EA committed to offering games on Steam

EA isn't trying to muscle out Steam, Origin head David DeMartini has said, and offered some explanation for the recent withdrawal of EA games from Valve's service.

"At EA, we want to bring the best possible content to our players ... We want our products available to as many players as possible, which means we make them available in all the places that gamers go to download games and services," DeMartini said in a blog post on EA's website.

"To be very clear, except under extremely special circumstances we offer our games to every major download service including Amazon, Gamestop, and Steam."

DeMartini referenced the "confusion" that arose after certain EA games began disappearing from Steam, which EA said was not it's decision, but Valve's.

The problem seems to be EA's insistence on direct patching and content updates.

"We take direct responsibility for providing patches, updates, additional content and other services to our players. You are connecting to our servers, and we want to establish on ongoing relationship with you, to continue to give you the best possible gaming experience. This works well for our partnership with Gamestop, Amazon and other online retailers," DeMartini explained.

"Unfortunately, if we’re not allowed to manage this experience directly and establish a relationship with you, it disrupts our ability to provide the support you expect and deserve. At present, there is only one download service that will not allow this relationship.

"This is not our choice, and unfortunately it is their customer base that is most impacted by this decision. We are working diligently to find a mutually agreeable solution."

EA has made its policy on third-party games retailers available.

Thanks, Gamasutra.