Store Wars: Battlefield 3 Officially Skipping Steam, Valve's Terms of Service to Blame
Store Wars: Battlefield 3 Officially Skipping Steam, Valve's Terms of Service to Blame
Posted 08/09/2011 at 11:29pm
| by Nathan Grayson
52
Comments
Print
You know that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you just know something's about to go horribly wrong? Like when someone says “This can't possibly go wrong!” or “Let's buy iPhones”? Well, that's how we felt when EA and Valve started taking their toothbrushes back from each others' houses. Obviously, Battlefield 3 wasn't going to benefit from the divorce. And so, predictably – but no less regrettably – here we are.
“Gamers can pre-order Battlefield 3 at Origin.com as well as over 100 digital retailers worldwide. EA offers games to all major download services. Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. No other download service has adopted these practices,” the publisher wrote on its official forums.
Valve's terms of service, of course, prohibit games from passing out piping hot DLC through any means other than Steam proper. EA, obviously, isn't OK with this. The mega-publisher is, however, willing to compromise.
“We are intent on providing Battlefield 3 players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play their game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers. We hope to work out an agreement where Steam can carry Battlefield 3; meanwhile, gamers can pick from the more than 100 digital retailers,” EA concluded.
Until Valve decides it's also willing to play ball, though, it seems Battlefield 3 will go the way of Crysis 2 and Dragon Age II. Hey everyone, remember when we just played videogames? Yeah, us neither.
More like this
52
Comments
Comments are closed on this article
Odaecom
August 12, 2011 at 10:53am
Well EA's friend system or (game browsers for that matter) have never worked well, with Origin you only can have friends, no groups at this point, EA has to realize that it is communties that help sell games on the PC, since seeing what other friends are playing can create an interest in game purchases.
So it looks like I will be buying a retail disk for a PC game, (I think the last one was Battlefield 2142) and adding it to STEAM...
Silencer
August 11, 2011 at 5:01am
"We ... are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers. We hope to work out an agreement..."
F Steam.
Cooketh
August 10, 2011 at 5:05pm
I've been playing the Alpha on Origin for a week now. So I'm most definately going to purchase it through Origin when it releases. Though, I would prefer Steam, this isn't a big deal.
75% of my PC game collection is on steam, the rest are on Disc, and 4 are on Origin.
I like the fact that Origin exists, so I have 2 places to look for sales, but I don't like this exclusivity thing, and I'm with Valve on this one.
If Ubisoft and Valve can work out their differences to get that heinous monstor DRM on Assassin's Creed in steam, then EA and Valve should be able to work this garbage out surely. Bottom line is, if you want to patch or DLC your game, you have to do it through Steam, and not your standalone garbage client that comes with it. I can't stress enough how reasonable of a Term this is from Valve. Anyone remember getting The Witcher 2 on Steam and having it patch kinda through steam but some content was through the menu client? Yeah, that sucked having to deal with two different things, not to mention that the Witcher 2 client was bugged as hell, you couldn't even get your Deluxe DLC or patches to install for the first few days. Ea just needs to use the Steam DLC/Patching system if they want their game to be available to as many customers as possible, which they should want.
In the end, we know where this goes... Your just ganna have to use multiple "host clients" like Steam and Origin to access your entire library, God help us if we can't make a mod to integrate the Library visually.
I'll never understand this from EA. Just put it on Steam and be done with it. It's sad digital distrubition has to go this way. People complain about the "exlcusive bonus content" you get from buying a game from GameStop as opposed to Best Buy. This is just one step further, it's not DLC that's exclusive, it's the game. Yeah great, maybe Gamestop will shut down and we'll just have PS3 only stores, 360 only stores, and Wii only stores. Each developer can have their own outdoor cart.
Marsel
August 10, 2011 at 1:43pm
Meh. I'll just buy the DVD version and just add it to Steam as a 3rd party game
CalDrumr
August 10, 2011 at 1:04pm
I don't particularly care where I purchase my games. Steam is handy and all, but as long as they are installed on my computer, it's not a huge deal. If I have to buy the disc or use another service, oh well. Valve will feel the pain on that one.
rknudson08
August 10, 2011 at 12:56pm
Ohh man. This just made my day. Steam is the most garbage ever, I am so excited that I can buy this for PC now instead of being forced to go PS3 or 360.
gendoikari1
August 10, 2011 at 12:06pm
Well, guess that's one less game for me to buy. I think Red Orchestra 2 would be nicer, seeing as how it isn't a console port, or propped up by some MegaCorp.
praack
August 10, 2011 at 9:36am
all depends on how I buy it, I did not blink an eye when I got 3 vouchers for games with the purchase of 550 ti vid card and had to down load steam. did not blink and eye to buy others from steam.
yet my C&C fix was all disc, as are others.
then again I am also a console man on the side as well - ps3- so maybe not being a purist might be the issue. with the exception of my native mistrust of microsoft
;-)
someuid
August 10, 2011 at 8:09am
EA is making a mountain out of a molehill. They are the *only* company complaining about this supposed problem. No one else is.
EA is trying to paint themselves as a victim here. I'm not buying it.
As for 100 digital download services. Ha. They are counting a single site that is offered in 20 languages as 20 different sites, and a site that is restricted to sales in a single country as an available service to all. What a cheap way to inflate the numbers.
Anyone who falls for EA's talk is a corporate tool.
AndrewEgel
August 10, 2011 at 8:03am
"Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content."
Very misleading from EA, they've wrapped patches with DLC. Steam never has problems with delivering patches. DLC yes, but only when its only availible exclisviely through another service. Why do this? To protect the community I guess, so Steam doesn't acidentily "dupe" people into buying thier service unless they're entitled to the all/full DLC availible to the game.
Carpnter
August 10, 2011 at 7:34am
Seems that quite a few people don't understand that Valve's Terms of Service are there to stifle competition.
"You can only release DLC for your game through Steam" is not good for the consumer nor is it in the developers best interest to accept restrictions on how they can interact with their customers.
allanon6666
August 10, 2011 at 4:29pm
I keep hearing two different things. Can developers ONLY deliver DLC through Steam and no where else or is it that the devs can't exclude Steam as one of several delivery services for their DLC?
Aurien
August 10, 2011 at 4:19pm
The new TOS isn't DLC has to be through Steam only, it's it has to be available on Steam as well. They can sell the DLC through Direct 2 Drive, Origin, or what ever distributor they feel like using. It just has to be available through Steam as well.
Wingzero_x
August 10, 2011 at 7:22am
Hate to say it, but Steam isn't always up to date with their patching. I recently regrettably purchased a game that would CTD on me. Doing research I found there was a patch. Unfortunately once installed, I then found out how bad the game truly was.
Sad thing is this all comes down to that damned DLC.! Thank you Microshaft and your only contribution to gaming: Nickel and Diming the gamer to death!!
Marthian
August 10, 2011 at 7:46am
I'm pretty sure Microsoft doesn't want PC gaming to thrive, they haven't done a single good thing for it except DirectX 11 and 64 bit OSes, not to mention I haven't heard of a Microsoft game being released on the PC lately.
DoctorX
August 10, 2011 at 7:01am
yawn! who cares about bf3? more of the same bleh coming from EA. Then again, who cares about the Borg EA? not I! if it isnt on steam, it doesnt exist. Even if it was on steam, I wouldnt buy it.
ShockerX
August 10, 2011 at 9:13am
I'd wholeheartedly agree with you, but as a gamer, I'd love to play a game that is good and using BF BC2's game engine. But yeah, I will not get BF3 outside steam.
DoctorX
August 10, 2011 at 10:30am
talking to me? you gtfo for being a rude sob. I am not a call of duty lover either. Both are yawns.
Holly Golightly
August 10, 2011 at 12:42pm
So let me get this straight... If Duke Nukem was available everywhere else but Steam... You would boycott it just because it is not on Steam? You are quick to criticize games, yet you hardly mention any games that go beyond the yawns and the borgs. Everyone is entitled to their taste... But to say a game does not exist outside of Valve's Steam client, is total B.S., I am sorry. Steam is not available in every country... So are those countries just there to rot? We all deserve to game, even if it is not on Valve's most beloved client.
MikeE
August 10, 2011 at 6:36am
Die Steam Die!
Hopefully Steam collapses and this whole "Downloading Video Games" thing dies along with it. Get out of your mother's basement and go buy a nice box with fancy pictures and a disc inside. You'll feel much better with it sitting on your shelf, always availible (no matter if have internet or not), always there to look at.
DoctorX
August 10, 2011 at 7:03am
yea... then you try to load it up and the aweful DRM kills your pc... I could care less about boxed software at this point.
MikeE
August 10, 2011 at 8:43am
"yea... then you try to load it up and the aweful DRM kills your pc... " Not too sure what games you are playing that the DRM kills your PC, but thinking that you should stop buying games that do that sort of thing. Can get pretty pricey.
I just wish people would stop buying from Steam or any other downloading software. These type of people sit there and say how much easier it is and cheaper it is to get games from Steam. It doesn't hurt to get your fat butt of your computer chair, pay a little extra (the whole supporting your game developer thing), and start enjoying games. It's no wonder PC exclusives are widdling away. It's not the developers fault that PC Gamers are too lazy and cheap to pay for a decent game, so why make them? If your not going to fork out the dough, why should they? I would gladly pay $100.00 a game if the game that came out was PC exclusive. This would mean that the developer had the PC, only the PC, gamers in mind and create a game that actually used the fully power of some of these rigs.
It's sad to see PC enthusiasts building the ultimate rig just to be bored with it, so all they can do is benchmark it. I would love to see a PC game developer come out with a game that takes my PC to the full extent, where i have to overclock to enjoy the full content of the game. This is why i built a "Gaming" PC in the first place, because games look spectacular, run a lot better, and a lot better enviroment for playing. I didn't put $3000 into a computer just to benchmark it or surf the net on Facebook.
Until PC Gamers grow up, my PC is just a paper weight. Developers going to stop producing those spectacular PC games, there is proof already. Steam is helping this along by cutting prices and bowing down to the complaints of PC gamers.
"I could care less about boxed software at this point." it's gamers like you that have killed the PC gaming industry.
Shckr57
August 10, 2011 at 11:24am
your post is the dumbest thing i have read this month. i support steam, as it give you thousands of games, some back from 10 years ago that you cant even find in stores. Patches games for you, sales every day. the only thing i think is ea IS right here, steam should be saying how they need to do there job.
when it comes to actual games, steam didnt kill the industry, it has kept it going. it all these big time developers that cant afford to try something new as they HAVE to make a profit. small developers have that abilty to try new things big companies cant, and steam makes it even easier for them to reach people. all the games being released today might not be complete garbage, but there pretty close. these big dev just remake the same game with a new name over and over. its not our fault, the people who buy games, to want to play something fun. mw3 will just be mw2, with a few different guns, layout, new maps.... ohh wait, thats a mod, or an expansion pack. bf3 is just bf2 with a new engine. yea, ill get them both as i love mw2 and bf2. the games are simple, and fun. i like games that are immersive, great graphics, sound that makes you feel like you are there. thats where they deliver.
where are these so called games your telling us to support, because ill call them all out as total bullshit, there just a large pile of crap. i wont buy a game i dont like, why should i. its MORE incentive for a dev to find out what people want, and make that. i bought my expensive computer when crysis came out. it looked insane, but it ran at 2 fps, so i wanted to upgrade. i dont understand why people buy the latest and greatest, when gear 2 generations old runs every current game just fine. wait untill you get a game you like, that for once you cant run, then upgrade. everyone complained when they bought there 9000$ computer right before crysis2 came out, and they all cried, saying wtf is this. its your fault your to stupid to use your damn brain, but what your arguing about you apparently dont have one.
DoctorX
August 10, 2011 at 10:43am
stfu! I didnt say i bought games... I have well over a 1000 on disc. I have well over $2500 on steam. I have 3 choices for boxed games where I live: Walmart, Target, and Best Buy... not exactly a good selection. I have bought several games preordered at full price. And another thing... where the f*ck do you get that steam is the only one raking off the top per game. Wal-mart's cut is somewhere around 43% and I guess Target and Best Buy are similar. Yea... go buy your freaking boxed copy... blow up your pc, and while the publishers on Steam actually make more money, I will be supporting them with my wallet. There have been several articles published of late of many publishers have been raking it in from Posting to Steam. EA is a pig and the Borg. I dont trust them. I built a gaming rig (about an year old now) but I have many high end games running on it.
I just spent $400 on the Summer sale. Almost all the games are not available from local. Fallout:New Vegas? forget it. Also spent $90 on a 4 pack of a game for my friends. I have over 1TB of games from Steam and I have even rebought several games i had disc for (unreal, id's games, etc). I show my support.
jonnyohio
August 10, 2011 at 9:37am
Not everyone lives in an area where there are boxed copies of every pc game available. I buy from steam because it is easy, i can use paypal, i dont have to spend gas money driving around looking for the game i want, i dont need to have a fancy box i have to buy shelving for, and i can connect with other gamers through their service quickly and conveniently. I dont understand why ppl like u hate it so much. I agree that there should b competition but i wld like to see valve and ea work this out.
ShockerX
August 10, 2011 at 9:34am
It look like to me you didnt play much games at all or reading much stories about games.especially the DLC. As someone said, probably missed all the fuss about AC2. Stop being ignorant.
Duck Dodgers
August 10, 2011 at 7:33am
He must have skipped on Assassin's Creed II, soon it won't matter if you have the disc version or not. DRM killed the physical media star.
DoctorX
August 10, 2011 at 10:46am
I have Assassin's Creed 2...and 1... From Steam but havent played them yet. Got caught up on some old favorites.
aarcane
August 10, 2011 at 11:39am
DLC just generally sucks. Most of the time it's not worth the price they expect you to pay for it (hats, guns), and all too often you can't play without it (new map packs). Before steam, there was no way to recover your lost DLC if your HD crashed, and even now most games aren't worth buying anyway, unless you shop the sales. $60 for a flop? no way man.
wolfpack
August 10, 2011 at 12:29pm
I hope he realizes that just because you buy a game from the store, doesn't mean it's not going to be run through a client. BF3 will be this way. Clients are the new thing.
lindethier
August 10, 2011 at 6:27am
It's a shame that I won't be able to buy it on Steam, since that is where I have my whole game collection through. I haven't bought a physical copy of a game in years. That probably won't stop me from picking it up though.
Marthian
August 09, 2011 at 11:49pm
"Blame Valve's Terms of Service" or otherwise known as "We're too lazy to try and actually work something out with them" excuse. I really find it hard to believe that is difficult to deliver patches considering that its automatic and requires no effort for us. The only valid reason I see is the DLC, and whatever happened to BFBC2 Vietnam and Spec Ops pack? I thought it worked out just fine... Apparently not. Its not stopping me from buying this game though, but I'd expect them to lose sales because of it... and then one from me because I actually don't have money to buy this game at $60.
Biceps
August 10, 2011 at 12:19am
I don't know how much money they'll lose in initial sales, but I bet the DLC sales will be rock bottom compared to DLC sales they would have had through Steam; Steam gives multiplayer games a much longer lifespan (TF2 anyone) because of the social element - I can play any of my Steam games with any of my Steam friends - cool! EA, it seems, doesn't value the uniformity of social experience as much as they do " how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content". Sound a lot more to me like it is about the developers (EA) than it is about the customers (that would be me).
Holly Golightly
August 09, 2011 at 11:41pm
Yeay! Something for us non-steam gamers to enjoy exclusively... Hurray!!!!!!!!
Now... Which of the 100 digital stores worldwide should I buy from? Hmm...
nmanguy
August 10, 2011 at 12:36am
Why would you want to buy an EA game anyway? I'll just enjoy Human Revolution and Skyrim, thank you.
aarcane
August 10, 2011 at 11:44am
Don't buy Skyrim, Bethesda is suing indie publishers over using the word Scrolls :'(
Holly Golightly
August 10, 2011 at 12:47am
EA has a load of nice games that I enjoy. Great games like Need For Speed Carbon, The Sims 2 and 3 as well as Alice Madness Returns. A girl can't ask for more from such a company.
Conal_keaney
August 10, 2011 at 1:04am
Sims 3/2...games I can blame EA for killing the franchise. I believe if Maxis had the capital to survive they'd make a better game than being managed by EA. Another example of EA messing things up.
Holly Golightly
August 10, 2011 at 1:31am
Maxis was another great company. But don't see it as EA killing the franchise, see it their way of keeping a legendary game alive. And believe it or not, The Sims 2 alone sold millions, upon millions of games worldwide. There there was the many expansions that came with it. I think EA is fighting well to keep the Sims at the same great level it once was under Maxis, and if not, better. At this point, I don't see it as an evil, I see it as the only solution to keep the franchise alive. I'd rather continue to play great games under different companies than to have a classic die out along with the companny.
US_Ranger
August 10, 2011 at 11:29am
I thought you were against large corporations and other capitalistic ventures......why the change of heart with EA?
Holly Golightly
August 10, 2011 at 12:01pm
What the hell are you talking about? It is a communist nation that was the first country in the world to discover space exploration. It is a communist nation that makes the games you love. All that hardward you enjoy. Before you start talking about politics... You may want to stick to the subjects... As politics are not your specialty. I love technology, I play games. It was never about politics when it came to games. What, you think communist want to live in the woods or something? Snap out of it!
Holly Golightly
August 10, 2011 at 12:49am
Umm, if I were getting paid by EA, then why aren't I worshipping Origins then? My favorite companies include Direct2Drive, Gamers Gate, and GOG. At least I am all for the competion... You Steam lover!
AndrewEgel
August 10, 2011 at 8:05am
To the EA employee im responding too-
You keep talking about copetition. THERE IS NO COMEPETITION. All the services offer exclusive games! This won't spur competition, it will keep the prices HIGH.
Holly Golightly
August 10, 2011 at 11:57am
Wow, there is no competition? This futher proves the ignorance of Steam FanBoys. "Hey everybody, there is only 1 store PC Gamers are allowed to buy from!" Steam has their exclusives, why can others have their own exclusives? Wake and smell the coffee for once.
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
The gang discusses the GTX 690, Trinity, Ivy Bridge, Amazon, big-box stores, MMOs,...
This month's issue
Feature
Build a PC On Any Budget
Feature
Cloud Services Showdown
How-To
Encrypt Your External Drive
Build It
Upgrade an X58 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Want to work at Maximum PC? Our Online Managing Editor, Alex, is moving away, so we need a new one. http://t.co/9Z7JCh0E1 day 14 hours ago
- maximumpc: Fraps 3.5.2 fixes lots of bugs, so if your motto, like @PCGamer's, is "always be frapsing," you should pick it up http://t.co/3DW3WUI01 day 17 hours ago
- maximumpc: Google Chrome Becomes World's Most-Used Web Browser, Kinda http://t.co/Xqgscmrp2 days 11 hours ago
