We're very excited now that Construct 2 is available on Steam! This follows our successful Greenlight submission, and it took a fair amount of work to sort out the integration, but last Friday the Store page went live. We've been getting tonnes of questions since then about various aspects of Construct 2's Steam integration, so here's a status update about where we are now and what's coming up.
Thank you!
First of all, we owe a huge thank you to our amazing community! You're the ones who voted for our Greenlight submission which convinced Valve to Greenlight us. The response to our campaign was incredible, and we want you to know: it's hugely appreciated and it makes a big difference. We'll continue working hard to make sure Construct 2 is the best it can be.
Steam keys
Loads of you have already asked for a Steam key to get the Steam version of Construct 2. To show our gratitude for your support on Greenlight, we can offer a free Steam key for all existing Personal edition users who have purchased a Construct 2 license via our site! Unfortunately we cannot offer Steam keys to future purchases from our site, but if you bought on or before January 26th you can claim your free Steam key and start using the Steam version of Construct 2. To claim your Steam key visit this page and follow the instructions:
https://www.scirra.com/steamrequest.aspx
Please note this is an extension to your existing license. Even if you do not use Steam, you cannot give away your Steam key to someone else - it's just for you to use.
Media bundle
Normally when purchasing Construct 2 we email you a link to the media bundle with your sprites, sound effects and music that you get with the license. This doesn't happen when buying on Steam. From r117 and onwards, there's a one-time prompt to download your bundle, and there's also a link in the About dialog to download it. If you don't want to wait until the next stable update, email us at support@scirra.com and we'll send you the bundle.
Beta updates & x64 support
We initially launched on Steam with r114, the latest stable release. However you can now also opt in to beta updates and get r117 via Steam. Just right-click on Construct 2 in your Steam library, select Properties, and in the Beta tab select the beta option from the dropdown. As always, beta releases give you the latest features sooner, but are more likely to have problems, so use with caution! Also note you cannot open projects in older releases of Construct 2. So if you save in r117 you will not be able to open it in r114 - therefore be sure to keep regular backups in case you want to roll back.
Construct 2 has had 64-bit support from the start, but for technical reasons our first release on Steam only provides the 32-bit build. We'll be adding support for our 64-bit build on Steam soon. In the mean time, don't worry - 32-bit Construct 2 is functionally identical to the 64-bit one!
Steam Cloud & Workshop
We're aware that integrating other Steam services could add a lot of value for users. We're definitely interested in adding support. We'll be looking in to this further in the near future. Unfortunately we can't immediately give an ETA or be able to tell you exactly what features will be supported, but hopefully we'll have more news on this soon.
Mac & Linux support
We're constantly asked about making a Mac or Linux version of Construct 2. We're aware of the demand, but unfortunately our position has not changed: as a 3-man company, right now we simply cannot afford the resources to port such a large and complex application as Construct 2. However we do have long term plans, and we're thinking about what we can do towards this in future. I wouldn't hold your breath, though - it's going to be a long way off. For now we recommend dual-booting to Windows (or using a VM, but performance tends to be worse).
In the mean time, the latest beta can export your games to both Mac and Linux desktop via node-webkit. You might want to try that out!
Newbie influx!
Steam is a big site, and you may notice an increase in absolute-beginner questions in the community, such as on the forum. This is great! New users is always healthy for both the community and software, so let's remember to be patient and do our best to help them - we were all new once. There's some great resources in our tutorials section and the manual, so be sure to link where appropriate rather than trying to re-describe things that have already been covered. And don't forget some beginners go on to become top users who help other new beginners in turn. Spread the load for the win!
More to come
As ever we'll maintain a regular update schedule with beta updates every 1-2 weeks, and stable updates every 6-10 weeks. The Steam version will have simultaneous updates for both beta and stable updates from now on. Thanks again to our community and we hope to return the favour with more cool updates to come!