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As you've undoubtedly heard, some of EA's games have been retracted from Valve's digital distribution platform. When Crysis 2 first disappeared from Steam in June, gamers immediately assumed that the decision was part of an overarching strategy to force users into purchasing titles through Origin. EA quickly responded to that speculation by noting that it didn't necessarily want to remove Crysis 2 from Steam, and that it mostly boiled down to conflicting terms over serving game patches and downloadable content.
The controversy continued last month when Dragon Age II disappeared from Valve's storefront coinciding with the launch of the Dragon Age II: Legacy add-on content, and EA maintained the same story: Valve's business terms were too "restrictive." Along yanking those titles from Steam, some of EA's upcoming titles will be Origin exclusives, including Star Wars: The Old Republic, while Battlefield 3 will use EA's platform no matter where you buy it. Surprisingly, Valve has been pretty quiet about the feud -- until this week.
Speaking with Develop magazine, Valve boss Gabe Newell explained that matters were complicated. "I don't think Valve can pick just one thing and think that the issue would go away if we fixed that," he said, noting that it was Valve's responsibility to prove that EA stands to gain by having its games on Steam. "We have to prove we are creating value on an ongoing basis, whether it's to EA or Ubisoft or whoever. We want EA's games on Steam and we have to show them that's a smart thing to do," Newell continued.
"I think at the end of the day we're going to prove to EA they have happier customers, a higher quality service, and will make more money if they have their titles on Steam. It's our duty to demonstrate that to them. We don't have a natural right to publish their games." Many believe that EA is sacrificing a large, Steam-loyal audience by omitting games like Battlefield 3 from Valve's platform. In that particular case, players who refuse to use Origin will have immediate access to the primary competition, Modern Warfare 3.
User Comments: 38
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treetops said:
There's my CPU usage with Steam running:Nice, mines at 3-10%. Averaging around 5%+. Its 0-1% without steam running. Why do they insist on running in the background while you play a game? This was on the default page, the store page, it probably makes a difference what page your on.
@ pinothy your right it does slump down when you hit the x to about 2% cpu usage on average.That's more double my normal cpu usage! /jokes
I'm loyal to Valve and loyal to Steam. Valve actually cares a lot about PC gamers, and proves it by not releasing shotty console ports. Steam is also great. All my games in my account. I can log into any computer and play my games just by logging into Steam. When reinstalling Windows I just need to install Steam and I have all my games. I hope EA puts BF3 on Steam, would suck not to buy that game for PC. I know my roommate will buy it for PS3 so I can play it there, but I'd prefer to have my own copy on Steam.
treetops said:There's my CPU usage with Steam running:Nice, mines at 3-10%. Averaging around 5%+. Its 0-1% without steam running. Why do they insist on running in the background while you play a game? This was on the default page, the store page, it probably makes a difference what page your on.
@ pinothy your right it does slump down when you hit the x to about 2% cpu usage on average.That's more double my normal cpu usage! /jokes
I am not standing up for Steam I am simply fact stating?
treetops said:I am not standing up for Steam I am simply fact stating?Thanks for the tip. I had no clue that hitting the x mattered so much.
I agree... EA is hurting itself by not putting their titles on Steam. I personally am not purchasing and EA games on the PC any longer no matter how much BF3 makes me drool. I figure Steam as a lot of things it does to integrate it, but I have seen titles like ST OL loosly coupled and have their own update system... I don't know how much of that has changed... but I think EA is blowing a lot of smoke up our butts and they want to get Origin off the ground by cripling the competition and I also think the Retailers are in on putting the hurt on Steam too. The only way I would buy from other online services is if one... they don't lock me into their platform... I have had enough of that with Steam... so there can be only one I'll let that happen with. Also, to create a Open ID like login to all the game services. I tell you one thing... I might do gamefly since they are talking about the unlimited subscription model to PC games. It seems like a good direction if you get access to the new titles at least after 6 months of their release.
If I'm gonna be completely honest about this whole Steam thing, I have to agree with people who say it sucked in the beginning. I got Half-Life 2 for christmas the same year it was released, and that was my first introduction to Steam. I was as pissed off as the next guy about having to be online all the time. It wasn't even a store back then, as far as I can remember. It was completely useless! I played through HL2, uninstalled everything and left it at that.
I came back to Steam about 2 years ago, and it's awesome now! A fullblown community which I enjoy being a part of. Like other people have said, there's no reason to even pirate stuff anymore. I buy more games on Steam (especially on sale) than I can manage to play through anyway. When it comes to piracy, it's mostly a teenager thing. At that point in your life you have no money. However, you have all the time in the world to reinstall your computer if you end up getting a virus. So, to a teenager, it's worth it. For grownups, it's different. We have money, but we don't have the time! It's easier just to buy the games. And when games are as cheap as they are on Steam sales, there's nothing stopping us from paying for it.
I'm seriously pissed off with EA these days, but I do understand WHY they're doing what they're doing. What makes me angry is the fact that I've bought Mass Effect 1 and 2, Dragon Age Origins and other EA games, like a lot of you guys. I was planning to get them all on Steam. A complete collection, or Library if you will. Now EA comes along and says "No, we want more money, so you can't have your complete library!" So what now, am I gonna start buying the same games all over again through Origin just to have a complete library? NO! My O.C.D. only goes so far. R.I.P. EA! I don't care anymore.
One more thing to keep in mind is that Blizzard did it first. As far as I'm concerned anyways. But people cheered them on as they put their Battle.net and Blizzard store together. Why? Because Blizzard never sold their games through 3rd party digital distributors in the first place. So in that sense, Blizzard never took anything AWAY from us. They simply gave us an added option of digital purchase of their games through their own online store. EA has been selling their games through Steam and other digital distributors, and then suddenly (after people put down roots in these communities), EA flips the finger and says "No, we want more money!" THIS is why we're pissed off with EA!!! They took something away from us! They're forcing us to use Origin. We don't need it and we don't want it! And the ONLY reason they're doing this is to make more money. That's a fact, as far as I'm concerned, and it doesn't make them seem any friendlier to their customers. EA made me hate EA. I didn't arbitrarily choose to start hating them for no reason. Now it's up to EA to make me like them again. A good first step would be to get their games back on Steam, with all DLC!
hello ...
I don't play FPS, so don't really care about BF3, but i purchase a lot of games & more than 90% are from Steam.
I have 2 issues with Steam:
1st - Never reinstall / uninstall the Steam client without backing up the games or moving the folder, if you forget, prepare some time for DATA recovery + updates or complete re-download of full library.
2nd - Can't run City of Heroes now :P .. & Out of steam games aren't really logged & no achievements.
Why do I love Steam: most games are available to worldwide users, the price is always great during sales & 1 platform for all 'o 'em
Now on the other Side: Origin !!!
It's a no go for @ least 1 big reason: Even a cheap / discounted game for others isn't for me, for it shows i'm in SA & seems no sales out there!
So sorry, now EA will get less & less sales off me unless if it's a PSN game that's worth it or some really needed Disc-based 1, but with less support DLC side ...
I believe EA should not try to compete with others but provide something that can be integrated with existing platforms.
cheers!
Well guys, it's not about Steam or Origin, it's about BATTLEFIELD, everyone that loves it will get it from anywhere no matter what. I just pointed what I liked about Origin.
If you're a silly 13 YO, you might take this as a competition, specially if your mommy didn't care enough for you, and will want to take sides.
With steam you don't have to be online all the time. When I bought HL2 I was upset that It took forever to unencrypt the HL2 special edition I had on disk already. nce it was installed I played off line. I mind it a lot if I need to be online to ply games that have already been activated. That is why I'm not purhasing Ubisoft games for PC until that remove the always online DRM for single player campaigns... fortunately enough mucvh of their games I prefer to play on thje consoles... I only like FPS on the PC or exclusives. I've been burned by buying a game for PC only to find out that it will not let me play with my Logitech game pad and instead I must use Xbox PC game pad... or Keyboard and mouse. WTF is having the options of a PC for... too lazy to allow me to configure to PC game pad... directX already has the API to allow configing with a gamepad... Yes I'm talking to you Capcom!
Wow I digressed big time... I want battle field on PC rather than console, but now I must wait to see if it will require always online to play single player. At this rate, I will not be purchasing many of the PC games at lunch until those facts about playing offline is resolved. I refused to be on a publisher leash when I am a paying customer. I don't mind online activation... But If they want to collect information about what I'm doing in game (I know they are collecting aggrogate info at least) and use my internet connection... pay me a percentage of my internet bill I say. Or offer me something. No free rides... I paid for the product already.
I've been a PC gamer for many many years. I believe Steam's service to be second to none. I've had zero issues with it. I love Valve's titles on top of that. This whole situation is unfortunate as I was really looking forward to ME3 but if I can't get it through steam I'll probably pass. I never cared for EA as a company anyways. Damn them for taking my Madden away from me.
I want Mass Effect 3, but only on Steam.
I currently have 6 games unplayed on steam so i`m in no rush
being on the internet all the time is not such a hardship as it used to be as speeds have increased and unlimited downloads. Thank you sky!
So many internet accounts, its hard to keep track of them, different login details, passwords.
Though i will miss ea games on steam, my friends are on steam.
I for one will put my money back in my pocket
Tried to get some answers from EA regarding this.
http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/7372205.page#16430517
Nothing yet, zip, nothing, nada.
Dr Cyrax
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