It was reported a couple of days ago that Dragon Age II had disappeared from Steam. It is believed that the new DLC, Legacy, was the cause, as EA allowed players to purchase it in-game rather than via Steam itself. Apparently this goes against the terms of service.
EA had the following to say:
“At EA, we offer our games and content to all major download services including GameStop, Amazon, Direct2Drive and Steam.
Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to sell downloadable content. No other download service has adopted this practice. Consequently some of our games have been removed by Steam.
We hope to work out an agreement to keep our games on Steam.”
I hate it when mummy and daddy fight!
Source: IGN
MrSpeedyGonzales
I think this is balls**t, they’re just trying to get people to buy from Origin. This has nothing to do with DLC.
Erroneus
Exactly and it’s so obvious that EA are trying to make Valve look like the bad guys.
If they only want to sell their games on Origin, then fine do that, but be clear about it instead of this BS move.
To bad though Origin is crap and EA customer service is crap, I’m not going to spend any money on Origin.
Einride
Valve/Steam are no saints, but it’s sure convenient for EA to have an excuse to pull yet another game from Steam in hopes of more people turning towards Origin.
And from what I’ve heard, the tight integration between Origin and BF3 makes it unlikely that the game ever shows up on Steam at all.
It might seem like it’s just a bit of a “disagreement”, but there’s a truckload of money on the line here, and they both want their major share of it.
skibadee
I think EA games would survive without steam.
Rad4Life
I agree. And Steam will survive without EA.
The Lone Steven
I think it is a case of EA being greedy and want to force PC gamers to buy from origin. Which according to Phil is a pile of donkey platter on a stick. EA is the only publisher that seems to had a massive row and is now sleeping on the sofa. I think Valve wouldn’t be affect much if EA pulled all of their games from Steam as they i think get a cut of every game sold on there.
TheLig
I think bashing EA for trying to sell through Origin is ignoring that Steam ONLY allow you to purchase DLC through them and not in game. In all honesty I’d rather buy in-game than have to go through steam. I think any controls on how you can purchase are bad so I’m siding with EA on this one.
skibadee
yep people seem to think steam do no wrong.
yogdog
With you both here, don’t like steam much, only use it as I’m forced to with total war games.
Rad4Life
Nice job pointing that out Lig. Valve is not the saint and saviour of the video game world. Have we all forgotten Gabe’s outrageous statements about the PS3?
OneShotWook
Greed issue,in a couple of months time get ready for a price increase when both firms realize they aren’t making as much.
As much as i disliked how Valve forced steam onto the pc community i can’t deny it was a good move.The town i’m in simply doesn’t stock any pc games in it’s 4 outlets besides the sims and wow.
AG2297
I like it when you can see people on both sides of the fence (i.e. some people agree with EA an others with Steam). It always makes comments more interesting to read and nobody is ‘wrong’ :)
In my personal opinion, I think they are both being stubborn and both thinking ahead towards BF3. Whichever store sells it (Origin or Steam in this example) will get a cut from each sale. Origin will go directly back into EA but if it was sold on Steam then Steam would get a cut. It therefore looks like EA is being greedy in not wanting to share any of the profit but then again EA DO want it on Steam, they just want an in game option to buy from Origin as well so Steam is being greedy and stubborn there. Or are they just making sure there rules are consistent for every game on there store? Surely if they allowed EA to do it, all the others would have a valid argument to do it too. This all puts Steam in a difficult position.
JoshHood
EA games have only comparatively recently gone on Steam, but they’d be fools to think they can command any kind of decent market share without it now. In the years inbetween, it’s become clear that Steam IS PC gaming, and the success of Battlefield 3 on PC will rely on whether it is on Steam or not.
bunimomike
With you on this. Also, why is this not on both? If Steam want a slice that’s a bit more then agree to it. There’s no need for exclusivity. Steam IS PC gaming, as you say. EA can make pooploads of money from both platforms.
Right now, and it’s not meant with any sort of childish arm-folding but, I’m not interested in downloading Origin. It really is as simple as that.
OneShotWook
Be aware here that they also have the next latest best thing ever mmo in the Old Republic,if that does anyways near whats expected of it then all of a sudden your looking at a powerhouse in spite of Bf3,of which i’ve no doubt the major profits will come from console sales.
In essence walking down the road to another store is more effort than the average person signing to Origins.
skibadee
your saying that no PC gamer would get BF3 without steam not so sure about that.
emekcrash
Valve are the good guys. They always are the good guys no matter what they do. Ridiculous.
It got pulled off because it used in game DLC purchase. Its EAs fault for not reading into that and Valves fault for making greedy, stupid rules for their services.
xdarkmagician
EA has the right to sell their stuff however they want. Steam is only a distributor, it’s not their place to dictate how DLC is bought. I see this as more about ignorance than greed as each company thinks they can control the other. Each will do fine without the other. On a personal note- I always felt Valve was a little too ‘anxious’ to control PC gaming so I welcome the new competition. Surely when Steam and Origin go to war the customer will benefit the most.
ljc1976
Maybe someone should tell Apple that.