Competition for Steam?

wags wrote:For example crysis 2 had exclusive skins and dog tags on eadm you couldnt get from steam. Which may annoy people who may feel like they dont have the full game.

{FB}Whos_asking99 wrote:I remember reading a piece a few months back, that if they go down, have they promised to make our steam games playable with out steam? No.

{FB}Zebitty wrote:What about the ones that aren't currently installed? How would you re-install them?

UPDATE: Electronic Arts has responded to my questions regarding its current relationship with Steam, claiming Crysis 2 was not removed from Steam because EA asked. Instead, EA claims Steam "imposed a set of business terms" that resulted in an existing agreement Crytek had regarding Crysis 2 that "violates the new rules," resulting in the "expulsion" of Crysis 2.

I've asked EA for better clarification on what "business terms" have changed and why games like Alice: Madness Returns are no longer on Steam. I've also requested comment from Valve.

The full statement is below:

"It’s unfortunate that Steam has removed Crysis 2 from their service. This was not an EA decision or the result of any action by EA.

Steam has imposed a set of business terms for developers hoping to sell content on that service – many of which are not imposed by other online game services. Unfortunately, Crytek has an agreement with another download service which violates the new rules from Steam and resulted in its expulsion of Crysis 2 from Steam.

Crysis 2 continues to be available on several other download services including GameStop, Amazon, Origin.com and more."

ORIGINAL STORY: When Electronic Arts decided to heavily push its Origin web portal and distribution service at E3, alongside word it would be the exclusive home to Star Wars: The Old Republic, it became an open question whether EA would continue to play ball with Steam. We appear to have an answer to that question, with Crysis 2, Alice: Madness Returns and Battlefield 3 all disappearing.

So far, I've been unable to get an answer from any party involved. Valve, EA and Crytek have all, to date, remained unresponsive. Other outlets are reporting a statement's coming later today.

You can still, however, purchase other EA games on Steam. Crysis and Need for Speed are still there, as is the Need for Speed series. It mostly seems that EA's chosen to start holding back its most recent and upcoming releases, in hopes of driving consumer traffic to its own service.

As soon as I know more, I'll pass it on.

The confusing back-and-forth between Steam and Electronic Arts continues. Crysis 2 and Alice: Madness Returns listings all disappeared from Steam earlier this week, followed by a statement from EA stating certain business terms had changed.

The change violated an existing agreement Crytek had regarding Crysis 2 with another company, EA said, thus forcing Crysis 2 to come down from the store.

That didn't really explain what happened to Alice: Madness Returns, though.

Alice: Madness Returns returned to Steam today. EA sent me an odd statement explaining why.

"EA Partners and Spicy Horse Games appreciate Steam’s decision to sell Alice: Madness Returns," said the company. "The game is also available on several other download services including Amazon, Gamestop and Origin.com."

This doesn't answer several questions: why isn't Crysis 2 back? Why was it "Steam's decision" to allow Alice: Madness Returns back into Steam? Will Battlefield 3 ever show up? Does this impact future EA releases? What business terms changed that prompted this in the first place?

At E3, EA launched Origin, a proprietary digital platform for serving up EA content. Though neither company has said so, there's reason to believe these moves have to do with Origin.

I'm asking all of these to try and learn more. When (and if) I hear back, I'll let you know.

Filed under: Electronic Arts, Steam, Alice: Madness Returns,

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