EA: Valve removed Steam Dragon Age 2

By Robert Purchese Published 28 July, 2011

"Restrictive terms of service" to blame.

EA did not remove Dragon Age 2 from Steam - Valve did.

EA's David DeMartini, senior vice president of global e-commerce, said Dragon Age 2 had fallen foul of "restrictive terms of service" on Steam.

"At EA, we offer our games and content to all major download services including GameStop, Amazon, Direct2Drive and Steam," said DeMartini in a statement provided to Eurogamer.

"Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to sell downloadable content.

"No other download service has adopted this practice," he added. "Consequently some of our games have been removed by Steam.

"We hope to work out an agreement to keep our games on Steam."

Dragon Age 2 disappeared from Steam at the same time the game's Legacy DLC was released. Dragon Age 2 sells additional content through an in-game store and it's this, we presume, that violated Steam's rules.

The PC and Xbox 360 versions of the Legacy DLC can be bought and downloaded now. The slightly delayed PS3 version of the Legacy DLC was added to the PlayStation Store this morning and is available now.

Legacy offers new areas outside of Kirkwall and Sundermount to explore, including a prison established by those Blight-beaters the Grey Wardens. The Legacy story delves into Dragon Age 2 hero Hawke's lineage. The Legacy loot includes a tasty class-specific weapon.

EA's Crysis 2 was removed from Steam for violating similar rules. Neither game's Steam disappearance has anything to do with EA's Origin digital store push, apparently.

Legacy.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (58) Latest comment 10 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Sharzam #1 10 months ago

    Summary:

    Its just one big cat fight between Valve and EA.

  • JoeGBallad #2 10 months ago

    I leave it to Karen...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoZ7JXkv6_o

  • jetsetwillie #3 10 months ago

    so its steam thats EVIL!!!! thats it im boycotting Steam today

  • Vitor #4 10 months ago

    @Sharzam And EA is getting all the flak which, for once, I think is a little unfair.

    Sure, limiting BF3 and SW:TOR to Origin only is not a consumer friendly (or particularly smart) move but, Valve seem to be equally as dick-ish in this as EA.

  • BillMurray #5 10 months ago

    I wish these two would just kiss and make up.

  • MrFlump #6 10 months ago

    Its more likely that valve use a portion of the profits they make from each sale to help support bandwidth and their servers for Steam and keep the back end stuff like chat etc working. So if they are providing the download service to provide the main game and then being denied something via a method EA are using for DLC and its stated in the contract when EA signed up to the service, they're welcome to cut them off.

    EA would have read the T&C when they started selling on Steam, so to be honest Valve are exercising their right to terminate for a breach in contract. Shitty move, but they're well within their rights.

  • TeeHee #7 10 months ago



    But no other publisher/dev has had to remove their games...

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #8 10 months ago

    I can't shake a sneaking suspicion that EA may be doing this on purpose. Or, at least, not trying too hard to fit in.

  • Subdominator #9 10 months ago

    It's all about their new rules. When they started free to play games they asked that any DLC for any game released on their platform has to be sold through Steam as well. So that publishers don't release free games on Steam (leaving them with all the traffic and support) and then cash in by selling DLC on their own websites. So whenever a DLC comes out that is not on Steam the game will be kicked from Steam.

    However I find it ridiculous that EA is concerned about they way Steam handles things when they have rules in their own download service Origin that state "We take away all you ever bought or registered if you fail to login to our service for two years." So basically if you switch from PC to console for a couple of years and come back to PC you'll find that EA has deleted everything you ever owned.

    The removal of games on Steam doesn't hurt anyone but the publisher. If you bought it you will be able to download the game forever from Steam, it's just removed for new buyers.

  • MR.sugar #10 10 months ago

    Valve has implemented system for in-game stores to sell DLCs or make a shop like MannCo in Team Fortress 2. No wonder Valve removed the game when EA implemented their own system right into the game... It should go through the SteamWorks, not another system EA implemented there to take away Valve's revenue. EA jsut wants more money! Since today, I boycott EA.

  • Vistrix #11 10 months ago

    Why aren't any other publishers having these kind of problems on Steam?

    Strangely, EA seem to be the only one...

  • MrFlump #12 10 months ago

    @Teehee no other publisher is likely breaking the Steam terms of service with the way they are handling DLC or I presume Valve would be taking the same steps. They are in fairness probably being slightly stricter on EA since Origin is coming along.

  • CopyCat #13 10 months ago

    "But no other publisher/dev has had to remove their games... "

    True, but on the other side apparently no other digital download store has problems with EA and removes their games, except steam.
    Hard to know who's to blame without knowing the background.

  • darkmorgado #14 10 months ago

    This all sounds like a very handy excuse for EA to remove its games from STEAM and plonk them on Origin.

  • Artemus #15 10 months ago

    Nothing but an EA stunt all this. Remove their games, get Origin in the headlines and make Steam look bad.

  • roquey Verified Lead Quality Assurance Tester and Compliance Specialist, Universally Speaking #16 10 months ago

    I Think EA want to shift the blame for their stupid business decisions. Making their sales numbers look better because with the tables it normally doesnt include steam. and most of those players are now going to buy the disc and link it into steam anyway.

  • ZizouFC #17 10 months ago

    Where is the Dragon Age II DLC review??

  • jumpdeveraux #18 10 months ago

    Financially the pain will be felt more by EA than Valve for this.

    I am glad Valve actively enforcing their TOS especially with a large publisher. The publishers interest is to maximise their return and minimise the return Valve makes yet keeping the game purchasable by the large audience attached to Steam.

    (In a way it's similar to Apple enforcing rules around in-app purchases. They have an enviable community that publishers want to sell into and rightly Apple charges them for the privilege to do so (and the billing/support infrastructure Apple provides). If Valve/Apple impose such onerous terms that many publishers turn away then I'm sure they'll relax their terms.

  • MrChuckles #19 10 months ago

    All publishers have this problem with Steam...

    In short, if you sell the base game on Steam, then Steam say you MUST sell all DLCs on Steam so they can keep gaining the revenues for as long as you support the game. I don't know whether i think that is a fair deal for Steam or them trying to claw extra money from the Publisher

    I guess it does seem a bit harsh that if you create a DLC a year after release you can't release it yourself, you HAVE to put it through Steam or they remove your game. Anyway, that is what is happening here.

  • booner #20 10 months ago

    Well EA is getting a lot of free publicity out of this, by creating these problems...each of their games gets advertised everywhere as available on Origin..... sneaky?

    I prefer Steam and don't want multiple logins, friends lists etc. Leave it up on steam and origin - let the customer decide if you have any sense?

  • arcam #21 10 months ago

    We are we all still discussing the who/what/whys? It's pretty clear what the situation is now.

    It's also a bit silly to think EA are doing this just as an excuse to remove their games from Steam. Firstly because if they wanted to they'd just stop selling on Steam - they don't need an excuse - and secondly because it's not hard to see why EA would want to sell their DLC themselves exclusively. In other words, it's just business.

    However it's clear that EA aren't gonna stop offering in-game DLC anytime soon, so I think it's safe to assume taht EA games will no longer be on Steam. We'll just have to accept that, just like we do with Blizzard. I like Steam a lot, but I honestly don't think it's that big of a deal

  • FutileResistor #22 10 months ago

    This is no different than Apple's policy on selling content or subscriptions on the iphone/ipad. All in-game content has to go through the appstore or Steam because they want their cut.

    I don't like it but I can understand it from Apple and Valve's point of view. Why let another company sell their own content through your store if you don't get a cut.

    Apple were even more restrictive to start with as one of their requirements was that devs and newspaper/magazine publishers were not allowed to sell subscriptions or additional content for cheaper than on the itunes appstore. Which is stunning in it's restrictiveness really. They had to back down because there was a huge outcry.

    On the PC this could be resolved if other digital platforms without these restrictive practices were able to challenge steam and that could happen over time. For now steam is incredibly dominant. In the long term my money is on Microsoft offering a appstore pre-installed on windows becoming the major competitor to Steam.

  • arcam #23 10 months ago

    On the PC this could be resolved if other digital platforms without these restrictive practices were able to challenge steam and that could happen over time.

    Exactly, this is something that can be used by other digital retailers to distinguish themselves and offer a more publisher-friendly deal than Steam does. A bit of competition is a good thing.

  • jetsetwillie #24 10 months ago

    maybe Valve should let EA sell games like Portal 2 and L4D through EA Origins. then its fair for everyone

  • cw- #25 10 months ago

    I guess it does seem a bit harsh that if you create a DLC a year after release you can't release it yourself, you HAVE to put it through Steam or they remove your game. Anyway, that is what is happening here.

    It's not harsh at all, the DLC can still be sold elsewhere, it just HAS to be on Steam as well

  • dingo75 #26 10 months ago

    I would like to have all DLC of games I bought on Steam to be available there as well for 3 reasons:

    1. I don't want to deal with Bioware points etc. buying them via giving them my cc details or getting some card in a shop.
    Steam already has my details so it's ok

    2. DLC is often part of the Steam sales and therefore much cheaper + harder to miss than some obscure Bioware / EA sale that might happen sometimes (no idea if they do them at all)

    3. I can slap DLC I might get in the future on my Steam wishlist so I don't forget about it

    That's why I side with Valve and hope that EA will come back crawling back in a while after Origin bombed.

  • King_Edward #27 10 months ago

    Funny that these "restrictive terms of service" are only affecting EA.

  • arcam #28 10 months ago

    @dingo75

    All you've done is confirm that if DLC was sold on both Steam and Origin, even at the same price you'd buy it on Steam every time. That's the exact reason EA don't want to do it.

  • Zyklonbzombie #29 10 months ago

    If you look at Steam as an actual gaming platform, and more than just a shop, it makes sense that they require all future DLC to be offered through Steam. If you're going to release a game on a platform, then there's no excuse for depriving it of content available elsewhere - it's why one-console exclusive DLC tends to kick up a stink. Granted, you can sometimes apply DLC from elsewhere to your Steam purchase, but more often than not it's a pain to work out, or incredibly inconvenient.

    Can you imagine if a publisher started offering DLC for console games which had to be bought outside PSN/XBL, kept track of with a different account, and installed manually?
    Edited by Zyklonbzombie at 28/07/11 @ 12:30

  • duffster #30 10 months ago

    How come EA managed pre origin?

  • DirectAim #31 10 months ago

    I think its fair for STEAM to require DLC to be listed on STEAM. They are afterall supporting all of the games they sell and offer a great community and service. EA know the TOS and have known for years that if they wish to sell a game on STEAM then all future releases for that game should be listed. If they do not then its unfair on the people who purchased the game through steam in the first place. EA are being stubborn cunts and are doing this simply to push Origin, something I will NOT be supporting!

    Valve have always had great relationships with the gaming community, they release quality games and deserve our respect and support. EA on the otherhand have poor community relationships and often FORCE gamers to signup to BULLSHIT systems just to access extra content.

  • icematt12 #32 10 months ago

    Personally, both companies want to do their own thing and stuff the concequences. I believe one is more to blame than the other but without all the facts I refuse to make that call.

  • raduciu #33 10 months ago

    Origin is a joke.

  • cheeky_pete #34 10 months ago

    EA has had a long history of problems with Steam. When steam started gaining ... well you know, EA refused to put their games on and got people to use the EA downloader but then the revelation came to them a couple of years ago and suddenly many of EAs recent and forthcoming releases a[[eared on Steam. They never gave up hope of people using EADM though and started to work on it while Steam was selling their games in the mean time.

    Now Origin is ready for the world and EA wants to take the games from Steam which they are using a part of the contract with Valve to do and sell them on Origin. New games will need Origin to run and there you have it BAM Origin "competes" with Steam.

    Or does it? Valve can see what's happening much the same as anyone with a gram of sense can. They are purposely breaking their contract with Valve to have the games pulled in an effort to cut Valve out of the sales entirely. I am not sure how they are doing this since Steam also didn't get to sell the Medal of Honour DLC but still offer the game itself. Valve have every right and enough sway to act like children with this and I hope they do. I hope that because 30 million people use Steam vs the much lower number on Origin that Valve really go to town advertising competitors to Battlefield 3. They could go all out to get people to buy Red Orchestra 2 and Modern Warfare 3 and given they power Steam has on PC now they could really hurt EA here.

    If I was going to buy BF3 it would have been on Steam, I like my games all in one place, the fact is we know this isn't Valves decision to get rid of these games it's a ploy by EA to force their hand and while Origin may some day be a competitor to Steam I don't see how it will get there for a good few years yet and I don't intend to use it till it does.

  • Bravestinsane #35 10 months ago

    Ill still be buying BF3 thats for sure, but if EA remove their games from Steam that just means they wont get any impulse buys from me, on sales or if a new game gets excellent reviews.

  • StooMonster #36 10 months ago

    Subdominator: It's all about their new rules. When they started free to play games they asked that any DLC for any game released on their platform has to be sold through Steam as well.

    MrChuckles: In short, if you sell the base game on Steam, then Steam say you MUST sell all DLCs on Steam so they can keep gaining the revenues for as long as you support the game.

    cw-: It's not harsh at all, the DLC can still be sold elsewhere, it just HAS to be on Steam as well

    So, DLC does not have to be exclusively delivered through Steam, it has to also be available through Steam.

    This is why GfWL DLC and other content offered elsewhere is available, because it can be bought on Steam too.

    Apparently this wasn't a problem in the past with Bioware titles like Mass Effect 2 where one purchased DLC from their site directly, but it's apparent that this contractual approach could cause problems with free games and then DLC sold elsewhere ... Valve would be footing the bill for someone else's profits.

    So to fix the impasse either EA needs to also sell its DLC via Steam as well as other means (not exclusively on Steam), or Valve needs to change T&C and allow people to sell DLC exclusively in-game in paid for titles.

  • StooMonster #37 10 months ago

    This conflict between EA and Valve makes me wonder about the forthcoming DOTA 2 from Valve, are we going to see a retail version published by EA?

  • Staninator #38 10 months ago

    Well games that use Games For Windows Live don't seem to have any problems with this issue. Codemaster's DiRT3 for example, all their PC DLC is done through the GfWL marketplace. But we don't see that getting ripped down?

    StooMonster - This is why GfWL DLC and other content offered elsewhere is available, because it can be bought on Steam too.

    - not true, show me where the DLC for DiRT3 is on Steam?
    Edited by Staninator at 28/07/11 @ 13:30

  • tankboi #39 10 months ago

    EA are so transparent.

  • Markusdragon #40 10 months ago

    Corporate bickering.

  • dudefella #41 10 months ago

    To be fair the way you have to buy Bioware DLC is total bullshit. Buy points, add to virtual wallet, and all through Bioware's website. Who do they think they are, Microsoft? It makes no sense for the pc platform.

  • Gastrian #42 10 months ago

    Post deleted at 17:56:43 13-04-2012

  • LetsGo #43 10 months ago

    In summary;

    Ea want to spam people with emails about DLC and valve won't allow it.

    Go Valve!

  • Widge #44 10 months ago

    Does Origin require a piece of client software to purchase and download games?

  • apoc_reg #45 10 months ago

    No other downloadable service has stoppeed their customers shopping where they please either, thats just you and Origin EA>

    I think i speak for many when i say, piss off!

  • StooMonster #46 10 months ago

    @Staninator: interesting. Curiouser and curiouser.

    Maybe it's about selling DLC directly in-game then, rather than simply offering it elsewhere?

    Gastrian: It is not a case of Valve wanting DLC advertised on Steam they want games purchased on Steam to only work with DLC purchased on Steam. This isn't retrospective but it is mandatory for newer titles on Steam

    Also interesting, for example I bought all my Fallout 3 DLC super cheap on disc and installed it with my Steam purchased Fallout 3. If this approach is true, I wouldn't be able to do that in the future ... which isn't good.

    DLC is a complex area, what if you buy game from GamersGate and then DLC from GfWL, how should it all work together. When there's an update to DLC, who meets the bill of hosting and bandwidth for distribution?

  • thiagots85 #47 10 months ago

    Great Scott, I have to build a time machine and then get inside the dream of the guy who had that origin idea.... it might change the presents outcome... as well the future, when EA creates a partnership with Skynet to make us gamers buy their stuff only in origin... I must prevent that to happen!

    I'll save you all, my good friends!

  • Spekingur #48 10 months ago

    They don't really go into explaining what those 'restrictive terms' are though.
    It's like suing someone for doing 'a bad thing' but never saying what that bad thing is.

  • Rack #49 10 months ago

    Funny how no game ever fell foul of Valve's "Restrictive" terms of service until EA decides to launch it's competitor, then suddenly every one of it's games are pulled.

  • WinterSnowblind #50 10 months ago

    @Rack
    Games are removed from Steam all the time. The Settlers 7 disappeared just a few weeks ago as I was about to buy it :(

  • dingo75 #51 10 months ago

    @arcam

    All you've done is confirm that if DLC was sold on both Steam and Origin, even at the same price you'd buy it on Steam every time. That's the exact reason EA don't want to do it.

    Well then they have to do something to make me consider buying from them instead!
    Obviously they could beat Steam in pricing as they don't have to give Valve their cut. So make it 10% cheaper on Origin.

    2 more things that might make me reconsider:

    a) accept Paypal at the Bioware site
    b) let me use Origin in English for fuck's sake! It's German here and it freaks me out. I run Steam since the beginning in English and EA should be able to let me do that, too.

  • Gastrian #52 10 months ago

    Post deleted at 17:56:43 13-04-2012

  • Spekingur #53 10 months ago

    @WinterSnowblind: What are you on about? I can find Settlers 7 on Steam.

  • jaec #54 10 months ago

    I understand where EA are coming from, they want all the profits from the DLC add-ons rather than going through Valve's servers and them getting a cut of each one sold, but to extend their reasoning to include updates in that is a bit much and just makes me think they're being a bit stubborn in all this (I'm not necessarily blaming them, I would want as much revenue as I could get as well in their shoes).

    Regarding the updates side of things, every game bought through Steam sets up a contract of sale between the user and Valve, not with EA and as Valve, I wouldn't want the quality of 'my' service to be reliant on a third party (EA in this case) to provide update downloads in a timely manner when I'm the one who'll take the flack if something goes wrong.

    An similar(ish) example is that the company I work for, have decided that Amazon charge too much to sell items on their site when compared to other channels like eBay and our own website and they restrict the pricing too much to allow us to make a fair profit. We don't blame Amazon for our products not being available on their site just because their Marketplace terms don't allow us to sell how we want; it's our choice to not change the way we work and our products to suit, but we recognise that we're resetricting our potential market as a result.

    I don't really have a preference for either side in this case, I just guess I'm saying, I can see why both of them are doing what they're doing. I may have also vented a little, I'm having a stressful day :/

  • Gastrian #55 10 months ago

    Post deleted at 17:56:43 13-04-2012

  • Lord_BeeJee #56 10 months ago

    After the shit I've gone through to get the Mass effect 1 and 2 dlc bought and installed after buying the 2 games on steam I was already doubting anymore ea purchases that rely heavy on dlc. They are just too chaotic in how their internal, external and partner websites work. Even with origin now there is no consistency in which login you need for what game.
    The lovely thing about steam is that you can, after years, install that old game you had, it's patched to the latest revision and all your purchased dlc is installed without messing around!

  • Gastrian #57 10 months ago

    Post deleted at 17:56:43 13-04-2012

  • HASJ #58 10 months ago

    I find it actually good!
    EA can't expand anymore!