EA Confirms No Battlefield 3 on Steam

[GeorgW]

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.

Yeah, im by no means arguing against that. This kind of stuff nearly always ends up making the experience more complicated and annoying for the user. And I think theres a lot more in it than EA are saying here. What I was saying was just that I can guarantee that Valve isnt completely innocent in this, and EA getting all the hate is unjustified.

If I may say something. I think Steam is entirely justified in their decision. Why should steam advertise EA's games, give them server space and so on if they're gonna be completely cut out of the DLC profits? I think EA is being stubborn and stupid, possibly because they want publicity for Origin. Sure it's entirely Steam's decision to pull it, but EA had it coming and I respect that Steam's willing to lose out on the massive profits that BF3 is gonna make for its principles.

You may say so, and I would agree to an extent. As I said, I think its just unfair to give all the hate to EA and act like its entirely their fault, and as if they had absolutely no half way good reason to make the decision. It would be just as stupid to give the entire blame to Steam.

At the end of the day all of this is trivial stuff anyway, anybody who was wanted to play it will still play it. The only people that will "miss out" are those that may have purchased when it went on some crazy sale in the summer sale or something, but the people who planned on a purchase will still make it. I flat out dont believe anyone who says they will now not get the game even though they wanted to before hand just because a piece of DRM is not included.

(although one must say that it speaks volumes about how nice Steam is when people will actually praise and call for what is at its core just a DRM)

You're right, it's not just EA's fault, but I still side with Valve on this one. Once again, their terms are very reasonable, why should they have a game on their platform when the publisher refuses to let them sell the DLC via steam. DLC has become just as important as the game itself and cutting Steam out was a dick move by EA. Once again, I think this whole thing is justto get publicity for Origin, good or bad.

Meh, I cant really say this is important enough to me to take sides. I really dont care all that much so I cant say who im siding with. I can live without Steam as I use Xfire for my in game needs (have used it forever and its one of the first things I install on a clean windows) and I have no problem with applying patches or driver updates manually. Steam is nice and all, and you cant top the sales, but as long as Origin isnt akin to GFWL in terms of buggyness, harsh interface, etc etc, I dont mind.

The problem I have with it is not with Origin, I'll be getting it on disc either way. I'm talking about what this means for the future, and I don't like it. I love that Steam is getting some competition, monopolies are never good, even though I think Steam has always been good. The problem is that this isn't competition, this is publishers forcing monopolies by pulling their games on every service except their own, where they can charge whatever they want since there's no competition. This is the future, and I don't like it.

 

[Somebloke]

Deceptive half-truths aside, both parties can claim customer convenience as their motive.

Steam wants to sell the whole "experience", not half products, so that you can purchase, auto-install and manage DLC and patches, etc, through Steamworks functionality, one place, without having to exit the game and run off to a separate web site, with its own billing system and then install manually - something that players of recent Bioware titles should be familiar with.

Origin wants to provide the same. You may not (yet) need Origin to just run your vanilla retail (...or other digital download service) copy, but if you care for patches and/or DLC, cloud syncing, etc, then Origin (with new Steamworks-like functionality) it is (regardless of where you bought the base game).


I very very much doubt Steam has any we-monopoly-you-obey clause - they just tightened terms to carrot-and-whip developers into providing a service that isn't fragmented. EDIT: ...and, of course, they want their cut of sales.

Throwing off Steam, on EA's part, means they lose the middle man, both concerning profit shares and access to customers - the latter since with a patching service of their own, they don't have to check their content changes with the third party that is Steam, but can reach you directly and develop new services at will. Also; by not providing Steamworks services, they only have to support one service framework, which just so happens to be their own.
Mostly, though, I'm sure it's the 100% profit cut they are interested in.


The problem is that EA doesn't just outright say this, openly and honestly, instead trying to make statements aimed at the right angle to reality, in order to smear their competitor.
This doesn't do any good for their already dubious reputation and kind of makes you wonder just what they /really/ intend to do with all that new direct customer accessibility...

 

[dagens24]

If you switched EA with Valve, Valve with EA, Steam with Origin and Battlefield 3 with Half-Life Episode III, then the vast majority of The Escapist community (and gaming community) would be up in arms over how evil EA is. Gamers love to hate EA.

 

[theultimateend]

y'know. im all for competitions and shit, as long as its healthy.
but so far the things i've read about EA and Origins, it points otherwise.
i'll just watch where this goes..

Yeah. Steam really provides me with 0 negatives.

I get games for around 5-15 bucks instead of 60.
If they ever collapse someone will just crack the software, if they don't, and I can play permanently offline.
Games can be backed up to DVD's so that I can have a hard save of all my content similar to non-digital purchases.
They give me an easy way to communicate with friends across games while gaming.

The moment they stop being good I'll stop using them, similar to my drop of Impulse once Gamestop purchased it.

Edit: Also any cuts steam takes from devs makes sense when I consider how many gigs I've pulled off their servers over the last 4 ish years.

 

[Neuromaster]

Voting with my wallet: if it comes out on Steam, I'll grab it. Otherwise, not so much.

BF3 isn't so f***ing special that I'm going to leave my preferred distribution platform for it.

 

[JackyG]

if this means EA's drm policy has become a mirror of steam's then i'm all for it. its fantastic news! no more disc activation limits please!

 

[Hugga_Bear]

Seriously guys, please read the article. It's not limited to Origin, it's just not on Steam. So? It'll still be cheaper to get it off Amazon when it's new. The only downside I can think of is 5 years down the line it won't be in a super bundle sale extravaganza.

But eh, fuck EA and stuff because anger for no apparent reason.

 

[RYjet911]

You don't need to use Origin to play Battlefield 3.

Its pointless to try to use logic with these people. If they are to stupid to read the article then you pointing it out wont help. Its sad but thats the way it is. Not to mention half of them are just using this and their blind stupidity to insult EA and origin.

And you don't seem to understand half the problem

What they say in the article is a blatant lie. Steam has NO problem with installing updates and providing DLC. IT's just they don't want to give Steam users a simple way for them to get hold of the game. Instead, I now have to sign up to Origin (bal ache), or any other service (ball ache), or go to a shop (once again, ball ache), to get the game, providing debit card details or whatever once again (Much more a ball ache) with no real reason other than EA not wanting to pay Valve for hosting and gain access to an easy 30mil+ user base.

 

[JackyG]

I just installed origin to see what its like. I typed in my Mass effect 2 cd key and its now available on origin too. (ME1 didnt work mind) but still thats pretty cool. I should expect that all future EA releases will have origin function (like their version of steamworks.) which is only a good thing.

 

[Macgyvercas]

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

Sure... Just as soon as I get my copy of Mass Effect 3. Then I'll help you with taking out these giant lying douchebags.

Oh, yeah. Good point. But I though Mass Effect was BioWare?

The Mass Effect series is developed by Bioware but EA published Mass Effect 2 and is also publishing Mass Effect 3.

On Topic: I never really cared for using Steam or any other type of digital downloading store. I like to buy my games retail and I plan on buying a physical copy of Battlefield 3.

Right. Publishers. Forgot.

After ME3 then, we take these bastards down. And Kotick while we're at it.

 

[PancakesSUCKTHEYDO]

Don't care, as long as I don't have to install Origin if I buy the had copy of the game (which I plan to do.)

 

[killamanhunter]

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?

this man speaks the truth

 

[Henkie36]

The bigger the company which serves as the middle man gets, the more that same middle man is on making lots of money out of it. I would like to know how much IW paid to get MW2 multiplayer to run over Steam. This is a wise call by EA. I think they are following the old ''If you want something done, do it yourself'' philosofy, because this means it has to be EA designed. And I'm totally fine with that.

 

[Uriel_51]

I kind of wonder if what they actually mean is Valve won't let them force direct connection to EA servers to play the game. I've heard no talk of this, but seeing as how Valve is known for particularly good and frequent updates/patches I think these reasons are pretty bogus.

 

[[Gavo]]

"The service limits our ability to deliver patches and downloadable content directly to players.."

So Steam doesn't automatically download patches for games now? Guess no one uses Steam over there. Shame, really, it's going to limit sales a bit, especially when it never will go on Sale on Origin.

 

[kane.malakos]

If you switched EA with Valve, Valve with EA, Steam with Origin and Battlefield 3 with Half-Life Episode III, then the vast majority of The Escapist community (and gaming community) would be up in arms over how evil EA is. Gamers love to hate EA.

Honestly, not really. As much as people love Valve on this website, the major issue is that people like steam. They don't want to have to install a completely different digital distribution service just to play a new game. It's a matter of inconvenience. If 30 million people used Origin for most of their game purchases, then you would have a point, but Origin is nowhere near as big as steam. It's particularly bad because the battlefield series has been on steam for a while, so the decision to leave this one out seems strange.

While it's true that you can still get a physical copy and all that, steam is convenient, and I feel like EA is going to lose out on sales because of it. It certainly makes me less inclined to buy it.

 

[Operations]

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...

I wouldnt bet on that personally unless you have an official source stating that as fact.
Origin isnt just about digital distribution, EA have had an online store for years.
Origin is about trying to combine social, marketing, distribution,DRM in one place like Steam.
You mention stat tracking, and to play you will have to log in and will need an EA account.
EA are moving towards a unified account with a master ID used across all their sites, and all account are getting upgraded to Origin accounts.
BF3 will need you to go through an auth server to play, so why wouldnt they just use the Origin client to do that, and as a patching method.
I certainly have physical copies of games that still require steam as an itegral part of the instal.

 

[countrysteaksauce]

I had to do a doubletake and tilt my sunglasses upon seeing that title.

Well there goes my purchase...it's a shame too.