Steam ToS for developers?
So I'm just curious. I was reading about BF3 and why it's not coming to Steam (instead forcing me to use EA's own delivery system which I've found ... lacking, so far).
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Gamers can pre-order Battlefield 3 at Origin.com as well as over 100 digital retailers worldwide. EA offers games to all major download services. Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. No other download service has adopted these practices.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Does anyone here happen to know what these limitations to "interaction with customers" might be?
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Gamers can pre-order Battlefield 3 at Origin.com as well as over 100 digital retailers worldwide. EA offers games to all major download services. Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. No other download service has adopted these practices.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Does anyone here happen to know what these limitations to "interaction with customers" might be?
Comments
Does it suck that Origin isn't as good as steam? Absolutely. But in the long run I like EA's move and let's not forget.... when Steam first came out it was one of the worst programs ever.
For example, the whole joke with EA and BF and requiring official servers to prevent achievement hacking.. and then valve come along with TF2 and do both achievements and open public server support. One of many examples of why I am, and will for the foreseeable future be a valve fanboy even though I'm not a huge fan of all their games.
Imagine a world in which EA controlled the first digital content distribution system for games.. yikes..
but yeah, I agree, competition can only be a good thing in the long run and will improve all platforms and result in benefits for us gamers.
I do remember Steam being a pile of doo doo as well back in the days, I just find it interesting that EA - after two failed attempts at creating a "Steam Killer" - decides to make a fuzz over how DLCs are distributed. Steam seems to work well enough for a lot of other people, I find it hard to believe they would take such a big financial risk over something like that.
Does it suck that Origin isn't as good as steam? Absolutely. But in the long run I like EA's move and let's not forget.... when Steam first came out it was one of the worst programs ever.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It's got nothing to do with the 'digital monopoly'
EA wanted to take control of DLC away from the steam platform and make people use a 3rd party (origin) to download and manage it. That means Valve can't guarantee the integrity of the game files or patches if something goes wrong. EA refused to compromise and blamed Valve's "restrictive terms of service" as to why they were removed.
Valve is considered the best because they worked at making Steam the best way to download and play your games. If EA even gave 1 millionth of a ###### more about that instead of their shareholders then maybe this whole thing could have been avoided.
EA wanted to take control of DLC away from the steam platform and make people use a 3rd party (origin) to download and manage it. That means Valve can't guarantee the integrity of the game files or patches if something goes wrong. EA refused to compromise and blamed Valve's "restrictive terms of service" as to why they were removed.
Valve is considered the best because they worked at making Steam the best way to download and play your games. If EA even gave 1 millionth of a ###### more about that instead of their shareholders then maybe this whole thing could have been avoided.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, if you download a game over Steam being forced to use a third-party service to manage its DLC is idiotic.
EA have every right to build their own platform, but it's not reasonable to act all reproachful when they're not allowed to sneak it onto a competitor's platform through the back door. In fact, EA's approach actually limits consumer choice because it forces you to interact with Origin regardless of whether or not you want to use another platform to manage your games.
Still, the financial risk of setting up a digital distribution service, with server farms spread out all over the world, support personnel in who knows how many countries...
The share(s) that steam gets is unknown as it's hidden behind NDAs. However, I suspect that it is similar to other digital download stores, as we haven't seen any one gripe about the cost to put their games on steam, where we have seen people griping about the cost to put their games on things like the XBox/PS3 stores.
EA have every right to build their own platform, but it's not reasonable to act all reproachful when they're not allowed to sneak it onto a competitor's platform through the back door. In fact, EA's approach actually limits consumer choice because it forces you to interact with Origin regardless of whether or not you want to use another platform to manage your games.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I just want to say I hate EA as much as the next guy, but I have to ask this: What about NS2 requiring Steam? Let's say NS2 gets sold elsewhere (Desura for example) which requires their client to buy and download the game. At that point, Steam will also need to be installed for the game to even run. How is this different than Origin being needed when you buy a game off Steam?
A honest question. I am not trying to defend EA. Just looking for an answer.
A honest question. I am not trying to defend EA. Just looking for an answer.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It is basically just a matter of policy and how they have set up their store. None of the major online marketplaces actually require you to download their program to make a purchase. It may be required to actually receive the content, but for just purchasing it isn't necessary. So, when you buy a Steamworks title from Desura you don't actually need to download anything from them. They will give you a key and then tell you to redeem it and download it on Steam.
Greenman Gaming does the same thing with Steamworks games, you don't need to download their Capsule program (I've bought 10 games from them and still not had to download it) they just email you the Steam key and send you on your way.
In both these cases if you're just looking to buy a Steam game, you don't actually need anything more than Steam installed. From the sounds of it what EA wanted was Valve to handle distribution of the initial release, and then EA would do everything else through Origin; alternatively Steam would just download Origin and have you download everything directly from EA. Neither of these are as clean as buying Steam games from Desura. They come off as being needlessly complex.
Ah, that makes sense then and was the kind of answer I was looking for. Thanks.