EA Explains Why Battlefield 3 Might Not Appear on Steam

Boo hoo! Steam won't let us harass customers in order to get a special gun and have seven different login parts just to play the fucking game! We're gonna take our ball and go home!

The thing is that it doesn't really matter. I want everything under Steam. However, EA use their stupid fucking Origin system. And their stupid fucking web-page community login for BF3 (so you have to run your browser while playing your game, no matter what). So, I don't see any benefit to getting it on Steam.

No matter where you buy it from, it will almost certainly still require Origin, an EA account, a Battlelog account, and all the additional crap. So even if you say "I don't want to support Origin", you'll be forced to install and use all aspects of this garbage - whether you buy it from Steam, Direct2Drive, Origin, or from a store shelf in a box. It seems that you can either support Origin and EA or you can just not play BF3 at all.

@Lobst said:

@whatisdelicious said:

I'm sorry, but can you guys find me anywhere on the Internet to download Valve games other than Steam? No? Oh, okay.

So why are we all up in arms against EA again?

Nice try.

Clearly, a well thought out rebuttal.

@whatisdelicious said:

I love how everyone is so quick to blame EA for all of this. Oh, poor Valve. Yep, let's all pity the guys who have the biggest fucking conflict of interest I've ever seen in the gaming business, and nobody cares. I forgot that it's totally OK for Valve to pull this shit, but not anybody else. Because, ya know, Portal made us laugh, and it's more fun to think of Valve as "the little guy." I'm sorry, but can you guys find me anywhere on the Internet to download Valve games other than Steam? No? Oh, okay.

So why are we all up in arms against EA again?

Because they're being jerks.

Valve has earned the benefit of the doubt because they pushed digital distribution when nobody else on PC was doing it, they continually improve their service and add cool features that offer benefits to the players, they give out tons of stuff for free, they offer the best prices in the DD game, and they have a history of NOT screwing over their customers.

EA, on the other hand, has a TERRIBLE history with PC gaming. So when it comes down to Valve's word vs EA's word, you better damn believe I'm going to side with Valve. Every single time.

Where does this end? What happens when Ubisoft comes out with their own required service (not just phone-home DRM) that needs to be running in order for you to play Assassin's Creed? I think unless EA proves they can do this sort of service correctly (and i've said before they're responsible for some of the most time-wastingly miserable experiences i've ever had trying to get games to run) we let Steam be the de facto standard. If EA finds they have a hard time seling people on Origin, they've only got themeselves to blame.

i was going to go with bf3 this year but i really hate the other download services, so i guess it will be mw3 unless it turns out it sucks then ill just play rage or skyrim or one of the other million games coming out this holiday season

@whatisdelicious said:

@Lobst said:

@whatisdelicious said:

I'm sorry, but can you guys find me anywhere on the Internet to download Valve games other than Steam? No? Oh, okay.

So why are we all up in arms against EA again?

Nice try.

Clearly, a well thought out rebuttal.

And clearly irrelevant since Valve is Valve and can do whatever they want.

No Steam, No Sale.

@iAmJohn said:

I wonder if the issue is that Valve wants to sell the DLC while EA wants to sell it themselves a la Bioware's site.

To my knowledge, this is it.

EA seems pretty justified to me. Just because Valve sold the base game shouldn't mean they have the exclusive right to sell every piece of related content. It sucks for Steam users that Valve won't let EA mange their own game.

I guess this means I wont be getting BF3 then. I'm not a Valve apologist or anything, I just find having to spread my games library across multiple services incredibly annoying.

@Donos said:

@iAmJohn said:

I wonder if the issue is that Valve wants to sell the DLC while EA wants to sell it themselves a la Bioware's site.

To my knowledge, this is it.

EA seems pretty justified to me. Just because Valve sold the base game shouldn't mean they have the exclusive right to sell every piece of related content. It sucks for Steam users that Valve won't let EA mange their own game.

This. EA seems justified in not wanting their games on Steam if Valve changed their TOS to say that. Shit like this makes me understand why people generally hate us PC gamers. We say we're all about choice but then a game isn't on steam and you all go apeshit, and wont buy a game that looks great simply because it's not on Steam. Just seems like pointless whining to me. It doesn't matter where I can buy the game. I'm going to buy the game regardless because it looks good.

EA should sell their DLC in both places; on Steam AND though their own service, make it available anywhere the customer prefers. EA sells more, Valve gets their hat in the game, customers are better served with more options, everyone's happy.

I'm almost certain this is what Steam is looking for, anything else would be absurd and all the other digital distributors would take issue with it.

If it's not on Steam by the time I'm ready to buy the game (December), I suppose I'll get it at Impulse. At least they have a better re-download policy if I remember correctly. And I already have it on my computer because of Demigod.
 
But I haven't purchased Dragon Age II yet and I plan on it. I can't get it on Steam? DANG!

@iAmJohn said:

I wonder if the issue is that Valve wants to sell the DLC while EA wants to sell it themselves a la Bioware's site.

To my knowledge, this is it.

EA seems pretty justified to me. Just because Valve sold the base game shouldn't mean they have the exclusive right to sell every piece of related content. It sucks for Steam users that Valve won't let EA mange their own game.

That's too bad but I'm not about to let this stop me from playing

SEESON MAHATHAVORN

EA continue talking bollocks to push Origin, film at 11.

I wish they would be a bit more concrete in saying what specifically Steam is not allowing them to do. A lot of people are filling in the blanks with some fairly negative stuff (wanting to be Origin exclusive, cutting out Valve in DLC sales, annoying users with advertisements, etc.).
 
I don't want to jump to the worst possible conclusions, though. My best guess is they want to have in-game DLC sales and patches that don't involve Steam, a program, or any web browser. There may have been other games to do it, but maybe not at the frequency that EA may intend throughout a number of its PC titles. 
 
Of course, this information probably can't be shared due to confidentiality agreements and the like. Oh well.

The way this is written doesn't really say anything beyond that the two companies disagree on some policies, I don't know how people can extrapolate more than this so clearly.

Needs actual info!

               

@bigscottie said:

first!

Not even. It is a failure of a post that couldn't even succeed at your shallow goal. A failure inside of a failure.

As for the subject of the article, I still have a very difficult time seeing this as anything more than EA's attempt to force PC customers into using Origin.

           

EA likes to shut down game servers once a sequel is launched. Want to download the DLC for the old game you just reinstalled? Too bad. There's a new game you can buy though.

I'd prefer it if Valve won this round.

I guess this means I wont be getting BF3 then. I'm not a Valve apologist or anything, I just find having to spread my games library across multiple services incredibly annoying.

@014 said:

If it's not on Steam by the time I'm ready to buy the game (December), I suppose I'll get it at Impulse. At least they have a better re-download policy if I remember correctly. And I already have it on my computer because of Demigod. But I haven't purchased Dragon Age II yet and I plan on it. I can't get it on Steam? DANG!

Save yourself the money, DA 2 ain't great, and if you absolutely loved DA: O then you may likely absolutely hate DA 2.

The overly vague nature of this makes it just look like EA just trying to make Steam to look bad.  Funny how EA is the only publisher making this big hubbub over this... and guess who is also trying to launch a new digital distribution sevice?  Huh... Wouldja look at that... it's ALSO EA! 
 
HMMMMM 
 
 
Though this wouldn't be the first time EA pulled dumb stunts to get attention (*cough cough* Dante's Inferno protestors *cough*cough*)

@CL60 said:

@Donos said:

@iAmJohn said:

I wonder if the issue is that Valve wants to sell the DLC while EA wants to sell it themselves a la Bioware's site.

To my knowledge, this is it.

EA seems pretty justified to me. Just because Valve sold the base game shouldn't mean they have the exclusive right to sell every piece of related content. It sucks for Steam users that Valve won't let EA mange their own game.

This. EA seems justified in not wanting their games on Steam if Valve changed their TOS to say that. Shit like this makes me understand why people generally hate us PC gamers. We say we're all about choice but then a game isn't on steam and you all go apeshit, and wont buy a game that looks great simply because it's not on Steam. Just seems like pointless whining to me. It doesn't matter where I can buy the game. I'm going to buy the game regardless because it looks good.

Exactly, this whole thing is not a big deal unless you like to whine about pointless shit for the sake of whining.

Used that same quote twice, Patrick.

I find it amazing that people think Valve doesn't want to sell Battlefield 3, and thus is screwing EA over. But then again, I don't really care about this game, so I'm not losing anything if it's not on my platform of choice.

@014 said:

If it's not on Steam by the time I'm ready to buy the game (December), I suppose I'll get it at Impulse. At least they have a better re-download policy if I remember correctly. And I already have it on my computer because of Demigod. But I haven't purchased Dragon Age II yet and I plan on it. I can't get it on Steam? DANG!

Save yourself the money, DA 2 ain't great, and if you absolutely loved DA: O then you may likely absolutely hate DA 2.

EA likes to shut down game servers once a sequel is launched. Want to download the DLC for the old game you just reinstalled? Too bad. There's a new game you can buy though.

I wish they would be a bit more concrete in saying what specifically Steam is not allowing them to do. A lot of people are filling in the blanks with some fairly negative stuff (wanting to be Origin exclusive, cutting out Valve in DLC sales, annoying users with advertisements, etc.).  I don't want to jump to the worst possible conclusions, though. My best guess is they want to have in-game DLC sales and patches that don't involve Steam, a program, or any web browser. There may have been other games to do it, but maybe not at the frequency that EA may intend throughout a number of its PC titles.   Of course, this information probably can't be shared due to confidentiality agreements and the like. Oh well.

Man, it's going to be so inconvenient for me to download the game from Origin instead of Steam. I'm going to have to download the Origin client and create an account... it all sounds so exhausting. If only it was released on Steam, maybe I could get a free TF2 hat.

Any trouble Valve runs into while trying to eliminate any and all competition to their service to gain a complete monopoly is good in my book. They have way to much power already. I have no stake in EA's or Valve's fate - they pretty much just provide the infrastructure for the games I want - but I do like some healthy and serious competition in the field.

The value of having a centralised platform for all your games is nothing compared to the unreasonable amount of power it would give the owner of said platform. I've pre-ordered a physical copy already anyway and I will decide about DLC and the options to acquire it as soon as that becomes relevant.

@xobballox

@CL60 said:

@Donos said:

@iAmJohn said:

I wonder if the issue is that Valve wants to sell the DLC while EA wants to sell it themselves a la Bioware's site.

To my knowledge, this is it.

EA seems pretty justified to me. Just because Valve sold the base game shouldn't mean they have the exclusive right to sell every piece of related content. It sucks for Steam users that Valve won't let EA mange their own game.

This. EA seems justified in not wanting their games on Steam if Valve changed their TOS to say that. Shit like this makes me understand why people generally hate us PC gamers. We say we're all about choice but then a game isn't on steam and you all go apeshit, and wont buy a game that looks great simply because it's not on Steam. Just seems like pointless whining to me. It doesn't matter where I can buy the game. I'm going to buy the game regardless because it looks good.

Exactly, this whole thing is not a big deal unless you like to whine about pointless shit for the sake of whining.

What if I like Steam and think that the benefits of auto-patching and having everything in one place greatly outweighs my want to buy games anywhere else? What if I also think it's perfectly acceptable for Valve to want a cut of the DLC for a game they're hosting on their servers?

@Buck_Sexington said:

Man, I guess all the people who aren't going to get BF3 because it's not on Steam don't own Starcraft 2 and don't plan on owning Diablo 3.

Blizzard has just as much customer goodwill as Valve does. EA has a history of offering poor experiences with their digital services; Vinny's experience with Spore is a classic example.

@Rirse: @novak: I don't even have to look at the comments to know there will be a hundred "No steam no sale" comments.Honestly I don't understand it.I actually like the fact(if they keep their word) that if no Steam means better more constant updates then why the hell not?I don't really see the big deal with Steam anyway.They have tons of great games on Amazon with low prices but yeah I guess with Steam you could play it right away but something like that doesn't bother me.  But honestly the only way you purchase games is through Steam?I assume you only play PC games then cause you are missing out on alot of great titles.

EA should sell their DLC in both places; on Steam AND though their own service, make it available anywhere the customer prefers. EA sells more, Valve gets their hat in the game, customers are better served with more options, everyone's happy.

I'm almost certain this is what Steam is looking for, anything else would be absurd and all the other digital distributors would take issue with it.

I'm pretty sure the issue is that steam wants to be able to list the dlc separately therefore getting a cut, and EA doesn't want to share as well as they now have their own competing service too.  I think Apple just did this too, so now the kindle app can't sell books directly assuming I understood that.

Summary: EA doesn't want to go through Valve/Steam when charging their customer base; EA indirectly throws the blame at Valve/Steam.

Who's at fault? EA for not conforming to a beautifully unified system.

@TorMasturba said:

@014 said:

If it's not on Steam by the time I'm ready to buy the game (December), I suppose I'll get it at Impulse. At least they have a better re-download policy if I remember correctly. And I already have it on my computer because of Demigod. But I haven't purchased Dragon Age II yet and I plan on it. I can't get it on Steam? DANG!

Save yourself the money, DA 2 ain't great, and if you absolutely loved DA: O then you may likely absolutely hate DA 2.

Dragon Age 2 is perfectly fine. A few flaws (namely the reuse of dungeons) but to suggest that it is terrible is just neogaf style fanboi ranting. Don't listen to this, 014. If you liked DA:O, you'll enjoy DA:2. I know I did.

fuck EA

Your move Valve, what say you.

@JoeyRavn said:

I find it amazing that people think Valve doesn't want to sell Battlefield 3, and thus is screwing EA over. But then again, I don't really care about this game, so I'm not losing anything if it's not on my platform of choice.

Well, it's Valve that removed the EA games from steam,not EA. You could argue that EA forced Valve to do this because they don't adhere to their ToS, but the change was recently made by Valve, because of the F2P games hitting the service so I doubt that.

I don't think selling a game on your service automatically allows you to get a cut for all the DLC. They got the cut for the original game, what right do they have on future content? It's not like every game has DLC so there are tons of games where they only get money for the original game.

I don't think this is a clearcut case of EA being evil.

@Lobst said:

@Buck_Sexington said:

Man, I guess all the people who aren't going to get BF3 because it's not on Steam don't own Starcraft 2 and don't plan on owning Diablo 3.

Blizzard has just as much customer goodwill as Valve does. EA has a history of offering poor experiences with their digital services; Vinny's experience with Spore is a classic example.

So because they have a poor track record it should mean they are bad forever? I've used Origin and it's pretty good. That however wasn't my point, my point was that people are saying they won't buy the game because it's not on Steam. Starcraft 2 is not and Diablo 3 will not be on Steam, ever. Yet people never complained when Starcraft 2 came out, it is simply because EA is the company releasing the game and at the moment it's cool to hate on EA. This is despite that fact that Steam/Valve are the only company who EA seem to have a problem with, all the other distributors are fine with EA's DLC policy and will happily sell the game. Could this mean that the issue is with Valve and not EA?

Shit like this makes me understand why people generally hate us PC gamers. We say we're all about choice but then a game isn't on steam and you all go apeshit, and wont buy a game that looks great simply because it's not on Steam. Just seems like pointless whining to me. It doesn't matter where I can buy the game. I'm going to buy the game regardless because it looks good. Honestly Valve seem like the greedy ones here, not EA.

Summary: EA doesn't want to go through Valve/Steam when charging their customer base; EA indirectly throws the blame at Valve/Steam.

Who's at fault? EA for not conforming to a beautifully unified system.

@Shuborno: It has to do with DLC sales. Steam does not allow a game to be on their service if they do not allow Steam sell the DLC for that game. It doesn't have to be exclusive to Steam, but they want it to be available through the service. EA has not been doing this, and has been releasing DLC that can be bought through an in-game menu that takes you to an EA store. So it sounds like EA wants to cut out the middle man and sell the content directly, while Steam is against this since it basically uses the Steam service to sell the content without Valve getting a penny.

Please EA explain what you mean when you say "connect directly with consumers"?
Both times i read that quote i felt really really dirty...
I don't understand the full details of whats going on behind the scenes here but when it comes to EA I get the feeling (and a bad one) that it's gonna be spam and unwanted ad's that are blocking me from jumping in the game right away. *Here a trailer for TIGER WOODS* No thanks Riccitiello. But that's just thinking the worst cause stuff like this has happen before. 

But I'll say what a lot of people have been saying.... Need more detail on what Valve isn't letting them do.