EA Blames Dragon Age 2 Disappearance on Valve

[silwerwolf]

well i gess you have to understand EA wanting to get ther own store gong.
but this is not the wey to build a custumer base, if ther is his much truble athe bigining the are likely to sceare awey custumors
Allso picking on steame ........ realy ........ REALY.

ps. realy doun´t think that steame wod start truble with in game DLC, ther are games with microtransactios available fore download on steame so i dont tink it wod be a problem fore them.

 

[Signa]

EA might be the evil empire but I think they might be in the right here. Why SHOULD DLC be forced to sell through a 3'rd party? Does that party contribute anything to said DLC besides taking a cut?

If I were selling DLC to a game I had on Steam I'd totally share EA's opinion on this. As a popular piracy prevention distributor, Valve already got their cut. Why should I pay them an extra cut for DLC if I can handle the distribution of that without them?

Because that's a totally exploitable system. A company could release what is effectively a $2 demo and then DLC the rest of the game out of Valve's hands. I listened to the bit of that podcast that Sunrider linked (http://darkzero.co.uk/game-podcasts/podcast-76-meet-team-meat/ start at 1h5m) and you can tell from the dev's perspective that Valve knows how to handle the customer's money so that everyone wins. Valve wins, the Dev wins, and the customer wins. I suspect that even if you disagree that Valve deserves the in-game DLC money, it seems pretty clear that Valve is forcing a certain level of quality control for the customers that no other 3rd party would need to hold themselves to.

 

[Reaper195]

I like how EA seemed to never be heard about shit like this until after their announcement of Origin.

 

[Theminimanx]

No one else is making a fuss. No one else has even commented on it. So I doubt Valve are the ones with the problem.

They keep everything consolidated likely because they don't want other people's shitty service (I would struggle to name a publisher that has provided a decent download service, or that can even maintain good servers for its own games half the time) affecting their image. If its their problem they can deal with it. EA just wants the entire slice of their own overpriced DLC. Nevermind that the only reason some people buy it is because Steam's knocked off 75% and stuck it in the "recommended for you" tab.

And this whole thing isn't new anyway; I'm pretty sure that if you've wanted to use DLC with a Steam version you needed to buy the DLC through Steam.

No you don't actually. If you've bought mass effect 2 through steam, you can still download and install the DLC through bioware's own site (social.bioware.com to be specific) and I assume all the money spent there goes goes directly to EA. So EA is just bullsh*tting us here.

Look EA, I have no problems with you wanting to start your own digital distribution store. But just be honest that you're trying to fight steam directly. Otherwise you're just reducing people's goodwill towards you even more, goodwill that you'll badly need if you want people to use your store for anything other than exclusive titles.

 

[Jacksaw Jack]

EA knows just how to get the armada sailin'.

Get yer fancy hats on and 'oist the main sail me Hardies.

 

[Azmael Silverlance]

EA is going to lose sales beucase of that pull. I just dont see anyway steam losing the fight. What with their outrageous sales and already huge community.

 

[TheHitcher]

I don't understand the issue. Everyone else manages to sell DLC through Steam. EA are the big babies of the gaming industry who complain even when there isn't much of a problem.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

I'm inclined to side with Valve, though I can't really determine from the article what's going on.

I don't think anybody liked that dude in your camp in Dragon Age Origins begging for RL coin. So if Valve is lobbying against that, bravo. If they're trying to stop EA from jamming adds for their DLC into the game launcher, as my store bought copy of DA2 has, I guess that kinda seems like EA's right, though perhaps Steam should charge 50c or a buck more if EA is demanding the full 10$ or whatnot.

 

[TimeLord]

Yeah... No. At least have the decency to admit you want the publicity for Origin, EA.

 

[Beryl77]

We don't know enough about what's going on there to really judge this but my best guess would be that this is a marketing move for Origin.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

*sees news*
*raises eyebrow*
*goes on Steam*

Ooh, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines for $5! *buys*

Yeah, I'm a Steam fan. Constant sales FTW.

 

[bob1052]

HAHAHAHA

Battlefield 3 not on Steam?

EA must really want to lose this fight they have been picking with Call of Duty.

 

[Infernai]

Dear EA- Kindly Shut the fuck up

Regards Gamers everywhere.

Silly EA, we all know that Valve can't do bad things.

Indeed, they can't

 

[Lunar Templar]

well its EA so I'm hard pressed to care, my suggestion to EA? get over it you have your own 'steam' now so have a nice big cup of STFU and try an hit valve in the wallet (fat chance there though)

 

[Azaraxzealot]

steam is not a prophet of chirst (which the greater PC gaming community believes valve to be), if they do something questionable or bad it means they're just as fallible as any other game company!

It may very well be that Valve is "in the wrong" here (these are business decisions, not really right or wrong).

But don't you think it's fishy that only EA games (and only recent and well-sold ones) are being pulled out from Steam? I've bought plenty of DLC outside of steam for games I owned in Steam, like Mass Effect 2. In this thread many people mentioned examples of games that sell DLC outside of Steam. Yet no one else is complaining and pulling their games from Steam.

You accuse people of blindly following and defending Valve, but maybe you suffer from the reverse problem, and your hatred for Valve/Steam is clouding your judgment.

i don't have a hatred for valve. i have a hatred for ignorance, and people ignorantly defending Valve even if they ate puppies and shat pure malevolence pisses me off. for the record, i like a lot of valve's games, i'm just not amazed by them because they're mostly all linear FPS games or Multiplayer focused ones meant to show off their fancy engine. i wish they would branch out and try new things that weren't all in the first person perspective, but i don't hate them.

i just wish people (especially PC gamers and the Escapist) would take their mouths off of Valve's.... hand for a moment so that they can see that they're just as flawed a developer as every other one and that they are still a corporation and sometimes will do things for the sake of "CHA-CHING!" rather than the adoration of their fans.

If that's hatred then I must be Hitler-Incarnate for the mere notion of suggesting that Valve was fallible and isn't the second coming of gaming jesus.

 

[Zakarath]

So apparently EA wants to cut off one of its main avenues to consumers. Interesting business strategy.

 

[Pinstar]

Uhhh what about those who have ME and ME2 via steam? Will I be able to get 3 and still import my game to it?

 

[Canid117]

If I was EA's PR department all I would say is "We didn't pull it." No directly blaming Steam or Valve. They have a better reputation than you EA and the only way people would side with you is if they discovered that this was not your fault on their own.

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!!

Uh.. You ok now? You look like you've been holding back a lot of anger?

It looks to me that ea is trying to screw the companies that sell their games and ignored the TOS.

EA greed will get you.

It could be worse they could sell a low content item for an unusually high price like a la the MW2 map packs oh wait... [http://dragonage.bioware.com/dao/witch_hunt/]

 

[Callate]

And just like that, there goes virtually any chance I'll get Dragon Age 2. Good one, EA!