All puns aside, the hugely popular (especially in the video gaming community) digital distribution outlet Steam is looking to try its hand at a new product: films.

Now, for those who know and have used Steam this is both surprising and yet a very characteristic move for the platform that supports everything that this particular film represents as well as taking on ventures that have great potential whether they be tested successes or not.  This is not for lack of knowledge or market research, but rather for Steam’s position in a growing market of digital distribution.  Steam supports gamers: a diverse bunch that can take to just about anything for just about any reason.

So, Steam can’t afford to miss a chance which may be the impetus for the decision to pick up Indie Game: The Movie: a documentary solely based around video games, and featuring two games that Steam itself distributes called Super Meat Boy and Braid. About the film:

With the twenty-first century comes a new breed of struggling independent artist: the indie game designer. Refusing to toil for major developers, these innovators independently conceive, design, and program their distinctly personal games in the hope that they, too, may find success.

After two years of painstaking work, designer Edmund McMillen and programmer Tommy Refenes await the release of their first major game for Xbox, Super Meat Boy—the adventures of a skinless boy in search of his girlfriend, who is made of bandages. At PAX, a major video-game expo, developer Phil Fish unveils his highly anticipated, four-years-in-the-making FEZ. Jonathan Blow considers beginning a new game after creating Braid, one of the highest-rated games of all time.

First-time filmmaking duo Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky capture the emotional journey of these meticulously obsessive artists who devote their lives to their interactive art. Four developers, three games, and one ultimate goal— to express oneself through a video game.

Indie Game: The Movie is set to be available for purchase on Steam June 12.  We’re sure the distribution market will be keeping its eye on this experiment, not only to see the viability of Steam as another source of making films available to specific fan-bases but as an option for consideration by other companies in a niche market.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2012 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Daily News, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.