Financial research firm Baird has had a lot to say recently after they held a meeting with Gamestop’s senior management. They just made headlines by disclosing Gamestop’s predicted dates for the next generation Xbox and Playstation consoles – but the news doesn’t end there.
Baird’s report from the meeting also says that Battlefield 3 will not be available through the Steam service. It will, however, be sold as a download through Gamestop. This may come as no surprise to some as another EA game, Crysis 2, was recently pulled from the Steam client. The publisher claimed that this was due to imposed business terms, but many are skeptical, believing that EA simply wants to get people using their own recently launched download service, known as Origin.
Baird weighed in on Gamestop’s decision, saying, “Given Steam’s dominance – and insistence on users downloading a Steam client application – publishers are like to be receptive to a competitive alternative.” Baird was nonspecific about which alternative they may be referring to, although it should be noted the Origin client also requires the user to use a client application.
David Demartini, the head of the Origin service, has previously commented that “EA is not inclined to block its game from any distribution platform.” EA is yet to comment on the blocking of Battlefield 3 from the Steam platform.
There has already been recent speculation that many future EA games won’t appear on Valve’s network, this report may give some credence to that. EA and Valve have enjoyed a healthy business relationship for a number of years, yet a crack seems to have developed, and it may be widening. With Steam being as popular as it is, one has to wonder if EA isn’t simply hurting their own sales, as their biggest competitor, Modern Warfare 3, will be available on the platform. Time will tell.
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