Desura is a community driven digital distribution service for gamers, putting the best games, mods and downloadable content from developers at gamers fingertips, ready to buy and play. Welcome to the official Desura BLOG.

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After 2 years of stealth development, the team behind ModDB are proud to introduce Desura, our digital distribution service for games and mods.

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In case you have been wondering why updates from ModDB staff have been a little slow lately, it is because the team has been busy working on a secret project codenamed Desura. While Desura is far from complete and far from perfect, it is time to stop working in silence and to start inviting select teams and members to the private beta we are launching today.

Desura (like Steam, D2D, Impulse, GamersGate etc) is a digital distribution service for PC gamers. Unlike these platforms however which are just shops with little to no interaction between the community and the content available, we aim to bring the power and openess of ModDB to digital distribution. We hope to achieve this in three ways:

Developer driven

We don't make games ourselves, so we are entirely focused on helping game developers and publishers show off their wares. All tools and functionality provided by Desura to game developers, are provided to empower them to create a better game, and share its features in all their glory with the Desura community. Developers control the flow of news, images, videos and content through their profiles - we don't put up walls and barriers.

Developer functionality

Community run

Every member of the Desura community can post comments, submit reviews and upload screenshots. We are not some mysterious editor in an ivory tower controlling content - it's anybody who can put pen to paper. Our screenshots aren't limited to some airbrushed press releases - they're taken by the gamers who want to make themselves heard.

Community

User made content

There are plenty of great free mods and user made addons out there for games, which few know about and even fewer can install. Being able to customize your games is at the heart of everything Desura does, and we aim to make user made content as accessible as possible. From simple maps through to entire conversions and even whole new games, we hope to put what you want to play at your fingertips.

Mods & DLC

If you would like an invitation to the private beta, please post a comment here. Mod and indie game teams, if you would like to release or sell your game using Desura please contact us to discuss. We hope this is the first step to creating a platform which gives all developers on ModDB the opportunity to release their content to millions of gamers. We have worked damn hard and though a ton of work remains to be done, we hope you are as excited as us by this news. As always, please post your questions and I will endeavor to answer them, as I am sure you have many.

Post comment Comments  (0 - 50 of 601)
Wheeze201
Wheeze201

This looks ******* awesome!

This will probably change the face of the modding community ( like moddb did )

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INtense! Author
INtense!

We believe it is a game changer. Think of Desura as ModDB but filtered down to only the best released and coming soon mods and games. ModDB will serve as the development site with all content, while Desura serves as the release platform, enabling you guys to install and play content with ease.

Celebrate the fact that you are a PC gamer and we can provide what we think is an awesome tool (though I guess our users will be the judge of that). Note that the beta only supports a few mods and games as a demo... but we hope to expand our library significantly over the coming year.

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8472
8472

Would only released projects that are considered big, popular or high quality be allowed on Desura?

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Holymac
Holymac

No actually we plan on having all mods of all sizes launched onto our Community to provide an excelland and even chance for all modders.

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Dr.Worm
Dr.Worm

I love it and ill support you guys all the way

keep up the epic work!

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Ty_Rage
Ty_Rage

agreed back rounds and task bar options to rival the looks of vista for sure to be like the new moddb [which i check more religiously than my facebook] god luck and plz, plz keep up the good work!!

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branpurn
branpurn

Mods AND games? You going to compete with Steam? Good luck producing sale prices as good as theirs. (or Steam's prices at all, for that matter.)

However if this is a mod only kind of thing, then I don't see why this won't be the best way to get mods.

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PostHipster
PostHipster

looks amazing!

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Midnitte
Midnitte

Hopefully it gives steam a run for its money, competition is good. =)

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Dr_Gonzo
Dr_Gonzo

It won't. But I don't think it is intended to. I just hope it makes a good companion to Steam and other DD services.

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jetset125
jetset125

hehe. It's like hulu for Moddb. GJ!

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Spiffyman
Spiffyman

That's my hope too. Hopefully this will help gets mods recognized more easily. That's my favorite thing about PC games; using mods.

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blahblahblah12333
blahblahblah12333

Wow, did not expect this! Sign me up!

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blahblahblah12333
blahblahblah12333

Oh I have one question, what measures are being taken to prevent piracy?

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lodle Creator
lodle

For free mods its not an issue and with paid content we will sort that out with the developer

Reply Good karma+6 votes
Argetlam
Argetlam

Piracy haven't been stopped even by the best anti piracy softwares so unless Desura uses a system similar to the one available on Steam, I highly doubt they'll manage to prevent it...

Anyways I must say this has to be the greatest move in the modding community since the creation of ModDB, and it sure will be of a great help to the developers.
Also, I was wondering if this platform will be exclusively reserved for the Indie games and mods, or if it could also concern games made by some of the big companies like in Steam ?

PS : I'd also be interested into having a beta access to the program if possible :)

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Elementalist
Elementalist

Erm, not even Steam is the end-all against piracy. Steam has been worked-around many many times now.

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Murdouken
Murdouken

People can pirate on Steam with some special piracy patches. Not only that but there are also applications to launch steam games out of steam which was designed for legitimate use but pirates use it.

Nothing is piracy free, so I honestly believe you should just say '**** it' and let it go as it goes. Obviously if you CATCH pirates, then you should sue them to death, but DRM schemes are just incredibly annoying to paying customers.

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InStars
InStars

A MMO game called "Guild Wars" doesn't have any pirated versions!
The game is 4 years old and they have protected it!

I guess they managed to do it becouse it is online-only.

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HungerSTGF
HungerSTGF

I guess some people are misinformed and have never heard of private servers

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Forboding_Angel
Forboding_Angel

Guild Wars can only connect to one server, and everything that matters is stored on the main server. The only thing the user ends up with on his comp is assets.

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0SmooK0
0SmooK0

Wanna make bet on it?
Just like Hunger sayed, Private servers.. Btw hacks ar plenty too... ;)

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Elementalist
Elementalist

I'd have to say I'm 50/50 on this. In idea it's definitely great thing. However, as for digital distribution for games, I'd have to say "Another?". I'm all for competition, but with something like digital distribution, there comes a point where there's too many, and what with Direct2Drive, Steam, Impulse, GOG, GamersGate, and more... It's getting a little insane, and having to go to all these different services and places to get games (what with sales going on and things), for me, is rather offputting.

And as for player reviews, well, I do believe you say it right here: "We are not some mysterious editor in an ivory tower controlling content - it's anybody who can put pen to paper." Which is good in one way, but on the other hand... Prepare for lots of completely biased and 1337-speak reviews.

Congratulations on all your hard work, definitely, but I'll have to wait and see.

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INtense! Author
INtense!

Whilst I do agree with you here, options are never a bad thing. Plus none of these services are really open and nor do I doubt they ever will be. Also if you exclude Steam and Impulse, none of the others are "true digital distribution" in my eyes but just glorified download sites. We provide all the functionality from downloading, installing, playing and patching. That is all done.

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blahblahblah12333
blahblahblah12333

Yeah but just try to get your MOD on one of those platforms -- it's nearly impossible. A few great things about this service that I see are 1, the distributor is totally neutral and has no ulterior motives other than to try and obviously make money and distribute content (*cough steam/valve) and 2, it's far more user-friendly to indie/mod devs.

EDIT: Reply intended for Element

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Elementalist
Elementalist

Ah, true, that's something I didn't think of. I'll put that down as a definite plus. CroSuS tried to do this as well, if I remember correctly, though, hopefully Desura is more successful!

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MrMattWebb
MrMattWebb

Hmm, one for mods? Awesome!

Another one for games? Nah. Im already in too deep with steam.

Can I get an invitation to the private beta please?

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blahblahblah12333
blahblahblah12333

It would be awesome if any games you bought on steam would also be unlocked for you (if they are available) on Desura. That way those already "in too deep" with steam won't have any problems moving over.

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INtense! Author
INtense!

At the very least Desura will support and link your games but patching and updating may not be available. You will most likely have to use the original service your brought your game from to patch it. Depends on the deals we can negoiate with publishers (we haven't attempted any yet, we want to iron out the bugs and make it user friendly first)

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blahblahblah12333
blahblahblah12333

I know that some games you buy over steam also provide you with a CD Key, perhaps just re-entering it on Desura could work for unlocking a game you already own?

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Vison9
Vison9

I honestly doubt asking will get you one
Everyone wants one, why would they give one to somone who asks?
:|
To Korge, by the way.

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Elementalist
Elementalist

Your statement: "I honestly doubt asking will get you one
Everyone wants one, why would they give one to somone who asks?
:|"

The article: "If you would like an invitation to the private beta, please post a comment here."

Good job.

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Ark_
Ark_

This looks pretty neat, thanks for all your hard work on it.

Is their any special criteria that a team would need to meet to be considered for the beta or would just be best to apply and see?

Also could I please get an invitation to the private beta if you don't mind?

Thanks again for all your work on this and hopefully this will create a larger fan base for all those great mods and Indies.

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Ark_
Ark_

Ooops i forgot to ask in my first post.

When you say it handles installing and patching, will this be done like in is in steam (eg. the files are downloaded into the correct folder automaticly) ?

Also will there be stats tracking? (eg. downloads on a certain day)

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Wills
Wills

E-mailed! Sounds fantastic!

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Killer_man_1996
Killer_man_1996

Sounds pretty cool

I like it for downloading games...

BTW i forgot my pasword and i was like 10 min. trying to remember it... to just post here!!! It's a very interesting project

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Killer_man_1996
Killer_man_1996

Can you guys send me an invitation please?

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blahblahblah12333
blahblahblah12333

I wonder how this is going to work with steam as HL2 mods require steam running. How will that be handled?

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lodle Creator
lodle

Still need steam to be running. It just tells steam to launch the mod when needed

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Betelgeuze
Betelgeuze

As a long time moddb member I would love to enter the beta. I really like what you guys are doing here!

Does this work on mac?

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MrMattWebb
MrMattWebb

It looks like its a web app, so I dont see why it wouldnt run on a mac.

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lodle Creator
lodle

No mac support atm, just a challenge getting it running on 3 different windows versions, but its on the cards.

Reply Good karma+4 votes
Betelgeuze
Betelgeuze

In that case I won't be able to test the beta, since I only have a Mac atm. What if you not only support Mac in the future, but also dedicate a part of your service to Mac-games? Again something that’s never been done, and a way to differentiate from the other platforms. You would get the attention of the whole Mac community.

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blahblahblah12333
blahblahblah12333

Is this a web app or client?

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lodle Creator
lodle

Its a full application as it needs access to the hdd and other things which a web app cant do. Would love to support mac as i have a mac book pro (fantastic laptop) except we dont have the time or resources atm to do it.

Reply Good karma+3 votes
Betelgeuze
Betelgeuze

Sure I understand ;)

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TYRIAN
TYRIAN

Great work!!!

May I ask for an invitation?

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jeffr
jeffr

Nice! Adding Overgrowth to it now.

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zonbie
zonbie

If only Steam were more receptive to including quality mods on its service, Desura would not be needed. I am definitely interested in a distribution platform for mods.

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bluefire40
bluefire40

This looks interesting, I would love to test this out. Mind sending me an invitation?

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