Battlefield 3 may not come to Steam, according to EA's list

by Jessica Conditt on Jul 10th 2011 1:30PM

EA has posted a list of the digital retailers expected to carry Battlefield 3, and it appears one high-profile service hasn't made the cut. We'll give you a hint: It's recently been involved in a small-scale scandal with EA, and it rhymes with "Scream."

Steam, which recently removed (and reinstalled) a bevy of EA games from its site due to supposed contractual infringement, is not listed among Battlefield 3's digital retailers. EA's new digital service, Origin, is mentioned first, but so are other online distribution sites such as Direct2Drive and GamersGate. EA has said it will offer games on all download sites and that Origin is not an attempt to compete with Steam, which has over 30 million unique users.

EA Support describes its complicated back-door relationship with third-party download sites, mentioning one distributor in a specifically vague manner: "When a download service forbids publishers from contacting players with patches, new levels, items and other services - it disrupts our ability to provide the ongoing support players expect from us. At present, this is the case with only one download service. While EA offers its entire portfolio to this site, they have elected to not post many of our games. We hope to find a mutually agreeable solution to this issue soon."

We have contacted EA for more information on Battlefield 3's online availability.

[Thanks, Jake!]

Source: Battlefield 3 Digital Retailers

Tags: battlefield-3, digital-distribution, EA, microsoft, pc, playstation, ps3, scandalous, Steam, xbox

Reader Comments (161)

Kind of already expected this so I pre-ordered a physical copy. If I don't buy it retail, then Direct 2 Drive is a good place to go.

and the reason why it won't be on Steam is because EA wants full control of the game, its DLC, and ads.

@xiLeShadow

AHHH...but what did EA said just a couple of days ago??? " we don´t want to compete against steam" ......suuuuureeeeee.....too bad i think the only ones who are going to lose are the users, I don´t think people are going to leave steam that easy.........the big losers here are going to be the users and EA when they see how good they sell their Origin only games.......

@xiLeShadow

A retail purchase isn't that big of a deal over digital to me, but if Origin is part of the installation process, it's a definite no-sale. Steam is a solid platform from a company I feel reasonably comfortable giving my personal information, EA can't hope to compete in that regard.

@freaparn
I asked a support person at EA the other day, and they said you wouldn't have to use Origin for retail copies, hopefully that is the case.

@Hunter141072

What origin only games? If you read the article it clearly says that it will be available across several download services.

@xiLeShadow

I'm buying a physical copy (first game since Fallout 3, I really wanted that bobble head), and if Origin is required I'll be cracking it.

Sorry EA I want nothing to do with yet another half baked service that is an annoying hassle, I'm looking at you GFWL.

@Hunter141072

funny how everyone seems to think that EA is the only big company out to make money in this deal. what about Valve? did Gabe not come out and say he really didn't like the Playstation 3? and yet a few years later he's putting Steam on it and supporting it full now. it's funny how money has an affect on your beliefs. and if EA has offered their library to Steam to sell their games and Steam only puts a few on their service, do you blame EA for starting their own digital store with their entire library? Valve is way too big now to be immune to the corporate dogma.

@freaparn
Origin or not... in BC:BF2 (and any other EA game) you need to login with your EA account anyway (even if you get it on Steam) so they'll have your precious info anyway.
What Origin brings is:
1) cross-game friend list (right now each EA game has a separate friend list, which is really annoying)
2) the option to download the game anytime (like EA downloader before it but much better)

@freaparn

You know I'm pretty sure you have a Walmart or Gamestop a few blocks from your house. Or you could give Amazon a try. Once you install it drag the shortcut into Steam and you'll never know the difference.

Also buying a physical copy and getting a custom built PC to play this game

@skbkoy65

That's dedication.

@skbkoy65

I am too. Which GPU are you going to get?

@CLOUD9 Bang for buck wise, the AMD Radeon 6870 might be the best. I got one myself and it can do BF:BC2 at max settings quite smoothly, so I assume BF3 will be okay :]

I just ordered a Radeon 6950 from Walmart.com.
Going to flash it to the 6970.

@StrangeObjective - BF3 is going to be much more graphically intensive than BFBC2.

I got a GTX 580 just to be safe (for $330, by luck).

My body is ready.

@GordoJones88 I also got the 6950 with my new build. Don't do the full flash to 6970, just unlock the shaders and overclock

Here's the long version
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1575238

@GordoJones88
hey im pretty sure that you can only flash or even mod the early models of the 6950s, thats when they were not fully treated/ Lasercut.

Might want to make sure first before you disappointed.

Orgin: As "Non Competitive" as Pre-WWI Europe.

@agneumeyer

Too soon.

@agneumeyer

This Origin system is a repeat of the Xbox Live clusterf*ck from 6 years ago.

Unlike every other publisher, EA refused to join XBox Live, because Microsoft wouldn't allow them to spam the shit out of every user, or to shut down the multiplayer servers every 2 years to force users to upgrade to the next game.

So they negotiated a deal with Microsoft where they could set up their own, separate, inferior service outside of XBox Live. They require you to maintain a separate EA login ID, and the quality of network play is worse by all accounts.

Now they won't publish on Steam because Valve is too consumer-friendly for them, and they have to set up their own service with separate logins, friends lists, and privacy policies.

I'm real curious to see how this plays out with PC-only The Old Republic. There are two types of gamers out there:

1. Those who are so excited to play The Old Republic, that they will go along with forced adoption of Origin to play it.

2. Those who will wait until The Old Republic is available on Steam to give it a try.

EA thinks that we are all of type 1, but I think they will be surprised how many of us are type 2.

@agneumeyer Damn it, I spelled Origin wrong.

@copa

how about:

3) those who think The Old Republic just might not be all that good and that BioWare has been taking on too many projects since they were bought out by EA, henceforth seeing a decline in the quality of their offerings (see: Dragon Age II)

and

4) those who can't stand MMO's in all shapes, styles, and sizes, and just want BioWare to focus on what they do best...and make a god damned Jade Empire sequel ffs.

Valve needs to get Cave Johnson over here to talk some sense into those EA Executives, or a gift basket of combustible lemons might do the trick as well.

@kgoo867 Sorry, I know that was offensive. Maybe in a couple of more years.

@copa now that EA needs XBL more than XBL needs them I really wish Microsoft would renegotiate that deal. It is useless.

As long as you don;t have to use Origin even if you buy the physical copy, I will be getting it. And then adding a "non-steam game" to my steam list :P

@poopdedoop

Ever play BFBC2? Even on steam, to play online you have to log in with a registered EA account. Also: try playing a current gen blizzard game without battle.net

@Clypsis

Origin =/= EA Account though.

@poopdedoop I wouldn't mind buying physical copies of games but the problem with that is with a PC, one shouldn't have to keep putting in the disc in order to play it. I hate that. A few of my games require of that like Dreamfall and Crysis (before I decided to buy Crysis from Steam). But man I had to find crack exes for the remainder of my games in order to not use the physical disc.

@ComedyInK
Are you sure? Because I just got an email from EA saying that all EA accounts can be used to login on Origin.

@Clypsis Yes i know you need an EA account to play online. That's not what I'm saying though. I just don't want to HAVE to use Origin to play it, It should be a standalone install.

@ComedyInK

Wrong. EA accounts are now Origin accounts. Ever since they said that, 've had a feeling that Origin would be required for BF3. Just waiting on a confirmation.

@poopdedoop
You can add origin games to your non steam games list. I do it all the time so I have all my games on steam.

@Anciegher The whole idea though is that I don't want to be forced to have two game clients running all the time to be able to play my games. I like having steam running because all my games can be accessed through it and I have an extensive friends list. I don't want to have to run Origin just to play one game. I'd rather have the game installed and run though an exe instead of having to start the game with a seperate client running. Get what I'm saying?

@poopdedoop
Totally understand what you're saying, but according to the comment above yours you can add Origin games to your Non-Steam Games in Steam. So you shouldn't need Origin open to launch them. Just like you can launch Steam games without Steam open. They will hit the service to authenticate and at some point you'll have to login but the premise is there. Unless of course EA forces you to have Origin open >< anyways it looks like I'll be waiting till the last day to preorder in the hopes that it comes to Steam... I'd really hate to see this be the reason why CoD beats BF again and it not be based on the game itself.

Meh. It just gives me a reason to not buy it. I already have a huge backlog to wade through because of the summer sales

Is this really a surprise?

oh here we go.. let the madness begin

@Castiel

Madness?

@killerjuice
THIS IS SPARTA! (Kicked in hole)

@Castiel

You're not allowed to both set up and use that joke.

Big mistake

@Peril This will lower sales as EA is trying to knock out COD this year.

WHAT?!?

Damn, thats a huge kick to the nuts! This is one of the most exciting games coning out this winter for me, and to not be on steam almost makes me want to reconsider... But i'll surely just find a different option (probably retail).

If its an Origins exclusive I won't buy it period. And I'll prob get it through some other means.

Expecting a failed boycott in 3... 2...

@Gibbeynator

There is no boycott needed. There are people who just won't buy the game if they can't get it on Steam. It's actually an auto-inflicted boycott.

@Gibbeynator

Yeah like me. I dont own any non-steam games anymore, i slowly sold my physical copies for Steam versions. lts also a lot cheaper here in Australia to buy games through steam rather than Retail. So no, i won't be purchasing this game, if it's not on Steam. Period.

EA seems intent on killing their sales numbers. It's pure arrogance on the part of the company Execs to think they can launch their own platform by holding their game from the biggest games retailer in the world.

I really do fear that Mass Effect 3 will be held out as well.

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Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3 may not come to Steam, according to EA's list

Reader Comments (161)

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:34PM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:51PM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 2:25PM freaparn said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 3:14PM HungryBear said

Posted: Jul 11th 2011 4:20AM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Jul 11th 2011 9:21AM Sh1fty said

Posted: Jul 11th 2011 9:36AM LexStewther said

Posted: Jul 11th 2011 9:43AM ahac said

Posted: Jul 16th 2011 4:47AM Anticrawl said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:35PM skbkoy65 said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 2:31PM killerjuice said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 4:55PM CLOUD9 said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 6:16PM StrangeObjective said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 7:33PM GordoJones88 said

Posted: Jul 11th 2011 2:15AM BananaBoat said

Posted: Jul 11th 2011 7:27AM dreadful05 said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 2:28AM BellTollsForThee said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:37PM agneumeyer said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 2:56PM kgoo867 said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 3:17PM copa said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 3:47PM agneumeyer said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 4:26PM broken 4th wall said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 6:29PM RX3115 said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 6:29PM agneumeyer said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 6:36PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:38PM poopdedoop said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 2:22PM Clypsis said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 2:47PM ComedyInK said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 2:48PM Dance Mofo said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 3:07PM TRONdll said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 3:21PM poopdedoop said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 3:53PM packy17 said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 6:05PM Anciegher said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 9:04PM poopdedoop said

Posted: Jul 11th 2011 9:02AM Grimbear13 said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:40PM Ramen of Doom said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:41PM Iron Man said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:42PM Castiel said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 2:28PM killerjuice said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 4:43PM Castiel said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 7:03PM ironneko said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:44PM Peril said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 2:42PM Tommy758 said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:44PM Trogdorwhore said

Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:45PM liquidsoap89 said

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Posted: Jul 10th 2011 1:53PM ZTZ said

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