Crysis 2 Pulled from Steam, Now Origin Exclusive (Updated)

By Kevin Parrish
published

EA has pulled Crysis 2 from Steam and now offers the PC game exclusively on its just-(re)launched Origin online store.

Thanks to the keen eyes of numerous Steam users who noticed that Crytek's new FPS is no longer available,  Electronic Arts has reportedly pulled the PC version of Crysis 2 from Valve's digital distribution platform. It now appears on EA's own revamped distribution platform called Origin as an "exclusive title."

Currently Crysis 2 is still up for sale on GamersGate and Direct2Drive, leading to speculation that EA may be shunning Steam specifically. Still, Alice: Madness Returns, which was launched on Tuesday, has yet to appear on Steam, and the publisher already stated last week that BioWare's upcoming MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic would be an Origin exclusive when it launches later this year. A special edition of Battlefield 3 is also slated as an Origin exclusive.

"In the case of Star Wars we're trying to build an audience for Origin," said EA Games president Frank Gibeau. "And it's also an opportunity for us to better manage the downloads and how we bring people over from the beta and that sort of thing. For a lot of reasons it made sense for an MMO, which is a highly complex deployment."

"I think long-term you'll see we believe in reach so we will have other digital retailers for out products because we want to reach as many audiences as possible," he added. "But at the same time if we can use exclusive content or other ideas to help grow our audience then we're going to do that because we're growing a platform."

The company confirmed on Wednesday that it plans to offer more digital titles exclusively on Origin as well as other unique Origin-specific content. Right now EA still has its own special micro-store set up on Steam's platform, offering recently-published titles like Bulletstorm, The Sims 3 Generations, Dragon Age II and many more.

UPDATE: EA said that Crysis 2 was pulled by Steam because of a change in its terms. "It's unfortunate that Steam has removed Crysis 2 from their service," an EA representative clarified. "This was not an EA decision or the result of any action by EA. Steam has imposed a set of business terms for developers hoping to sell content on that service - many of which are not imposed by other online game services. Unfortunately, Crytek has an agreement with another download service which violates the new rules from Steam and resulted in its expulsion of Crysis 2 from Steam. Crysis 2 continues to be available on several other download services including GameStop, Amazon, Origin.com and more." -Thanks Tim!

Kevin Parrish
74 Comments Comment from the forums
  • rad666
    As things stand right now, Mass Effect 3 will be the last EA/BioWare title I buy, partially because of junk like this. The version I buy will be retail if it's an Origin exclusive and not available on Steam.
    Reply
  • icepick314
    uhmmmm....

    Steam does this with Valve titles...

    what's wrong with EA doing same thing Valve is doing?
    Reply
  • nisallik
    It is about time EA started doing this. One of the biggest video game publishers and they've stuck with their mediocre EA Download Manager for such a long time. Though many may hate the idea of SW:TOR, Crysis 2, and other EA games being offered not appearing on Steam... I find it an intelligent move, since just offering the game on Steam costs as much as having Gamestop, Amazon, Wal-Mart, etc. selling it. At least now all digital sales will now be sucked up by the EA corporation. ;p
    Reply
  • HansVonOhain
    They are making the biggest, money making, mistake ever.
    Reply
  • rooket
    Valve/Steam > EA drool.

    I wouldn't ever switch over to a distribution service run by Electronic Arts. That is pure fail.
    Reply
  • restatement3dofted
    Games I might have played, but now won't. Not having to deal with a myriad of Steam clones is enough for me to avoid anything that will force me to sign up for one.

    E: Ugh. Confronted with the harsh reality that a lot of games I genuinely enjoy are published by EA, and are likely to be stuck on Origin, I probably won't be able to avoid it - unless, of course, I decide that I'm content not to play any new title from BioWare, Dice, Epic, etc., or random games like Alice: Madness Returns. Unfortunately, that's not a decision I'd be content with. Time to brace myself for the inevitability of providing another Steam clone with my credit card info, populating and juggling another friends list, and all the other monotony that comes with it. Le sigh.
    Reply
  • zaznet
    It took Valve a long time to develop the user base they have today. EA is shooting themselves in the foot if they go with a new untested and undeployed platform for all their PC digital distributions.

    For the MMO type game it makes sense to go directly to the MMO site for download and hopefully the MMO launcher handles all the updates without having to use something like Steam or Origin for every patch.
    Reply
  • Trialsking
    Crysis 2 not available on Steam? Now I don't have see the $60 price tag for a crap game, oh noes! So much for waiting for a Steam sale to finally play it.
    Reply
  • I really enjoy having a centralized area for all of my PC gaming needs. This ... is ridonculous.
    Reply
  • whysobluepandabear
    Well they just made the biggest mistake of their lives....


    Steam is a very respected and liked among the gaming community. EA is NOT. EA is seriously the evil corporation that they depict in books, movies and anyplace else.


    EA is such a trash, POS company. I can't wait until I see their stocks plummet from the losses they'll get from this.
    Reply