So has anyone ever noticed...

[gothamhunter]

...that you can buy Valve Software games in the Origin store? They're the physical version, but still. You'd think they would be thrown into a fire if they came into contact with EA.

 

[gorcorps]

Hmmm... I guess you didn't know, but Valve has used EA as a publisher/distributor for some of the physical copies of games. At least for The Orange Box

 

[gothamhunter]

Hmmm... I guess you didn't know, but Valve has used EA as a publisher/distributor for some of the physical copies of games. At least for The Orange Box

True...just figured that after all the more recent snafu between them, they'd nix that. I guess all is fair in the physical world

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Valve is the reason EA games got pulled from Steam. Not EA.

EA didn't want to give up such a huge cut of their DLC profits, and since Valve wouldn't cooperate their games got pulled, and we now have Origin.

 

[KaOTiK]

We had Origin before that fiasco took place. Battlefield 3 was what ushered in Origin really.

But yes, Valve is the reason EA games aren't showing up. Valve changed their agreement with publishers so that DLC that is available for a game has to be available to purchase on Steam as well instead of buying from inside the game. Games that came out before this change are grandfathered in. Good example, Mass Effect 1+2 and Dragon Age Origins, both are on Steam but their DLC is not but when you load up the game there is menu to purchase the DLC (which directs you in this instance to the Bioware store). Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age 2 both have the same setup as their previous games and because of that are not on Steam (Dragon Age 2 was on Steam briefly before it was discovered it did it and was removed).

This was also the case with Crysis 2, but Crytek had some DLC deal with Gamespy. But once they were done with the DLC and dropped the game pretty much Crytek put out the Crysis 2 Maximum Edition with all the DLC on Steam.

Realistically, EA could just offer a GOTY type of version with all the DLC for games they have not on Steam and there would be no issue.


My opinion on the whole thing, it does suck that Steam is forcing DLC to be sold through them and I get why publishers are all pissy about it. On the other hand, the DLC being on Steam seems to be the only damn way the shit goes on sale. I don't think I have once seen Bioware's DLC for any of their games on sale (I've wanted to grab one or two for ME2 but not at their $10 LOL price). I also get why Steam wants to offer the DLC as well besides for getting a cut of the money, the consumer has a one stop shop to get all they need for the game instead of having to make an account and/or log into another system to make another purchase. I also get that publishers don't want to share anymore of the money if they don't have too, but at least put the shit on sale for a reasonable price sometimes.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I hated the way the DLC worked in Mass Effect 1 -- you had to register with Bioware and EA, type in a code, download a separate install and run it. A lot of people had problems getting all of that to work.

I can understand Valve not wanting to deal with game DLC like that, since people would blame them for the annoying and buggy mess.

 

[KaOTiK]

I hated the way the DLC worked in Mass Effect 1 -- you had to register with Bioware and EA, type in a code, download a separate install and run it. A lot of people had problems getting all of that to work.

I can understand Valve not wanting to deal with game DLC like that, since people would blame them for the annoying and buggy mess.

Yeah, the Bioware ones are a big pain for a lot of people. You buy Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition and a lot of people had to jump through so many different hoops and do all kinds of funky crap to get all the DLC recognized on your Bioware account to unlock in DAOU (It took me like 30 mins to do and I was one of the luckier ones from what I read lol /facepalm)

 

[Martimus]

Yeah, the Bioware ones are a big pain for a lot of people. You buy Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition and a lot of people had to jump through so many different hoops and do all kinds of funky crap to get all the DLC recognized on your Bioware account to unlock in DAOU (It took me like 30 mins to do and I was one of the luckier ones from what I read lol /facepalm)

It took me over a week, because I bought the game when Dragon Age 2 was released so EA turned off the DA:O authentication server for a week to try to force people to buy the new game. I haven't bought an EA game since.

 

[Dankk]

EA publishes and sells Valve games. Valve sells EA games. I don't see what the concern is.