David DeMartini, head of EA's Origin digital download platform, has spoken of 'conflict' between it and Valve's Steam service.
"Crysis was taken down because the DLC was not available through Steam; it was available through [Direct2Drive]," said DeMartini, clarifying the circumstances behind the sudden and unexpected removal of Crysis 2 from Valve's digital download service last month. The publisher said at the time that it was Steam's decision to remove the game, not its own.
"That would, I guess, be a situation where two partners didn't see eye to eye, and by their choice, they were going to take that product down because they were insisting that the DLC be available through Steam," he told Gamasutra.
"We believe in absolute freedom of choice to allow customers to buy through whatever retail outlet... as long as they're buying an EA game, we're delighted," said DeMartini.
"We feel like if you buy the product with Origin, where we're going on a long-term basis is we'll integrate some of the Origin feature set into many of our highest-profile IP... but by all means if your preferred retailer is Best Buy or Direct2Drive or Impulse or Steam or Amazon... we're going to make our product available to you."
While he emphasises his repect for Steam, DeMartini goes on to talk of conflicts between the services of late.
"I've worked with [Valve] for five years. They're really smart, they've done a great job with Steam, and I just find it interesting that some of the ways they've built their business are specifically some of the areas of conflict between us on a going forward basis," he said, adding, "I have mad respect for them as game makers and people ... and there are times in any relationship that you find yourself in conflict."
He goes on: "Occasionally, you just both feel very strongly about a position that you believe in, and that doesn't mean you've lost any respect for each other -- it's fundamentally you don't agree on how a certain thing should be handled.
"In this particular case, we feel incredibly strongly about our responsibility on a going-forward basis as it relates to our own IP."
Comments
12 comments so far...
Drusus on 6 Jul '11 said:
We like the way Steam does business for us, the consumer. Your conflicts mean nothing to me, I found a digital service I like and I don't much fancy having every publishers inferior version of it on my system. I've spent hundreds on Steam I'll continue to do so, they beat you to the punch, don't be sore, think of the consumer and in six months when you've given up on it I'll be sure to grab your games on Steam. q
Barca Azul on 6 Jul '11 said:
The more digital choice the better if its the future, otherwise there is no competition.the better if its the future, otherwise there is no competition.
almanac2015 on 6 Jul '11 said:
Except the freedom to buy DLC on Steam?
weejocky on 7 Jul '11 said:
What is the point in Origin? I mean it is damn near identical to the old EADM which was and is a laughable service.
At the very least you would think that coming direct from the publisher that they could remove the retail costs from the price but no, instead they just push it even higher. Anyone who uses Origin over Steam is just foolish.
LiqzZ on 7 Jul '11 said:
If all of the digital distributor's games were packaged into one peice of software then i'd agree... but they're not, so all it is, is a pain in the arse.
solamon77 on 7 Jul '11 said:
That's exactly what I took from this as well. If they believe in absolute freedom to buy wherever, then why is the DLC not available on Steam? Surely it wasn't Valve's choice not to carry the DLC. And what about Alice: Madness Returns? Why did that disappear and then return so suddenly?
agentxnofx on 7 Jul '11 said:
This is absolutely stupid that they'd release the game on steam and then turn around and not make the DLC available there as well. I see where Valve is going with this one, in the end they're just messing around with peoples rights to shop where they want, and in this case they chose steam for the game, likely they would've chosen steam for DLC if EA wasn't taking money for exclusivity.
nathar on 7 Jul '11 said:
Sadly the worst ones for doing this are Games for Windows - i have a lot of steam games missing DLC because its only available via GFW marketplace. Good on Steam for refusing to handle games that arent releasing their DLC through Steam as well. This makes me happy.
ricflair on 7 Jul '11 said:
For me the problem with EA's store as opposed to Steam is that compared to Valve, EA make loads of games - it seems a much bigger conflict of interest than Valve selling the one (or less!) game they release a year via Steam. I'm guessing EA won't be publishing any more of Valve's stuff then.
The_KFD_Case on 7 Jul '11 said:
I have been critical of Valve's Steam in the past, yet I will give them this: At least with them I feel like I, as a paying customer, am treated with some respect. While I still prefer retail copies of games, and generally won't buy a game on Steam unless it's one of their amazingly ridiculous sales at low prices (their standard prices are higher than retail in many cases!), at least they inform me which games come with third party DRM. They also allow me to be more my own master thanks to the offline gaming function. Valve/Steam has some very slick salesmanship psychology going on, yet unlike EA and other publishers, I don't feel like Valve/Steam pushes it in my face to the point of choking, and they have not, to my current knowledge, ever stabbed me in the back or screwed me over on a legal purchase. (I'm looking at you EA and Crysis.)
The short of the long is this: I trust Valve/Steam enough to want to do business with them online from time to time. I don't feel that way about EA.
TheKraige on 7 Jul '11 said:
Thar's just what I was thinking as I read that part. I mean seriously they just want people to give money to them and cut out the middle man so they're trying to muscle out Steam. But it's the best service out there right now so they just need to stop with their greed.
Obscure_Metaphor on 7 Jul '11 said:
im not interested in a single publisher platform. valve did it to start with, but it only took off when it went multi publisher. why do EA think going the other way will interest me?
they actually lost a sale from me by doing this, i was ready to buy crysis 2 on steam, but im not gonna buy anything on origin, it'll probably die soon, and then i lose my game.