The relationship between EA and Steam looks like an edgy one to say the least. Just last month, the website removed Crysis 2 from its library. The clarification from EA confirmed that the decision came due to a conflict in ‘business terms’ set by Steam. And now, in a somewhat similar situation, Steam has removed EA’s Dragon Age II form its annals just when the game’s Legacy expansion was released.
The title however is available on all the other usual platforms. This, rules out the possibility of the incident being linked to Origin, EA’s own online store. And the reason seems to be same as last time’s. According to a statement made by an EA representative, the website’s ‘restrictive terms’ which regulate the interaction of developers with gamers, are what have come in the way of the game staying on the website.
“At EA, we offer our games and content to all major download services including GameStop, Amazon, Direct2Drive and Steam. Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to sell downloadable content,” David DeMartini, SVP of Global E-Commerce for EA told IGN. “No other download service has adopted this practice. 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 II might have been pulled down from Steam by EA, and the fate of the game still remains unclear. The first installment of the game Dragon Age: Origins however, is still available on the website.