
However the Apple iBook app still has these features. I agree with EA in that they are not confined by any "law" that says they have to have their games on Steam other than at the altar of everyone's ease and instant gratification of having everything under one digital roof.Ī great example of a similar practice is from Apple who recently required all reader apps (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc) to remove in-app purchasing as well as buttons that lead out of the app into a browser for purchasing the content online. In the meantime, fans will have to grab certain EA games elsewhere. It's all a bit muddy at the moment, and it's good to know that EA is at least attempting to work out an agreement with Valve. The word "new" is important, because games can apparently use the same DLC distribution system and be grandfathered in, as long as they don't introduce any new downloadable content. Dragon Age 2 (and Crysis 2 before it) sold new content with BioWare Points, and were yanked from the service.

As reported yesterday, the new terms seem to restrict games from being sold if their associated DLC can't be sold directly through Steam. Left unsaid are the exact terms of Steam's new policy. We hope to work out an agreement to keep our games on Steam. Consequently some of our games have been removed by Steam. No other download service has adopted this practice.

Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to sell downloadable content. We suspected as much yesterday when the story broke, but EA senior VP of global e-commerce David DeMartini puts the reasoning in no uncertain terms, even calling Steam's policies "restrictive."Īt EA, we offer our games and content to all major download services including GameStop, Amazon, Direct2Drive and Steam.

EA has confirmed in a statement that Dragon Age 2 was pulled from Steam due to a conflict with Valve's new policy on downloadable content.
