Crysis 2 ditching Steam not an EA decision; Origin-exclusive titles planned
Earlier today, Crysis 2 and other notable EA titles vanished from Steam. Initially thought to be a decision involving EA's new digital platform, Origin, it turns out EA didn't really have a hand in its expulsion from Valve's service -- apparently "Crytek has an agreement with another download service" which violates some new rules imposed by Steam, resulting in the "expulsion of Crysis 2 from Steam," according to comments made by EA to Giant Bomb.
Neither Valve nor EA are talking about what these "new rules" are, but all signs point to Origin. Crysis 2 is available there, as are other games pulled from Steam -- Alice: Madness Returns can only be found on Origin (until June 17, it appears), though several other notable EA titles such as Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dragon Age 2 and Bulletstorm still remain on Steam.
In the future, EA hopes to offer exclusive content through its Origins portal, including games. Frank Gibeau, president of EA Games, told GI.biz that "EA's going to have some of our own platform exclusives" on the new service. This includes Star Wars: The Old Republic, which will only be offered through Origin.
"I think long-term you'll see we believe in reach so we will have other digital retailers for our products because we want to reach as many audiences as possible," Gibeau said. "But at the same time if we can use exclusive content or other ideas to help grow our audience then we're going to do that because we're growing a platform."
