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[sflufan]

Which is actually an interesting point. It goes back to my original question: how much does Valve charge developers/publishers for using the Steam service?

There may be a few reasons for them making this decision really. There is no question that Steam is the most popular service and would probably take more sales away from Origin than any other DD service. They could be factoring in the cost of using steam with the sales lost on their own DD service and come to the conclusion it makes more business sense to remove Steam completely out of the picture.

While no definite figures have ever been released, it has been indicated that Valve charges the same 30% amount as every other DD service.

 

[epmode]

Which is actually an interesting point. It goes back to my original question: how much does Valve charge developers/publishers for using the Steam service?

Valve takes about a 30% cut which is reportedly the same deal you'll find with every other DD service.

 

[Weenerz]

To the people that think EA did this because of the impending Steam summer sale need to realize that people aren't buying it for regular price, EA would rather make some profit at a lower price than no profit by taking it off the service. I wouldn't be surprised if they take all of their games off of Steam soon.

 

[(._.)]

He said it's EA's loss not to release games on Steam. Maybe short term to some extent it is, but (IMO) not by much and not long term. They can still reach people who use Steam, I don't there are as many Steam-only followers as some people on GAF suggest.

I think just about everybody here who plays PC games uses steam. I'm sure some shop around but steam is definitely the leader and by a large margin. Look at that thread in the archives where the admin asks where everybody gets their games.

 

[Nirolak]

He said it's EA's loss not to release games on Steam. Maybe short term to some extent it is, but (IMO) not by much and not long term. They can still reach people who use Steam, I don't there are as many Steam-only followers as some people on GAF suggest.

I was joking.

 

[WanderingWind]

The Steam love is one of pure emotional attachment. Logically, if Origin offers the same service as Steam, gamers shouldn't have an issue. But - and let us not mince words here - Steam saved PC gaming. It wasn't dead, but it sure as hell was a wasteland of shitty ports, exceptionally delayed games and broken customer service. Steam, and it's adoption by so many gamers quickly, revitalized the industry. It's still not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than it used to be.

So, as a PC gamer, anything that looks like it's threatening Steam's access to all of the big name games makes me nervous. Where the hell was EA during the dark days of PC gaming and the early days of Steam? Oh, right. Buying up and shuttering fantastic PC developers and shunting the workers to console development.

It's an emotional response because EA has consistently done everything it could to marginalize PC gaming, outright destroying promising young development houses, ruining great PC-first game companies and generally spending their time being as anti-consumer as possible - if you were a PC consumer.

Valve was the opposite. They brought the supremely fragmented PC market together under one banner, with fairly benign regulation and easy patch distribution. Even with millions of users, consumer complaints against the service are relatively rare, and usually shown to taken care of. They worked with smaller developers to get exposure for their games, bringing excellent gems like Recettar and Terraria to a wider audience. Their customer-friendly sales are the stuff of legend.

So yeah, it's an emotional response.

Could EA's service become somewhat like Steam? Possibly. But the fact that they won't allow Steam to carry their games now means they're less interested in the customer and in competing via superior customer satisfaction. They clearly have no faith in the service, which means they're out of the gate not trying as hard to support the platform as they could. It's worrisome, to me.

 

[butts]

If I can't go Steam I will go retail copy.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

i dont trust their store at all.

same company that let you PAY EXTRA TO BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR GAMES FOR 2 YEARS AFTER PURCHASE, I bought a sims 3 xp on there a month ago and they still had wording on their site saying they basically dont guarantee being able to download your stuff after 2 years, of course any sort of Q & A about that now leads to error pages through google.

 

[Phonomezer]

I wonder how this will affect Valve's distribution deal with EA. Will L4D and Portal be on Origin too?

 

[Meus Renaissance]

How does Origin compare to Steam? Honestly I was seriously considering getting a gaming rig but I'm so confused now

 

[epmode]

Remember when EA had Bioware running damage control when they withheld a Dragon Age preorder bonus from Steam only? That was cute.

i dont trust their store at all.

same company that let you PAY EXTRA TO BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR GAMES FOR 2 YEARS AFTER PURCHASE, I bought a sims 3 xp on there a month ago and they still had wording on their site saying they basically dont guarantee being able to download your stuff after 2 years, of course any sort of Q & A about that now leads to error pages through google.

You might be thinking of the TOS section that says they'll terminate your Origin account and licenses if you don't log in for two years.

 

[alphaNoid]

and the beginniglng of Steam competition begins. Gamestop and EA, as well as MS taking Valve on. I expect well see more of this over the next year.

isn't BF3 only on Origin too? no steam version of BF3

 

[leadbelly]

While no definite figures have ever been released, it has been indicated that Valve charges the same 30% amount as every other DD service.

Okay. Now I am more curious as to the reason than ever before. lol

 

[Jenga]

EA is OBVIOUSLY going to use BF3, Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars Old Republic as exclusive, killer-apps for their download service.

Why do you think Valve trojan-horsed Steam into every copy of Half-Life 2 when it was still an early piece of shit? Because they knew the only way to get the snowball rolling was to force people onto the service with a game they wanted.

It's not an unfair or unintelligent business practice. You use what you have (anticipated games) to get what you want (users on your service).

and everyone shat on valve for years until steam proved itself about two or three years after HL2

 

[Corto]

EA publishes Valve titles, who doesn't allow their titles on...ANY OTHER DIGITAL DISTRIBUTOR.

Valve doesn't have its titles on other DD services because they don't need to. Why would they put their games on DD services other than their own (the biggest one) if that means paying a percentage of the sale price to the DD service owner? Off course EA can do this too, but it needs to give the consumer parity on price and features or else this kind of move will backfire. And EA if this comes true is selectively choosing to not put their games on Steam and only on Steam. They can do that, but it's a shitty move.

 

[L00P]

So it's available on Origin and other DD sites, but not on Steam? Did Steam bang EA's mother or something?

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

Remember when EA had Bioware running damage control when they withheld a Dragon Age preorder bonus from Steam only? That was cute.You might be thinking of the TOS section that says they'll terminate your Origin account and licenses if you don't log in for two years.

wtf I paid near retail for their "license" i feel the extra 10 bucks or whatever they gain from dd should secure the few kilobytes my account takes up in their db, what a crock lol.

 

[FOOTE]

i dont trust their store at all.

same company that let you PAY EXTRA TO BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR GAMES FOR 2 YEARS AFTER PURCHASE, I bought a sims 3 xp on there a month ago and they still had wording on their site saying they basically dont guarantee being able to download your stuff after 2 years, of course any sort of Q & A about that now leads to error pages through google.

I personally don't trust any DD service other then Steam. I used D2D for a game once and they never sent me my key. My experiences with Steam have been flawless.

 

[epmode]

Valve = privately owned, traditionally consumer-friendly

EA = SHAREHOLDERS ÜBER ALLES

I wonder how this is going to work out!

edit: FIXED, THANX ZOMBIESUPASTAR

 

[opticalmace]

The Steam love is one of pure emotional attachment. Logically, if Origin offers the same service as Steam, gamers shouldn't have an issue. But - and let us not mince words here - Steam saved PC gaming. It wasn't dead, but it sure as hell was a wasteland of shitty ports, exceptionally delayed games and broken customer service. Steam, and it's adoption by so many gamers quickly, revitalized the industry. It's still not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than it used to be.

So, as a PC gamer, anything that looks like it's threatening Steam's access to all of the big name games makes me nervous. Where the hell was EA during the dark days of PC gaming and the early days of Steam? Oh, right. Buying up and shuttering fantastic PC developers and shunting the workers to console development.

It's an emotional response because EA has consistently done everything it could to marginalize PC gaming, outright destroying promising young development houses, ruining great PC-first game companies and generally spending their time being as anti-consumer as possible - if you were a PC consumer.

Valve was the opposite. They brought the supremely fragmented PC market together under one banner, with fairly benign regulation and easy patch distribution. Even with millions of users, consumer complaints against the service are relatively rare, and usually shown to taken care of. They worked with smaller developers to get exposure for their games, bringing excellent gems like Recettar and Terraria to a wider audience. Their customer-friendly sales are the stuff of legend.

So yeah, it's an emotional response.

Could EA's service become somewhat like Steam? Possibly. But the fact that they won't allow Steam to carry their games now means they're less interested in the customer and in competing via superior customer satisfaction. They clearly have no faith in the service, which means they're out of the gate not trying as hard to support the platform as they could. It's worrisome, to me.

This is an excellent post and I suggest everyone read this if you haven't already.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

Valve = publically owned, traditionally consumer-friendly

EA = SHAREHOLDERS ÜBER ALLES

I wonder how this is going to work out!

i thought valve is private?


edit: oh wait I found it


http://store.origin.com/DRHM/store?...formationPage&SiteID=ea&Locale=en_US&Env=BASE

lease your games for 5 years* with origin!


*extra fee required!

Extended Download Service
Terms and Conditions

1. Extended Download Service - Upon payment of the specified fee, Digital River, Inc. ("DR") agrees to provide you (the "End User") a service that enables the End User to make multiple downloads of digital computer software products (a "Product" or "Products") purchased in a single order (an "Order") and downloaded from this Web site (the "Site") for a period of five (5) years after the End User purchases the Product (the "Service").

 

[Acosta]

and everyone shat on valve for years until steam proved itself about two or three years after HL2

Exactly. I refused to play Half-Life 2 because I refused to install Steam. I didn't play until 2 or 3 years later.

Good luck to EA trying to repeat that.

 

[toastyToast]

Origin which is essentially the old EA store engages in some pretty nasty price price discrimination for Australian customers.

Don't think I see myself ever using the service.

 

[kswiston]

I'm actually surprised that Activision hasn't done this with the Battle.net store as well. Blizzard games are already sold exclusively through their store. 10s of millions of people use battle.net between WoW, Starcraft II, and soon Diablo 3. I am sure they could leverage that to start a serious DD competitor to Steam a lot better than anything EA is capable of doing.

 

[sflufan]

I wonder how this will affect Valve's distribution deal with EA. Will L4D and Portal be on Origin too?

Highly doubtful as I'm sure that the arrangement EA has with Valve contains provisions that Valve is the sole publisher of digital copies of those games.

 

[epmode]

i thought valve is private?

You're right, I mistyped.

 

[szaromir]

I think just about everybody here who plays PC games uses steam. I'm sure some shop around but steam is definitely the leader and by a large margin. Look at that thread in the archives where the admin asks where everybody gets their games.

That's all cool, but Steam's monopoly has the following drawbacks:
a) what if Valve refuses to release the game on Steam (rarely happens to bigger publishers but all the time to indie devs)? They're screwed and it's not
b) what if Newell&Co. decide to sell Valve to some company with different principles? A lot of consumers and publishers might get screwed in the process.
c) Valve is not afraid to sell their games on Steam only, I don't see why other publishers should not be doing the same if they wish so

Ultimately diversification works for everybody, refusing to buy games outside of Steam seems very shortsighted to me.

 

[StuBurns]

I'm actually surprised that Activision hasn't done this with the Battle.net store as well. Blizzard games are already sold exclusively through their store. 10s of millions of people use battle.net between WoW, Starcraft II, and soon Diablo 3. I am sure they could leverage that to start a serious DD competitor to Steam a lot better than anything EA is capable of doing.

A leak from last year suggests they are going to.

 

[venne]

Valve = publically owned, traditionally consumer-friendly

EA = SHAREHOLDERS ÜBER ALLES

I wonder how this is going to work out!

Valve is private, EA is public.

 

[Vormund]

Pulled from Steam and pulled from my to-buy list. Well done EA.

Yep same. Was going to buy soonish. Guess I'm not buying at all now then.

 

[sflufan]

and the beginniglng of Steam competition begins. Gamestop and EA, as well as MS taking Valve on. I expect well see more of this over the next year.

isn't BF3 only on Origin too? no steam version of BF3

We have no evidence currently of Origin exclusivity for BF3. The only title we can confirm as an Origin exclusive is The Old Republic.

 

[evangd007]

I know EA wants people to use Origin, but to pull your titles from the service that gives it the most exposure? Dumb move.

 

[leadbelly]

EA publishes Valve titles, who doesn't allow their titles on...ANY OTHER DIGITAL DISTRIBUTOR.

Oh... Actually, I don't think they publish games for Valve any more. Portal 2 was published by Valve on all platforms.

You'll notice the EA logo isn't on it at all. It is the same will all platforms. This could have something to do with it actually. At least it may have some part in it.

 

[Meus Renaissance]

Once again, the main point of contention (at least for me) is NOT that EA pulled Crysis 2 from Steam at all. This would be a non-issue if it were pulled from Steam and made an Origin exclusive -- no one should have any arguments about that as it is exactly what Valve does with its own titles. The main point of contention (for most people I hope) is that the game is available for all other DD outlets EXCEPT for Steam.

Which dismisses the theory that they are using Origin as a trojan-horse. Strange situation. Perhaps they want to garner the reaction of the fans first; this a test run?

 

[Pimpbaa]

Sooo...has anyone actually tried Origin yet? I'm a steam fanboy, but I want to know why Origin sucks other than the fact that it's EA.

 

[Nirolak]

Oh... Actually I don't think they publish games for Valve any more. Portal 2 was published by Valve on all platforms.

You'll notice the EA logo isn't on it at all. It is the same will all platforms. This could have something to do with it actually. At least it may have some part in it.
http://www.gamersmint.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/28clzet.jpg[img][/QUOTE]
EA never published Valve games.

They're their distributor.

They were still their distributor for Portal 2 actually, which is why the NPD results list it as an EA game, even though they only manufactured discs and shipped it to stores.

 

[(._.)]

I'm actually surprised that Activision hasn't done this with the Battle.net store as well. Blizzard games are already sold exclusively through their store. 10s of millions of people use battle.net between WoW, Starcraft II, and soon Diablo 3. I am sure they could leverage that to start a serious DD competitor to Steam a lot better than anything EA is capable of doing.

I think you give them too much credit. I think starting up a service to attract a diverse and large customer base that is already content with Steam would take a ton of work. It is all about profit and Steam is making most of what profit can be made through DD.

 

[epmode]

Sooo...has anyone actually tried Origin yet? I'm a steam fanboy, but I want to know why Origin sucks other than the fact that it's EA.

It's not bad but it's very clearly inferior to Steam. And EA's Origin TOS is creepy.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

If its true and EA is planning to withhold duture titles from Steam, oh well. I will buy RO2 instead of both RO2 and BF3 and be content. ME3? Oh well. I dont have a problem using Battlenet for a few reasons one of which Blizzards games have never been sold elsewhere digitally ( WoW was on D2D ) whereas EA games have been on Steam for 2+ years. But I'm not mad. There are more than enough games coming to PC to fullfill my enjoyment.

 

[gillty]

The Steam love is one of pure emotional attachment.

No, not really.

I like unified community, logically Steam being the first successful DD service they win on that part. Hot Pursuit PC was a total failure without people to use Autolog with.

I like a unified library that my games are always available on. EA DM basically stole my old copy of BF2 special forces, and I'll never go back.

 

[Corto]

That's all cool, but Steam's monopoly has the following drawbacks:
a) what if Valve refuses to release the game on Steam (rarely happens to bigger publishers but all the time to indie devs)? They're screwed and it's not
b) what if Newell&Co. decide to sell Valve to some company with different principles? A lot of consumers and publishers might get screwed in the process.
c) Valve is not afraid to sell their games on Steam only, I don't see why other publishers should not be doing the same if they wish so

Ultimately diversification works for everybody, refusing to buy games outside of Steam seems very shortsighted to me.

Steam is far from a monopoly. There are several DD competitor services on PC.

 

[Makoto]

Oh... Actually I don't think they publish games for Valve any more. Portal 2 was published by Valve on all platforms.

You'll notice the EA logo isn't on it at all. It is the same will all platforms. This could have something to do with it actually. At least it may have some part in it.
http://www.platformnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Portal2_EApcPFTfront-386x525.png[img][/QUOTE]
This is not new. You won't find the EA logo on Valve games as early as Left 4 Dead. This won't change the partnership between EA and Valve.

 

[coopolon]

Oh... Actually, I don't think they publish games for Valve any more. Portal 2 was published by Valve on all platforms.

You'll notice the EA logo isn't on it at all. It is the same will all platforms. This could have something to do with it actually. At least it may have some part in it.

No, EA distributed Portal 2 at retail via the EA partners thing. In fact, there were rumors that the reason the potato sack had no real effect on the Portal 2 release on PC was because of an agreement with EA.

 

[Vandiger]

I don't really care where I buy the games as long as there is no invasive DRM and I can get the games at a decent price. If Valve likes to keep their games exclusive every other publisher has that right as well. If EA thinks they can sell $60 PC games, well good luck with that...

 

[szaromir]

If its true and EA is planning to withhold duture titles from Steam, oh well. I will buy RO2 instead of both RO2 and BF3 and be content. ME3? Oh well. I dont have a problem using Battlenet for a few reasons one of which Blizzards games have never been sold elsewhere digitally ( WoW was on D2D ) whereas EA games have been on Steam for 2+ years. But I'm not mad. There are more than enough games coming to PC to fullfill my enjoyment.

BF3, ME3 etc. are still coming to PC.

 

[leadbelly]

EA never published Valve games.

They're their distributor.

They were still their distributor for Portal 2 actually, which is why the NPD results list it as an EA game, even though they only manufactured discs and shipped it to stores.

Didn't they publish Half-Life 2? No?

 

[f0rk]

Does Origin have the same 'download whenever, wherever as much as you want' so Steam? If so I'd be willing to give it a try once.
Not thrilled about the BF3 price though. £40, really?

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Ha how funny I was planning on picking Crysis 2 up this summer. Guess not.
I only go steam or retail. BF3 will force my hand but thankfully there is still amazon for that kind of thing.

 

[leadbelly]

This is not new. You won't find the EA logo on Valve games as early as Left 4 Dead. This won't change the partnership between EA and Valve.

Well, I haven't bought a box copy of a Valve game since HL1. It's all been downloaded.

 

[x3sphere]

Didn't they publish Half-Life 2? No?

I believe Vivendi published HL2 retail.