EA Blames Dragon Age 2 Disappearance on Valve

[TheGuy(wantstobe)]

In all seriousness though EA are trying to fob this off on Valve not letting them sell DLC through the game and not via the Steam store. The unfortunate thing for them is that games such as DiRT 3 do this and have not been pulled so it is no more than them trying to compete with Steam not through offering a better service but by being the biggest douches possible.

 

[winter2]

I find it curious that Valve have not commented on this at all. Or did I miss something?

Like hey.. I like Steam and all (Have close to 300 games there) but this apparent silence makes me wonder if Valve might have some dirty hands in this.

 

[TheGuy(wantstobe)]

Valve basically imposes a "We're the only ones to digitally sell this high profile product" clause. It's not a new concept.

This is demonstrably false. Tons of games launch simultaneously on D2D, Onlive, Gamer's Gate and Steam.

The DLC thing says otherwise. Buy with Valve or fuck you is the message.

And yet DiRT 3 as a very recent example sells it's DLC exclusively through Live and ingame and Valve has no problem with this. This is EA looking for an excuse to pull content and not seem like massive dicks and it's failing miserably.

 

[manythings]

Valve basically imposes a "We're the only ones to digitally sell this high profile product" clause. It's not a new concept.

This is demonstrably false. Tons of games launch simultaneously on D2D, Onlive, Gamer's Gate and Steam.

The DLC thing says otherwise. Buy with Valve or fuck you is the message.

No, that's the message you parsed from some vague statements made by EA.

There are plenty of other companies selling DLC for Steam games outside of Steam that aren't in violation of the TOS and haven't been kicked off. I presented a pretty realistic scenario of what probably happened earlier in the thread. You're jumping to conclusions with very little evidence.

No that's the message from Valve. When Dragon Age came out it was fine until Awakening came out, because if you bought it DA:O from Valve then you had to buy awakening from them. No other option. Same with any franchise, you either buy it all from them or you can go to hell.

 

[LordFisheh]

Ugh... if this is an Origin ploy. I can't stand origin for he simple reason that I want all my games and friends in one place. That's what Steam does. All my games are on it. All my friends have it.

Any competition has to offer a big improvement over Steam to compete with that. If there are two services like that, both very similar, then the older one will win because it's already ingrained; everybody already has their 'stuff' on it. Trying to force the issue through exclusivity just strikes me as a cheap shot, and faintly anti-competitive.

 

[manythings]

Valve basically imposes a "We're the only ones to digitally sell this high profile product" clause. It's not a new concept.

This is demonstrably false. Tons of games launch simultaneously on D2D, Onlive, Gamer's Gate and Steam.

The DLC thing says otherwise. Buy with Valve or fuck you is the message.

And yet DiRT 3 as a very recent example sells it's DLC exclusively through Live and ingame and Valve has no problem with this. This is EA looking for an excuse to pull content and not seem like massive dicks and it's failing miserably.

Umm... Yeah... really over-priced DLC that they get a cut of is clearly evidence they aren't cutting a publisher out of their service.

 

[Antari]

Sorry EA ... as much as you might try to make Valve seem like the bad guy here. We all know your far far worse. Even if Valve did impose restrictions on their game. I don't much care. I don't support EA in any way.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Perhaps its because Dragon age accesses the DLC from in game and Steam didn't like that becuase they couldn't offer deals and suchlike.

Not to say EA aren't being shady but that's a possibility I guess.

 

[Waaghpowa]

EA, you accepted the ToS when you signed up your games on Steam. Valve retains the rights to make changes to these terms at any time, without telling you, and without your consent. You violated them, Valve removed your games.

This is basically my first thought, you agreed to a contract. Next time, actually read it or say no if you don't like it.

 

[ResonanceGames]

Valve basically imposes a "We're the only ones to digitally sell this high profile product" clause. It's not a new concept.

This is demonstrably false. Tons of games launch simultaneously on D2D, Onlive, Gamer's Gate and Steam.

The DLC thing says otherwise. Buy with Valve or fuck you is the message.

And yet DiRT 3 as a very recent example sells it's DLC exclusively through Live and ingame and Valve has no problem with this. This is EA looking for an excuse to pull content and not seem like massive dicks and it's failing miserably.

Umm... Yeah... really over-priced DLC that they get a cut of is clearly evidence they aren't cutting a publisher out of their service.

They do not get a cut of sales of DLC that do not go through the Steam store. DiRT 3 DLC is not sold in the Steam store so they do not get a cut. I would have thought the word "exclusive" would have tipped you off to this but you are even more literally challenged than the average internet denizen.

This guy has clearly made up his mind that big, bad Valve is just trying to force everyone to use their platform, despite the fact that only EA seems to have been affected by the TOS changes (which, again, were made to accommodate third party free-to-play games). There's no arguing with willful obstinance.

Unfortunately, we'll probably never hear from Valve about this because there's a good chance that their own TOS and contracts with their clients forbid discussing the details of these things publicly.

No great loss either way, if I REALLY want to play an EA game I still can. It would just be nice to not have to give my personal info and credit card number to yet another online store for "safekeeping."

 

[Vrach]

What "restrictive terms of service" was there exactly that prevents download off of Steam? I've got to call BS on EA on this part. It cannot possibly be purchasing downloadable content in-game, because many other games allow that including the just added new set of Free-2-Play titles that Valve ENCOURAGES!

It's not a problem of allowing it, it's a problem of taking a cut out of DLC. The other games on there are likely happy to pay 'tax' to Steam for selling their virtual content - why else do you think Valve took the F2P titles on board?

If you sell the DLC outside the game, you sell it as an item. See for example, Battlefield Vietnam. Steam can take a cut out of that. However, when DLC is sold through the game itself, there is no need for Steam to play any role in it - as it's not the digital distributor in that case, it's sold the game and the game handles the transactions from there on.

Valve has likely put in a clause that any game selling DLC through it must pay tribute to Valve for having sold the game. Which, if anything, makes Valve the money grubbers here, not EA. Although, in reality, there is 0 need to demonize either company, they're both just doing business and in the right, it's just not surprising at all that EA is unwilling to take such a ridiculous deal, considering they don't need the promotion the other, less popular titles do.

 

[Spawny0908]

You know, this whole Origin vs Steam, EA vs Valve thing is one of the few times I'm glad to be a lowely console player. I don't have to worry about where I will get my games.

EDIT: I'm not anti-PC gaming at all. I'm just saying that "Not having to deal with DD services is a plus for me"

Hear Hear! Lowly console players UNITE!

*I'm also not anti-PC*

 

[WolfLordAndy]

What "restrictive terms of service" was there exactly that prevents download off of Steam? I've got to call BS on EA on this part. It cannot possibly be purchasing downloadable content in-game, because many other games allow that including the just added new set of Free-2-Play titles that Valve ENCOURAGES!

As far as I'm aware, the F2P games all have steamworks intergrated into them, so that buying through them, Valve still gets a cut, because they've basicly made the ingame money>gamecurrency stuff for all the F2P games.

Infact, I think its all the same currency between the F2P games (including TF2) that you can spend on all of them? Not 100% certain on the last point mind you!

 

[Hagi]

I actually think this might just be Valve being a dick and enforcing a part of their ToS that's not enforced on other games exactly because EA is releasing origin.

Valve already got all the big DA2 sales. It's not going to be a classic game going by the general reaction so there's not likely to be many more buyers at all.

Removing it doesn't hurt Valve much at all. Removing it hurts EA quite a bit, both by lost sales through later steam deals (Valve just doing a deal on something else, earning them the same money) and by the general reaction to this news.

I mean if this is all EA's fault then they're basically saying that they like being a dick so much that they're willing to lose money over it. And frankly I think they're too greedy for that.

 

[esplode]

This sounds like EA is basically trying to make Valve look like the bad guy in this when it seems like they're doing all of this for some reason.

You know, this whole Origin vs Steam, EA vs Valve thing is one of the few times I'm glad to be a lowely console player. I don't have to worry about where I will get my games.

Hear Hear! Lowly console players UNITE!

I envy you guys some times. =D

 

[Riobux]

Ah, so it begins. Anyone want some popcorn? I can tell this company fight will be entertaining.

 

[Xannieros]

Basically EA went and started saying "Origin Exclusive" and using DLC downloads that aren't purchased from Steam itself. It's a dirty business practice to maximize profits. I can see why Valve removed it.

That and ever since EA introduced Origin I saw a storm coming.

"At EA, we offer our games and content to all major download services including GameStop, Amazon, Direct2Drive and Steam," EA's David DeMartini told IGN. "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."

And not many publishers besides EA has DLC that skips around Steam. And must be purchased from the publisher itself. EA is the villain to me in all of this. Not being a steam fanboy, just trying to create a theory on why this is happening.

 

[Sunrider]

EA, you accepted the ToS when you signed up your games on Steam. Valve retains the rights to make changes to these terms at any time, without telling you, and without your consent. You violated them, Valve removed your games.

Kind of like how if we violate your terms, you remove our games from us.

Sucks to be on the receiving end, doesn't it EA? THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT YOUR CUSTOMERS YOU FUCKS!! HOW DOES IT FEEL TO GET FUCKED BY SOMEBODY BIGGER AND STRONGER THEN YOU?! NOT VERY FUN, IS IT?!?! THIS IS WHAT WE DEAL WITH ALL THE TIME FROM YOU YOU FUCKING PRICKS!!

This must be the first time I actually like caps lock. This was hilarious AND true.

OT: Sorry, Valve / Steam fanboy here. Can't give an unbiased opinion.
Steam > Origin.

While it's obvious that Valve puts their profit at #1, as any company would, they are FAR better at helping the developers and having reasonable terms. Listen to this podcast:
http://darkzero.co.uk/game-podcasts/podcast-76-meet-team-meat/
as referred to by this post:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111771-Team-Meat-Doesnt-F-cking-Care-About-Pirates

See what they have to say about Steam / Valve and EA, and you'll understand why Steam is, and will continue to be, superior to EA. The part I'm referring to is somewhere around 1h5m. If you are even slightly interested in this topic, listen to around 1h13m or so.
I could just type out what they are saying, but that part is REALLY worth listening to, so PLEASE listen to it. You'll understand that Valve REALLY ISN'T AN EVIL CORPORATION, unlike EA.

 

[TheGuy(wantstobe)]

And not many publishers besides EA has DLC that skips around Steam. And must be purchased from the publisher itself. EA is the villain to me in all of this. Not being a steam fanboy, just trying to create a theory on why this is happening.

Microsoft does (GFWL games), Ubisoft does(GR), Capcom did(SS4AE), EA still does with titles that wouldn't be a huge seller on origin like Alice: Madness returns (the DLC is sold in game and came out after any changes in the TOS). The list is much larger but those are the ones off the top of my head.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

There is no way the profit lost through this alleged DLC restriction is greater than the money they will lose by not having their product on steam at all.