Earlier this month EA launched Origin, their new digital distribution platform. It seems that EA have now decided to adopt the business model of using it as an exclusive sales platform for their digitally available games, having just removed Crysis 2 from Steam. Could this be the start of a very poor trend for the PC games industry?


For the time being Crysis 2 remains on other services such Direct 2 Drive, and we'll keep an on eye whether that changes or not. It's scary prospect considering that games like Battlefield 3 and Mass Effect 3 may wind up only being available on Origin, which is in essence no difference than the publisher only releasing the game via a specific retail store chain.

Two major gripes I have with Origin is firstly that they're charging retail prices for digitally distributed games, and secondly you can't even pay with real money; you're required to buy points, which you can then spend, not unlike Xbox LIVE and PSN. The problem lies in the fact that left over points cannot be redeemed or refunded, and are left in that account.

Quite frankly, if a game is not on Steam, it's not a game I'll purchase. It's really as simple as that, and I'm sure advocates of Direct to Drive in the USA feel the same. I think I can safely say this isn't a practice that any PC gamer wants to see adopted.

Promoted from forum item: http://gamers-underground.com/news/3...ved-steam.html