Gabe Newell: It's Up to Valve to Bring EA Back to Steam

[Something Amyss]

Most people don't have 20 megabytes of hard drive space?

*looks for where I said that*

*Doesn't find it*

Please don't put words in my mouth.

 

[Cowabungaa]

And this is why Origin is good; it sparks competition, keeps Valve from sitting there gloating, keeps them on their toes.

Gabe is also very right about them earning the right to have their software installed on our computers. Big company executives seem to forget that we are putting food on their table. Instead, customers are getting treated as we should be happy to buy from them. Wrong. And Gabe realises that. Keep on truckin' Gabe.

Yep. And it's just as annoying as you'd think it would be. Unless you think it wouldn't be annoying, in which case you'd be wrong.

Actually, I don't really think it's that annoying. GFWL boots up automatically, so I don't notice it, and the Social Club isn't required. People are making mountains out of molehills with these things.

Except for GFWL matchmaking. Complain all you want about that, because that can actually ruin your multiplayer experience.

 

[elvis-66]

I see alot of talk about competition and saying "its a good thing..."

Last time I checked there was competition. See those consoles? There happen to be three of them with two being pretty much identical (wii and ps360). Then you just add in clicks, bricks and mortar from the highstreet and amazon and its ilk and you have competition enough.

For over a decade we have been hearing how the pc is dying and in my eyes all this origin fiasco does is split an already "weakened" market just so ea can take some short term capital gains. Do they really think that mass effect, the sims and their sports franchises are enough to keep all this afloat?

How about we have one digital distribution platform that works, as it stands now im not alone in my desire to keep my logins, accounts and user details to a minimum and am already happy with what works for the user.

 

[DTWolfwood]

40x increase in sales of a game that goes on sale isn't attractive enough for EA i don't know what is.

If it wasn't for the Steam sales i never would have bought the new Medal of Honor.

(even though i payed $15, i still feel cheated at the end, what a garbage game that was)

 

[Sunrider]

Gabe Newell for President of the World! You won't find anyone more fit to run a huge company than this man.

 

[Rack]

Classy as this is I still wish he'd just challenge EA to a game of Team Fortress 2 for it.

 

[castlewise]

OT: I haven't seen any reason to be hatin on Origin at the moment, games have downloaded quickly and function. Hell I even put in my code for BFBC2 on Origin and got the deluxe edition for free. I have a few games on there, and the layout is pretty cool with everything being easy to access.

Mostly people don't like where this is going, methinks. They don't want to have to download more clients to play games. That's one of the appeals of Steam, on top of sales and stuff.

Most people don't have 20 megabytes of hard drive space?

Shrug. I don't think its a particularly logical thing. More like an OCD thing. I go to my computer and I want all my games in one place, neat and tidy, like.

 

[maddhatter190]

I don't think it is just a matter of quality that makes many hate EA's attepmt at steam.
origin isnt horrible if anything it is functional if a bit unrefined.

It is a matter of trust. Valve is a game developer , whether or not you trust game developers is up to you. I personally trust Valve, they make very smart decisions and they work their asses of to keep my opinion high in that regard.

EA has had a popular history (much like Activision) as an "EVIL" "moneygrubbing" >publisher< who doesn't really care at all about the player and focus on how to make the most money in the laziest and most obvious ways. Now that is not to say they are still that evil, Ole EA has mellowed a bit since their hay day several years ago.

But the point stays, EA as a distributor is NOT someone I trust and I FULLY expect for them to screw me over at some point if I so choose to use their service.

 

[Asehujiko]

A customer will only install Origin because it was on the battlefield 3 disk.

And then crack the game and delete it the moment it's finished installing. Or they'll discontinue it again in a year like EAO and EADM before them.

 

[Still Life]

It has just occurred to me how diplomatic Gabe can appear towards all parties. Very skillful articulation.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

At least someone stepped in with balls, and explained it all nice and clear to EA and other developers without viciously attacking them.
Bravo Gabe.

 

[BoredDragon]

I would like to point out that Origin is not competition for Steam, not in the positive market force sense, anyway. It is EA trying to bust a perceived monopoly (really just an overly strong market share) with a real monopoly...yeah...

To be truly competitive, both Origin and Steam would need a wide selection of games, with lots of overlap. Then the deciding factor in what service to use would be value (determined by prices and features). Competition would come in the form of competing sales and steadily expanding feature lists as each service tries to one-up the other. What's actually going on, is that EA is keeping all their games on Origin in a bid to force you to use it, rather than proving it's value to the customer, creating a monopoly on EA games.

Next time somebody starts talking Steam up as a monopoly, and how it needs competition, make sure it's really competition that is being supported, and whether Steam is truly a monopoly.

From what my understanding was from the last update on this story was that EA was still releasing their games on other digital distributors, so I'm not sure if they're actually trying to create a monopoly. However, this situation is different than the console wars in the sense that you won't have to shell out big bucks to use each. Unless there are any unforeseen complications you should be able to use both.

As for Steam, I think it really is a natural monopoly. I couldn't tell you the names of any other digital distributors (besides Origin because of this story) and I'm not sure if many people could either.

 

[Lawlhat]

Well I'm glad Gabe and probably some other guys at Valve took the time to come up with a good response to the problem.

 

[GeneralFungi]

Steam was unadulterated shit for quite awhile after it came out. But Valve persisted, worked on it and now have a platform that, for people who buy digital, is pretty damn awesome.

Why are so many of you so insistent on not giving EA the same opportunity?

Because at the time, Steam was the first of it's kind. It didn't have a positive example to help it become as helpful as it is today.

Origin? It could take some of the positive things steam does and integrate it into their own system. Or they could turn it into a money producing machine.

I won't demonize them over making battle field 3 origin exclusive, but it is much more convenient for me, the customer, to use when it's also on steam. And they aren't doing this for anyone's convenience but themselves.

 

[Kelethor]

Attention all game company executives:

That. That right up there. That is how you do it.

Stay classy big guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14njUwJUg1I

Ohohohoho! Big guy!!

But seriously, Gabe's being really mature about this. its nice to see.

 

[brazuca]

Right Valve! Now EA is gonna go back running to you with BF3. (sarcasm on)

EA wants origin to play toe to toe with Valve's steam. What they need right now is library. What EA wants http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/714312/ea-origins-would-absolutely-welcome-other-publishers-games/

What gamers want is to have the best price and a reasonable interface with that manager. Steam got that covered (EA is lacking behind). I say I'd love EA to have origin toe to toe with steam. More competition means more pc games and better sales, steam got that too.

 

[themerrygambit]

Screw Steam! lol. I just uninstalled it and my computer is running faster... go figure. I'm done with steam... too invasive and I don't like it's policies. Good for EA to try and separate to create their own download distribution.

 

[themerrygambit]

And to respond to Gabe's comment about EA being better off with them distributing their games I say: Really? I was able to download Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 just fine directly from EA without having to put up with any of Steam's Bullcrap. I imagine EA did just fine selling me their product directly without having to pay any of your transaction fees. So I think EA's doing just fine on their own

 

[Mysnomer]

I would like to point out that Origin is not competition for Steam, not in the positive market force sense, anyway. It is EA trying to bust a perceived monopoly (really just an overly strong market share) with a real monopoly...yeah...

To be truly competitive, both Origin and Steam would need a wide selection of games, with lots of overlap. Then the deciding factor in what service to use would be value (determined by prices and features). Competition would come in the form of competing sales and steadily expanding feature lists as each service tries to one-up the other. What's actually going on, is that EA is keeping all their games on Origin in a bid to force you to use it, rather than proving it's value to the customer, creating a monopoly on EA games.

Next time somebody starts talking Steam up as a monopoly, and how it needs competition, make sure it's really competition that is being supported, and whether Steam is truly a monopoly.

From what my understanding was from the last update on this story was that EA was still releasing their games on other digital distributors, so I'm not sure if they're actually trying to create a monopoly. However, this situation is different than the console wars in the sense that you won't have to shell out big bucks to use each. Unless there are any unforeseen complications you should be able to use both.

As for Steam, I think it really is a natural monopoly. I couldn't tell you the names of any other digital distributors (besides Origin because of this story) and I'm not sure if many people could either.

First: Steam is only a perceived monopoly, it's comparable to the Microsoft vs Apple market share of computers. Sure, Microsoft has the overwhelming majority, but isn't a true monopoly. And Steam didn't start out with this huge lead, they had to fight for it. (Also, Impusle, Gamersgate, GoG, there's some UK based ones that I've heard about but don't really know the names of; point is: just because you don't know about the competition, doesn't mean they are a non-issue).

But even if they're releasing it on other platforms, they will still need Origin to run BF3. If there isn't mass rioting in the streets, expect them to interpret that as people being okay with their system, and implementing it in future games. Instead of proving their worth to consumers, they are creating artificial demand for their service by strapping it to big name titles and cramming it down our throats.