ALIEN SWARM制作人在STEAM论坛上现身，为大家解答为何此游戏免费的真正原因

Schelfaniel

当我们在玩ALIEN SWARM的时候，我们会直接疑问：“为什么这么好的游戏居然是免费发售？”如果VAVLE说这游戏只卖5美元，看起来更是有利可图，对不？

其实VAVLE真的是对这个游戏作出免费的决定，以下就是具体的原因：

1这游戏内容并非是完整的。
当然，这只是一款可以用1-2个小时通关一个章节的游戏，但是它的二周目的价值还不足以为这游戏本身定价，VAVLE之前也提供了很多的资源（应该是指提供SOURCE引擎）在这游戏上，可见他们也希望该游戏获得成功！

2建立品牌。
玩家都喜欢免费的东西，并且也希望这东西提供优质服务。推出一款免费游戏使玩家爱上VAVLE。过往VAVLE也会为游戏提供免费的内容和支持，这个效果同样也可以用在该作身上！

3鼓励MOD开发。
这游戏使得我们这个MOD团队梦想成真，VAVLE肯邀请我们这个MOD团队加入他们的阵型，就是希望鼓励更多的MOD开发者去创造属于他们的游戏，不需要所谓的开发成本。你也可以这么形容：“VAVLE指望那些MOD开发者们利用免费赠送的ALIEN SWARM的源代码去创造更为开阔的游戏世界。

然而最后，也是很明确的
4本作是为了吸引STEAM的新用户。
ALIEN SWARM是专为联机合作而开发出来的，当我第一次玩ALIEN SWARM（应该是指UT2004的MO散装光盘本），我想告诉我的朋友说这游戏非常好玩，但是这些朋友从来没用过STEAM这个平台。一位放弃了STEAM平台多年的老朋友，告诉我说为了ALIEN SWARM而重新回到了STEAM平台。这个回答也正是VAVLE想知道的。他们希望告诉那些玩家STEAM平台有新的免费的游戏，安装游戏更为便捷。让玩家觉得：“嗯，这游戏真值！”越多的STEAM用户购买服务=更多的资金流入VAVLE。

Schelfaniel

英文原文如下：Hopefully people will read why Alien Swarm is free, and quit with the endless threads asking the same thing, here you go

When many of us played Alien Swarm, we immediately thought "Why is such a good game being released for free?". If Valve had sold this for $5, it would have been more profitable, right?

Nope. Valve really knew what it was doing when it released this game for free. And here are the reasons that they did it.

The Game isn't a Full Game
Currently, it only has one complete campaign that can be beat in an hour or two. Yes, it has plenty of replay value, but not enough to place a price-tag on it. Before Valve spends more resources on the game, they want to see that it is successful.

It Builds Brand Loyalty
Gamers like free stuff. Gamers also like good support. Releasing a game for free makes people love Valve (hell, it works for me). Valve also releases free content and support for past games, which leads to the same effect.

It Encourages Modding (ie free content)
This game is a modder's dream come true. It was created by a team of former modders that Valve hired. This gives current modders a sense of hope that their mods will be appreciated and picked up by Valve, which increases modder output. More modder output means more content for Valve games without any development cost for Valve. You can tell that Valve is counting on modders for Alien Swarm given the release of the SDK and the open nature of the game.

And last, but definitely NOT least:

It Showcases Steam to New Users
This game is designed to be played with your friends. When I first discovered Alien Swarm, my initial reaction was to tell all of my bros how awesome this deal was. Many of those friends had never used Steam before. One friend had given up on Steam a few years back, and told me that this game was "A reason to go back to Steam again". This reaction is precisely what Valve wants. They want gamers to see all the new features that Steam has to offer for free. They want to show how easy it is to install a game using Steam. They hope that Alien Swarm players will browse the store and think "Damn, these are some good deals!". More Steam purchases=More money in Valve coffers.


It's an awesome deal for everyone- Steam users get a free game and more friends to play games with, Modders have more tools to mod with, and Valve has more paying customers.

And that, my friends, is why Alien Swarm has come to us free of charge.