GameStop: "geen Battlefield 3 op Steam"

Volgens game-retail gigant GameStop gaat EA Battlefield 3 niet op Steam verkopen. Financieel onderzoeksbureau Baird sprak met de GameStop-bazen en kwam tot de volgende conclusie in hun raport: "The upcoming EA title Battlefield 3 will be sold as a download through GameStop, but not through Steam."

Vorige week konden we ook al lezen dat Battlefield 3 niet op de lijst stond met digitale retailers. Volgens die lijst verschijnt Battlefield 3 op het eigen distributie-platform Origin en op Direct2Drive en GamersGate. Nu kunnen we de GameStop dus ook toevoegen aan die lijst.

Eeder verdween Crysis 2 uit de Steam Store, toen kwam EA met de volgende uitleg: "Any retailer can sell our games, but we take direct responsibility for providing patches, updates, additional content and other services to our players. You are connecting to our servers, and we want to establish an ongoing relationship with you, to continue to give you the best possible gaming experience. This works well for our partnership with GameStop, Amazon and other online retailers. Unfortunately, if we're not allowed to manage this experience directly and establish a relationship with you, it disrupts our ability to provide the support you expect and deserve. At present, there is only one download service that will not allow this relationship. This is not our choice, and unfortunately it is their customer base that is most impacted by this decision. We are working diligently to find a mutually agreeable solution."

Volgens EA is dus Steam niet geschikt voor de perfecte gaming-ervaring en zal Battlefield 3 om die reden niet op Steam verschijnen.