Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Valve Wants EA Games Back On Steam
Valve head Gabe Newell says he wants to convince EA that keeping its titles on Steam is a smart move. Will EA listen?
If you're a PC gamer, chances are you use Steam as your gaming hub. With built-in community tools, great sales, and automatic game patches, it's everything that the failed Games For Windows platform is was supposed to be and more. But with Electronic Arts launching its own digital distribution platform, Origin, the company has already removed some titles off of Steam and stated that its biggest PC title in years, Battlefield 3, won't be coming to Steam. Many believe EA is simply doing this to promote Origin, but the company insists other issues are causing the exodus, and that if Valve made a few changes the games would return to Steam: "We are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with consumers," said an EA spokesperson on the company's forums.
Speaking to Develop, Gabe Newell admitted that there are "a whole complicated set of issues" as to why EA is backing away from Steam, but also said, "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."
"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 continued. "It's our duty to demonstrate that to them. We don't have a natural right to publish their games…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."
Hopefully they can get this mess ironed out before Battlefield 3 launches on October 25.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
