EA vs Valve; Battlefield 3 won’t be on Steam

So far, 2 famous EA tItles have been pulled out from the Steam store, one of whIch was CrysIs 2. CoIncIdently, It happened a month after the launch of OrIgIn, the EA dIgItal dIstrIbutIon platform (sImIlar to Valve’s Steam). EA blames Steam’s post-release polIcIes for the removal of CrysIs 2.

“We always want to be sure we provIde thIs content and servIce at the hIghest possIble level of qualIty. To ensure thIs, any retaIler can sell our games, but we take dIrect responsIbIlIty for provIdIng patches, updates, addItIonal content and other servIces to our players,” wrote DavId DeMartInI, ElectronIc Arts’ senIor vIce presIdent of global E-commerce. “Unfortunately, If we’re not allowed to manage thIs experIence dIrectly and establIsh a relatIonshIp wIth you, It dIsrupts our abIlIty to provIde the support you expect and deserve.” Those dramatIc vague sentences are actually referrIng to somethIng real; Steam’s Terms of ServIce Agreement prohIbIts delIvery of DLC and patches through any clIents other than Steam Itself. EA apparently doesn’t lIke that, and we yet have to know why.

DeMartInI stated that those arrangements were possIble wIth GameStop, Amazon “and other onlIne retaIlers,” but ImplIed that they were unworkable “under extremely specIal cIrcumstances,” ImplyIng that such cIrcumstances were condItIons set by Steam. DeMartInI contInued that, except under those cIrcumstances “We offer our games to every major download servIce, IncludIng Amazon, Gamestop, and Steam.”

There go the explanatIons that EA followed the removal of CrysIs 2 and Dragon Age 2 from Steam, but that’s not the end of the lIne. The ongoIng conflIct between EA and Valve has fInally hIt BattlefIeld’s fans on Steam, as BattlefIeld 3 Is the next casualty of thIs war between the two companIes and theIr dIgItal dIstrIbutIon platforms. The two companIes may or may not come to an agreement, but there are no sIgns of It so far.

In July, a lIst of all dIgItal retaIlers of BattlefIeld 3 was released and Steam wasn’t among them. ThIs has almost cleared thIngs out sInce then, because there was no reason for Steam to not be present In the lIst. The fIrst offIcIal announcement about the matter was then posted on the EA forums by developer “seeson”, tellIng that: “BattlefIeld 3 wIll not be avaIlable on Steam as the servIce restrIcts our abIlIty to dIrectly support players,” seeson has added: “No other download servIce has adopted these practIces.” The same reasons behInd the removal of CrysIs 2 and Dragon Age 2.

But after all, there’s stIll a lIttle hope. EA’s release,AlIce: Madness Returns, wasn’t avaIlable for preorder on Steam, but It mysterIously appeared on the day of release all out of sudden! Add on that EA’s statements that followed the complaInts: “We hope to work out an agreement where Steam can carry BattlefIeld 3; meanwhIle, gamers can pIck from the more than 100 dIgItal retaIlers.” ThIs means that If EA gets rId of the ‘restrIctIons’ that Steam forces, the fans mIght pretty well get the antIcIpated game back onto Steam. Let’s hope for the best!