Valve have announced that they're going to be giving Soundtracks their own special section on Steam instead of them being a generic DLC listing.
In the Steamworks Development post, Valve said that all this will properly launch on January 20 with a sale event. However, they've already begun pushing some of the changes out there in public.
Currently, if you want the soundtrack to a game you have to own the game, and download it as a DLC with the game to access it through the Steam client. Not exactly ideal, in fact the whole way it was done was a bit rubbish. With a new dedicated Soundtrack "app type" you will be able to purchase a soundtrack you like completely independent from the actual game and download it. On top of that, you can have a dedicated music folder to store it all in so you don't have to hunt across Steam for all the files.
This isn't a shock though, it actually leaked out previously when it went live for a moment before being pulled which we got a shot of in this previous article. It will look something like this:
This also fixes an issue I bugged Valve about a few times over the years, where a developer accidentally set a soundtrack DLC as available for Linux even when the game isn't. Now it doesn't matter, you can just buy and enjoy it without issues—no fuss is how I like it.
Not stopping there though, Valve are expanding it. Multiple quality levels will be available, a new interface (like the above shot), album art, notes and more little additions like you might expect when buying music.
You will be able to use the Soundtrack checkbox when searching too (try this) like you could for DLC, Demos, Software and so on. As an example store page, Valve have already switched over the Portal 2 soundtrack to the new store page format (image here if you can't view it).
What do you think of this change? Quite nice I think.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: elmapulcan i play with any player or just the steam player?Any player.
Quoting: elmapulso you can buy any sound track, regardless of if the game is avaliable for linux?If the publisher sets the app type as "Music" rather than "DLC", you can buy the soundtrack separately. If you try to buy a soundtrack categorized as "DLC" for a game you don't own, you will get a message like "Your transaction failed because you are trying to buy <game soundtrack> which requires ownership of '<game>'. Please correct the error and try again."
Last edited by vector on 9 January 2020 at 6:32 am UTC
QuoteYou will be able to use the Soundtrack checkbox when searching too (try this) like you could for DLC, Demos, Software and so on.I expect this will be corrected fairly shortly (probably in the next few hours), but currently using the "Soundtrack" checkbox also returns a couple of DLC soundtracks in the results.
As of now (2020-Jan-9, 6:57 UTC) I couldn't buy the following (without owning the base games):
• Firewatch Original Soundtrack
• QuestEvent OST
Last edited by vector on 9 January 2020 at 6:57 am UTC
So my guess is we will see Valve being pressured to innovate more in the coming month, smaller and bigger things.
Not bad actually.
Quoting: ElectricPrismThere is a 0% chance I will buy Soundtracks unless I can manually copy the MP3, FLAC, or whatever files. Is this the case?
I didn't used that feature very much... but I think it is already like that. Files are downloaded in a dedicated folder in the game folder. And from there the player collects them. Ofc you can copy them and move them wherever you want. In my case, my Nas based cloud.
Quoting: subNow, that the Epic Game Launcher implements more and more wanted Steam features, it's just a matter of time they reach close parity.
So my guess is we will see Valve being pressured to innovate more in the coming month, smaller and bigger things.
Not bad actually.
When you're being sarcastic or silly add some crazy emoticon at the end otherwise people won't understand.
buckysrevenge Jan 9, 2020
Quoting: BielFPsValve should release a dedicate app for listening soundtracks in the smartphone (like Spotify). This could encourage developers to use this new tool and also customers to buy more soundtracks.Absolutely. My primary pc for gaming is a htpc, I never listen to any game soundtracks I own as a consequence. An app like the fabled video app they were planning would be welcome on my phone and tablet.
Quoting: PhiladelphusNice, I like it! It's always felt silly that I can't buy the soundtrack from a non-Linux game separate from the game itself.
I think it is also silly to buy a game, that includes the music (as it is played in the game) and then pay for the music as a DLC, to get "the game music". You already payed for it...
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me