The note about Steam is actually at the bottom of https://www.galciv3.com/store. Cool.

-HM

Yeah, great.  No DRM free version.

Well, I can still stare lovingly at my GalCiv1 and 2 boxes on the shelf...

-HM

I always wonder in what way they think of Steam as DRM? DRM based on what? Every Steam game I have I can play on any of my computers. I just log in and download it. That seems pretty awesome to me. What is the objection?

Steam, by definition is DRM. Playing GalCiv3 will be restricted to only those who choose to sign up for the Steam service. Back in the day, you could play GalCiv1 and 2 simply by buying a boxed copy of the game and installing it. No one else was aware you had it except the store you purchased it from.

-HM

Gotta have some kind of physical edition. I'd hate for my other GC2 titles to be all lonely on the shelf.
Island Dog, maybe some kind of jewel case artwork like was done for Twilight?

You can use Steam, even have Steamworks, even have MP lobbies on Steam and still be DRM Free

Dragon Commander already does this

Steam is not 'by definition' DRM. Steam games can use DRM, but it's optional.

I'm doubtful, they were touting the fact that Sins had done extremely well WITHOUT retail release. Thus it seems logical they'd extend that to GalCiv3 and forgo retail for much better flexibilty in terms of release dates and making the game more awesome.

I still don't like Steam.  I thought Brad didn't either, but I guess he changed his mind.  It seems like he changed his mind before divorcing Impulse.

I don't like third party software like the steam client to have to constantly run.  When I'm playing a full screen game, I'd like every resource my computer has to go toward making the graphics as crisp as possible and the gameplay as smooth and lag-free as possible ... a third party program like Steam gobbles resources of its own that are then unavailable to the game.

I have, yes, bought games on Steam ... didn't have much choice on Elemental.  I could swear I remember Brad lamenting on the evils of Steam exclusivity deals ... and yet now Stardock seems to be releasing games exclusively Steam these days.

Steam is popular with devs because its FREE middleware. With game budgets exploding, timelines shrinking, etc anything 'FREE' and stable is a god send. Sure I could code my own lobby sysetm and create matchmaking and my own patch management distribution, and my own beta channels, my own achieveement infrastructure.

OR

I could spend zero bucks and have Steam do it all for me.

Game development is a zero sum game. Money/time/effort spent on A is something not being done on B/C/D/E/F. Sure we could make a new race, or we have to create the achievement server infrasctucture. I could add more AI for diplomacy... or spend time on the lobby system.

It may be free in terms of not having to pay money for the client itself, but it is not free in that it costs system resources to play a game you buy with it (that don't go to the game itself).

I honestly am not big on multiplayer, and single player games don't require a lobby.  Yeah, I know, there's a lot of fans I'm sure thrilled that GC3 will be multiplayer ... I hope its a side and the single player gameplay will be a fun extension of GC2.

I'd love to see at the end of development of a Stardock game, for physical versions to be made to order that are 100% DRM-free via flash drive or  disc.

That said, MP will require Steam (it's probably the reason we're getting MP in GalCiv III at all)

Steam uses almost no resources as long as you're not viewing the store direclty. It's just a browser

I've seen it consume hundreds of MB, and it propagates through Windows various network support services as well.  My point is there are digital distribution platforms (like Impulse and GOG) that don't require any third party client to run, so don't consume any at all.  I prefer Impulse or GOG.  I would hope that, even if you don't care because you have infinite resources on your computer that no game you ever play could take advantage of and even if you hated all the alternatives, that at least having viable alternatives would force Steam to be just a bit better to stay competitive.

No one is 'competing' with Steam.

Steam's trojan horse is free middleware

Until some other company comes along and makes somethign similar to Steamworks, Steam will be the dominant player. Steam sells games, it ensure games are on Steam by using Steamworks. They basically tricked devs into becoming Valve. Ensuring their library grew and more people used steam.

This dynamic isn't going to change unless someone comes up with something better than Steamworks. Because THAT'S the real product.

And no one is doing that. Not even Origin who had a chance at one point.

All the other 'stores' are just competing with each other. They're not competing with Steam.

Not that he can't do it himself, but in his defense: From an economical perspective, a developer or publisher of PC games can't really ignore Steam. It's just too popular, which of course doesn't help the concerns. Plus, from a developmental point of view, Steam/Steamworks comes with a lot of neat stuff that removes overhead and reduces costs (both money and time).

I buy most of my games on Steam, though I'm not always entirely comfortable with a quasi-monopoly that emerges more and more. All eggs in the same basket make it riskier the more eggs are at stake. For example, if there is ever a dispute with Valve, e.g. over a payment, access to the account may be disabled at least temporarily. For instance, when I had pre-ordered the Civ5 expansion (with a 10% discount as the only bonus), Steam sold it at 30% off on the EU release date and refused to compensate for the difference. I wanted to charge back the payment and buy the product at 30% off, but I couldn't. That incident was really the turning point where my enthusiasm for Steam started to cool off.

However, it's super convenient and I like having my games in the same place, not worry about manually downloading updates, and the community features make it is easy to stay in touch. I guess those things come at a price. Can't have it all, and perfect freedom, it seems.

"Better" is subjective.  I find Steam's middleware stuff more annoying than anything.  Endless Space was okay.  I am getting increasingly annoyed with the overlay popups on LH .. .I should just kill them.  I hate it when I'm trying to see how much gold I have when .... OKAY SHUP STEAM GOWAY!

For me, "better" is unobtrusive ... Steam, to me, is obtrusive.  I gave Facebook a try, found I hated it, I hated the spam, and have come to realize part of the irritation I have with Steam is their spam too. 

Just diable teh steam overlay if you're not going to use the community stuff anyway

You can disable the notifications, too.  Preferences -> Friends, and uncheck all "display a notification" options.

Steam IS DRM. Some may not find it obtrusive, but it is a system designed to limit the use of the content on it to those who have signed up for the Steam service. Previously, Stardock games could be played by simply installing the game from the cd/dvd and no other action had to be taken. If a user wanted, they COULD install Impulse (another form of DRM) and get patches for their game, but they didn't have to. 

Steam is not optional. You must install it to play GalCiv3. Thus, it's DRM. 

-HM

We haven't done a physical release in a long while, and I believe Brad has posted about how we are digital-only.  

Now you're just putting your head in the sand. I already explained that Dragon Commaner is DRM free. ANd that once you use steam to download the game, it is no longer necessary to play.

Your assertion is like calling GoG's installer 'drm' because you have to download the game to install it.

Now youre just making up stuff to justify your steam hatred and that just makes you look silly.