Another EA title pulled from Valve’s platform, US retailer GameStop has suggested EA and DICE’s highly-anticipated shooter Battlefield 3 will not be available on Steam when it’s released in October.
The upcoming EA DICE shooter will be available digitally on other platforms, including Gamestop’s, an unnamed executive at retailer also said.
Financial research firm Baird recently held a meeting with Gamestop’s management, and in its subsequent report says: “The upcoming EA title Battlefield 3 will be sold as a download through GameStop, but not through Steam.” It went on to suggest that publishers were warming to EA’s service. “Given Steam’s dominance – and insistence on users downloading a Steam client application – publishers are likely to be receptive to a competitive alternative,” it added.
In June Crysis 2, another high-profile EA title, was pulled from Steam and later appeared as an ‘Origin exclusive’ on EA’s digital release platform.
The new claims come amid widespread speculation that some future EA games won’t appear on Valve’s network. Electronic Arts recently positioned itself as a Valve rival in the digital PC space, having launched its own Origin service.
David DeMartini, who heads up the operation, made assurances that EA is not inclined to block its games from any distribution platform.
The publisher also claimed that Valve removed Crysis 2 – an EA Partners game – from Steam due to imposed “business terms”.
“This was not an EA decision or the result of any action by EA,” the firm claimed.
EA has for a number of years been the publishing partner for a number of Valve games.
Battlefield 3 is due out on the 28th of October on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
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