Valve Wants EA's Games Back on Steam
Gabe Newell is trying to get EA to see that Steam is a good thing.
Gabe Newell and the gang over at Valve Software want Electronic Arts to return to Steam. This shouldn't be a surprise given that EA holds the rights to a good number of money-making IPs including Battlefield, Mass Effect, Need for Speed, The Sims and Crysis.
In recent months, digital EA titles began disappearing from Steam. There has been speculation that EA wanted to sell DLC directly to gamers which isn't allowed on Valve's platform. Typically DLC is hosted on Steam and Valve receives a revenue cut.
But by EA removing its PC games, DLC, and shifting over to its own competing distribution platform, Origin, Valve will miss out on a whole lot of money. And while a good number of EA games still reside on Valve's Steam distribution platform, hot upcoming digital releases including Battlefield 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic will be Origin exclusives. Naturally, Gabe Newell wants to do what he can to keep EA's business and steady cash flow.
During an interview with Develop, Newell admitted that Valve's relationship with EA, although complicated, is reconcilable.
"I don’t think Valve can pick just one thing and think the issue would go away if we fixed that," he said in an upcoming issue. "We have to show EA it’s a smart decision to have EA games on Steam, and we’re going to try to show them that."
When asked if customers should expect more games to be removed from Steam, Newell said that companies have to earn the right to install content on their customers' PCs on a regular basis.
"The same thing is true of Steam," he said. "We have to prove we are creating value on an ongoing basis, whether it’s to EA or Ubisoft or whoever. We really want to show there’s a lot of value having EA titles on Steam. We want EA’s games on Steam and we have to show them that’s a smart thing to do."
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But if EA is intent on publishing DLC for its PC games outside Steam, then there's a good chance we'll see even fewer new releases on Valve's platform in the coming months. Still, Newell seems optimistic.
"I think at the end of the day we’re going to prove to Electronic Arts they have happier customers, a higher quality service, and will make more money if they have their titles on Steam," he said. "It’s our duty to demonstrate that to them. We don’t have a natural right to publish their games."
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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giovanni86 Steam overall is well known in the PC community. Love it or hate it, its the best out there. I feel as if steam should have every known PC game ever made on there. Well that's what i want in the future, every PC game ever released on it. I can dream right =DReply -
nisallik Hopefully EA can work out something with Steam to make it work and maybe something they finally come to agreement will hopefully decrease the cuts Steam take from DLC. Which means more money for the developers that make them. ;pReply -
alyon I wonder how large large of a fee it is to have games on steam. I'm guessing they probably just charge an upfront fee then a servicing fee for everything after than.Reply -
JasonAkkerman Markon101I won't buy anymore of EA's games if they don't come back to Steam.I wish I could say this too, but I really want to play Battlefield 3.Reply -
irish_adam Markon101I won't buy anymore of EA's games if they don't come back to Steam.Reply
Yeah tbh i'm too lazy to sign up and install another client, especially from EA -
If a game isn't on Steam then I don't know about it... and the company will not get my money for it :)Reply
Except for SW: TOR of course! -
restatement3dofted I'd like to see EA games return to Steam, as I absolutely refuse to use EA's Origin service - when it was first released, it wouldn't allow me to install the client on my storage drive. Fastest way to guarantee that I won't use your product: try to force me to install it (and all of its associated programs) on my SSD. If that's been fixed, I'll consider it, but until then, all they get from me is a middle finger.Reply -
guardianangel42 Markon101I won't buy anymore of EA's games if they don't come back to Steam.Reply
I highly doubt that. Unless all you play is Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed, too many good games come out of EA for you to just abandon them over this.
ME3, BF3, Madden, and more come out of that studio.
At least for me I could never go without ME3, ever. Good thing I'm buying it for Xbox though, he he.
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hoofhearted SC2 (Blizzard) wasn't on Steam. Maybe there should be an "open standard" developed as a collective among these companies that addresses the issue of original title, patches, DLC, release date, encryption, portability to another PC, protection, etc. The Steam Client excels in all of these areas, so I see Valve owning the bearshare of this.Reply