EA Confirms No Battlefield 3 on Steam

[Alphakirby]

Can we all just say "Fuck you, EA" enough to drive them out of business?

Maybe if we had megaphones?
Or a giant blimp with a screen on it...
or a monster truck!

 

[Titan Buttons]

I only want one online gaming account that has my personal details, and it is already steam. EA just lost a customer

So before all the steam lovers start bashing EA. This is not EA's fault as the article says the game will be available on many different on-line services, just not steam. So it is not like EA are trying to make it exclusive so they can put others out of business. The real issue is Steam's terms being more restrictive than other on-line services.

The fact it seems to only be excluding steam from selling the game makes it seem like EA is saying "Hey steam using, up your"

 

[NicoDK]

Doesn't bother me. why pay 50 euro when i can get it on D2D way cheaper?

 

[Nikolaz72]

You don't need to use Origin to play Battlefield 3.
Getting a Retail copy or just using any of the other half a dozen Digital Distributors out there it will appear on like Direct2Drive or GamersGate will do the trick just fine.

It won't take any of your experience away as Battlefield has always had Stat Tracking/Achievements/Friends List/Clan Support/Voice and a lot of other things packaged directly with the game for a while. What you would do by buying it on Steam is just adding another DRM on top of it you would have to run whenever you want to play the game...

Hell if you are such a ... "fan" of Steam, you can even use the "Add a Non-Steam Game" feature and you'll be able to use the Overlay and talk to your friends and do everything else you always do anyway... ffs...

Why the hell am I not reading News about "Diablo 3 not on Steam" or "Minecraft not on Steam" which should be getting the same kind of baseless vitriol as this?

QFT.

I'm not super familiar with Steam's internal workings, but I do know that Torchlight has tools to make mods for the game, and if you have the steam version, your mod has to support some changes made in the steam version of the game. Yeah, I think EA is blowing this out of proportion, but I am glad to see someone standing up to Steam.

Yes I have games on Steam. Do I try to avoid that whenever possible? also yes.

Ehemn. I can use ALL torchlight mods from the modDB. So either all copies of Torchlight or on steam, in which case it makes sense that they have to work with steam. Or what you heard is BS

 

[Odlus]

So, let me get this straight. EA want to release the game on Origin, a few other DD services, and on Steam. Steam says no, only on our platform or not at all. And EAs pulling the dick move here? Right.

But let me guess, you didnt read the article, checked the comments section and saw that all the cool kids were hating on EA so you decided to do the same. Yep, that must be it. Because if you actually had read the article before making a reply, you would have noticed that BF3 does not need Origin installed to run.

I'm guessing you didn't read the article too well yourself, because the reason BF3 isn't showing up on Steam is not because Steam said "our platform or not at all." It's because of issues regarding how they get DLC to customers. Or, as another poster explained quite well, Steam now has a requirement that all DLC offered for games must also be purchasable through Steam as well. This is likely because of a previous issue with Mirror's Edge (an EA game) where the DLC didn't work with Steam versions of the game.

Other online retailers may be offering the game because they don't have this restriction, but looking back on the history of this particular issue between EA and Steam I'd be weary of buying BF3 on these other stores and expecting the DLC to be compatible with any non-Origins version.

Really, your "steam said just our service or it won't be on ours at all" comment made no sense. You do realize that Steam if full of games that are available on other online services as well, right? It doesn't even match up with what EA said the reason was; if Steam said "only our service or none at all" then EA would have said that, not "The service limits our ability to deliver patches and downloadable content directly to players."

 

[DeaconSawyer]

So let me get this straight. Two of the hottest issue in gaming today are

1. The idea of DLC being something we have to pay for that should be in the game anyway etc. etc. (I'm not taking sides here, I understand the fight against used sales, and what not just saying that DLC is a hot button issue.)

2. Unfinished games being released too soon and fixed with patches later.

And their reason for debasing their largest demographic on the game that they are betting an absurd quantity of money on, and on it beating on of the largest grossing franchises ever is what? It couldn't possibly be that they want to make MORE money on DLC and to make us patch the game manually to fix their cock-ups. That would be ridiculous, stupid and frankly more than a little insulting.

Oh? That is their reason. Huh? Sorry about your studio closure DICE. Too bad because I wanted a Mirror's Edge 2.

 

[DeaconSawyer]

*shrugs*

oh wells guess im pre ordering saints row 3 instead, regardless of bugginess.

*fun edit*

ooo can i confirm no battlefield 3 on my PC xD

Ditto on both counts. Who'd've thought that THQ and volition would be edging out EA and DICE in my heart.

 

[klasbo]

It won't take any of your experience away as Battlefield has always had Stat Tracking/Achievements/Friends List/Clan Support/Voice [...]

(Emphasis mine)
This is the sequel to BF2 and 1942, and the Bad Company games aren't "true" battlefield games (something DICE themselves have said several times). Neither BF2 or 1942 had Achievements, friends list or clan support, and 1942 didn't have voice or stats. No BF game has ever had clan support.

You've been setting other people's facts straight (thumbs up, +rep or equivalent), so this time it's my turn

Anyway guys, Battlefield 3 will suck because it's basically Bad Company Two and a Half, not because it isn't available on your monopolized digital distribution service.

 

[Fasckira]

The various responses to this article show a) how narrow minded some people are around here and b) how few people have actually tried Origin. Its no longer that hideously bloated thing that the EA Download Manager was.

 

[natster43]

Still doesn't effect me because retail exists. Hooray for physical copies.

 

[LITE992]

You don't need to use Origin to play Battlefield 3.
Getting a Retail copy or just using any of the other half a dozen Digital Distributors out there it will appear on like Direct2Drive or GamersGate will do the trick just fine.

It won't take any of your experience away as Battlefield has always had Stat Tracking/Achievements/Friends List/Clan Support/Voice and a lot of other things packaged directly with the game for a while. What you would do by buying it on Steam is just adding another DRM on top of it you would have to run whenever you want to play the game...

Hell if you are such a ... "fan" of Steam, you can even use the "Add a Non-Steam Game" feature and you'll be able to use the Overlay and talk to your friends and do everything else you always do anyway... ffs...

Why the hell am I not reading News about "Diablo 3 not on Steam" or "Minecraft not on Steam" (or any of the other dozen/hundred of games out there that don't appear on Steam) which should be getting the same kind of baseless vitriol as this?

^Everybody needs to read this. I put all my non-Steam games on Steam for pure convenience, and I could care less if the newest PC game isn't on Steam.

 

[Worr Monger]

I know I'm just one person.... But I would just like to point out to EA..

Some people exist that are on the fence about getting Battlefield 3... But if it happens to show up on a digital distribution system that these people regularly use... they might actually say "Hey I'll check this out"... especially if it's on sale.

Otherwise, if it doesn't show up on their radar of digital distribution, and they don't like to purchase physical media when avoidable... they don't give it a second thought.. leading to a sale being lost.

I'm one of these people, EA.

 

[Kitteh]

Can we all just say "Fuck you, EA" enough to drive them out of business?

Nah they'll just make a couple of sims expansions and it'll be fine

 

[Jimi Bove]

I can't blame EA for taking their games off Steam. They want their own digital distribution platform and Steam is currently the king. It's all competition. What I can blame EA for is not just outright saying that. I've seen corporations admit to doing something because they can't help the competition loads of times. Why can't EA do that? They had no problem calling out CoD and saying they're directly competing, and yet with Steam, they want to hide behind outright lies about Steams terms and conditions. The setup of Bad Company 2 on Steam completely negates every reason EA has openly said about not using Steam.

Now, what I find funny is all over the internet, at least 90% of people who bother to post on internet forums don't care about the game now that it's not on Steam. Battlefield 3 was designed on and for the PC. It's flipping off the lazy console developers who make money by ripping off their pussy-whipped customer base, and yet still giving the game to the console gamers. It's really sad that they're killing that by alienating half their PC gamers. Honestly, just because it's not on Steam doesn't mean you shouldn't buy BF3. I agree with Dexter111 here.

But here's a really funny thought: with MW3 proving to be the same hopelessly unbalanced trash MW2 was (I'm just gonna play Black Ops forever), and BF3 alienating most of its PC gamers, we have the setup for something I never thought possible: an INDIE GAME outshining and outselling AAA modern warfare shooters. Don't think it's possible? Look up the graphics and features of Red Orchestra 2--this game looks like it'll be the greatest war shooter of all time, and it's also exactly what Battlefield would've been today if Call of Duty never existed. Plus it's Tripwire Interactive, so it'll be the first massive and great war shooter to have Valve-style DLC.

 

[Baresark]

I guess they changed their mind about wanting to beat CoD. I mean, they weren't going to anyway, but by restricting it from the biggest digital distributor for the PC market, they definitely won't stand a chance. I loves me some BF, but his is stupid.

As to the explanation that it's from Steam's licensing agreement, I'm calling bullshit. I mean, not a single other publisher has a problem at all with it, but they do. If others were saying the same thing, I would say fine, but since none are, they kind of show off their bullshit.

 

[Baresark]

So, let me get this straight. EA want to release the game on Origin, a few other DD services, and on Steam. Steam says no, only on our platform or not at all. And EAs pulling the dick move here? Right.

But let me guess, you didnt read the article, checked the comments section and saw that all the cool kids were hating on EA so you decided to do the same. Yep, that must be it. Because if you actually had read the article before making a reply, you would have noticed that BF3 does not need Origin installed to run.

I'm guessing you didn't read the article too well yourself, because the reason BF3 isn't showing up on Steam is not because Steam said "our platform or not at all." It's because of issues regarding how they get DLC to customers. Or, as another poster explained quite well, Steam now has a requirement that all DLC offered for games must also be purchasable through Steam as well. This is likely because of a previous issue with Mirror's Edge (an EA game) where the DLC didn't work with Steam versions of the game.

Other online retailers may be offering the game because they don't have this restriction, but looking back on the history of this particular issue between EA and Steam I'd be weary of buying BF3 on these other stores and expecting the DLC to be compatible with any non-Origins version.

Really, your "steam said just our service or it won't be on ours at all" comment made no sense. You do realize that Steam if full of games that are available on other online services as well, right? It doesn't even match up with what EA said the reason was; if Steam said "only our service or none at all" then EA would have said that, not "The service limits our ability to deliver patches and downloadable content directly to players."

It still makes sense. Steam is still working against having the game on their platform, and are just as much "at fault" here as EA. That was the gist of my statement, and its still right.

I'm still calling bullshit on what EA is saying. As I recall, I had to download an expansion pack directly from EA for Mass Effect 2. It was really annoying, but I did it.