EA Gets Ready to Throw Down With Steam - UPDATED

[Worgen]

Im actually surprised we havent seen more of this, Ill bet that both ea and activision will try and do their own digital distribution things, well activision kind of already has one with the blizzard thing

 

[Harbinger_]

I hope this doesn't affect my Dragon Age games on Steam. If it does I want a refund and not only that but it will stop me from wanting to EVER purchase anything from EA. They've been doing alot of things lately thats been getting under my skin but this is pushing it.

 

[brunothepig]

"But at the same time you talk about platform exclusives like Uncharted [http://www.amazon.com/Halo-Reach-Xbox-360/dp/B002BSA20M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308154669&sr=8-1], EA's going to have some of our own platform exclusives."

One of the stupidest things I've heard. Star Wars is already a platform exclusive. You're making it exclusive to another "platform". A digital distribution service is not a platform, it should not have exclusives... This is really annoying... Argh. Idiots.
I'm just looking forward to seeing this tank. I can only hope Oasis dies quickly, before another game I care about is published by EA... At least I still have Crysis 2. If they pull this with Battlefield 3 as well, I think they can say goodbye to their chances of beating MW3.

 

[fenrizz]

I was not going to switch away from Steam in the first place, and I'm certainly not doing so for the likes of EA games...

 

[Jebusetti]

The main reasons I use steam over other digital platforms (GOG aside, of course) are due to the massive amount of content and the amazingly retarded sales they have. I highly doubt that EA is going to offer anywhere close to the same amount of value. Oh, and being a cock and making your titles exclusive to your service, means that other devs/pubs are more likely to make theirs unavailable on your service. Who wants to take the bet that Activision is gonna tell EA to get fucked when it comes to their AAA titles?

 

[GamingAwesome1]

And what the hell is with EA challenging everything lately?

I'm sure there is a lame EA Sports "Challenge Everything" joke I could put in there, but I'm not clever enough.

Also, Origin will tank, Crysis 2 probably just blew a few sales with the decision for it not to be on Steam.

 

[SNIPERFOX ft. Harry P.Ness]

i could just avoid origin buy buying, you know, a disc? ever heard of it EA?
If they pull this shite with BF3 and ME3, i will be visiting PC world more often!

 

[Galaxy613]

I sure as hell hope Mass Effect 3 won't be "Origin Exclusive!" I pre-ordered Mass Effect 2 on Steam, and I plan to do the same for ME3!

Starting a digital war with Steam is probably not the smartest thing EA has ever done. This will be interesting, considering Valve is part of EA Partners and all...

Probably not for long if EA keeps pulling game after game off of Steam!

 

[AnarchistAbe]

Starting a digital war with Steam is probably not the smartest thing EA has ever done. This will be interesting, considering Valve is part of EA Partners and all...

 

[player3141]

Guess who won't be buying anything from EA anytime soon? Me and a lot of other gamers.
(This includes BF3)

I also saw this coming, but I didn't think they were stupid enough to do it.

 

[Mr. Omega]

On one hand, Steam needs competition. On the other hand, I'm not sure that competition should be EA. On another hand, it could be worse: it could be Activision. On another hand, what is this going to mean for games like Mass Effect 3 and Battlefield 3?

 

[GamingAwesome1]

EDIT: Bugger, double posted.

Stupid slow arse internet.

 

[Ralen-Sharr]

want to make your own digital distribution service? cool
pull your stuff from Steam? stupid

the only way anyone can hope to beat Steam is to offer something better. That's going to be incredibly hard. As a consequence of this move, EA is likely to see a drop in sales due to fewer impulse buys from Steam.

 

[MetroidNut]

This is really quite amusingly stupid of EA. Taking on Steam isn't necessarily a bad idea, but making your releases exclusive to your digital service seems like a horrible way to go about it. You should be trying to secure customer loyalty by providing a service that's easy-to-use and offers the customer all sorts of incentives, such as massive sales and free games. That approach seems to be working pretty well for Steam, at least.

Also, if Mass Effect 3 is Origin-exclusive, there will be blood.

Or at least, you know, angry spittle.

 

[Kapol]

Yea... I don't think EA thought this one through. Steam is basically a monopoly in the digital distribution world. If anyone should be going after them, it isn't EA, who most games look at to basically be the devil of the video game world. Not to mention the dick moves that they're doing to 'prepare' everyone for this service.

 

[Hungry Donner]

When Steam first launched it had a lot of problems and I stayed far away from it; it wasn?t until FONV forced me to give it a try that I did ? so I understand the usefulness of requiring these services. However by the time I tried Steam it had ironed out most of its problems and I?ve really enjoyed the service since ? I?m quite skeptical EA?s service will run as nicely at launch.

Given how many people still avoid or at least distrust Steam after having negative experiences at its launch I think Origin should learn from Valve?s mistake. Foisting Origin on people now may get more people to try the service but do you really want that right from the start?

I think they?d be better off if they kept using the other digital distribution services out there, at least until Origin has launched, had a chance to straighten itself out, and started to build a positive reputation. Until then I?m not going to use it myself, and if that?s my own option for purchasing the game I?m not going to do it. I was able to delay picking up Portal for years despite the praise it got (and deserved), I can wait on any EA titles as well.

 

[fix-the-spade]

So, how long is this going to last before it goes the way of the pear?

6 months?
9 months?
A year?

Considering that so far a few major publishers (Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, EA circa 2006) have tried to abstain from Steam and failed resoundingly, I can't see what EA thinks it's going to do besides railroading itself into another climb down.

This is a shame, guess I won't be playing BF3 on release day. I dread to think what kind of DRM the Origin store includes under the UI.

 

[mjc0961]

So, what about people who bought it, and other EA titles on Steam? Will they still be able to play it?

This. If my break my Steam copies of Red Alert 3 and Commander's Challenge, I'll never buy one of their PC titles again. If they tried to do it with a retail copy, the owners would be able to have them charged with burglary and other such things. But digital would be okay? And no, I don't care what the EULA says. It's not law, law still overrules it, and taking something from people after they paid for it without permission is stealing.

So yeah, you want to lose money EA, fine. But break my games that I paid for and we're going to have some big problems.

 

[TerribleAssassin]

Going against Steam is like fighting a lion.


Someone will do it, but will get ripped to shreads...

 

[sunburst]

Huh? I guess I won't be buying any EA games for a little while. Still, they'll realize how much money they're losing soon enough and reconsider. I just want to know why they pulled Crysis 2. Surely anyone who would follow it to a new service already has the game by now, right?