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Dragon Age II pulled from Steam and new DLC is released.

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For 800 MS Points you can now get the latest Dragon Age II DLC. However it also appears Dragon Age II has been pulled from Steam. There is speculation the game was pulled due to the new Legacy DLC which apparently infringes on Steam's policies. No details on the exact policy that is broken has been mentioned to the public.

Word from EA and Bioware on the new DLC is "Targeted by a vicious criminal cartel that are hunting [the blood of the Hawke,] you must put an end to their relentless attacks. Leave Kirkwall, and journey to an ancient Grey Warden prison in order to find the source of the aggression and uncover the harsh truth about the Hawke lineage. Playable from any point in the Dragon Age II campaign, face new breeds of darkspawn, forge a powerful new weapon and come face to face with an ancient horror".

•Uncover the harsh truth about the Hawke lineage
•Adventure through several new locations including a prison constructed by the Grey Wardens
•Obtain a powerful class-specific weapon to which you can apply upgrades of your choice".


Thanks Blues News

28 comments

  1. moonlightwolf
    moonlightwolf
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    Well you can blame all the software pirates for all the internet activation stuff and I vastly prefer steams version of DRM to some of the independent DRM software such as the one used for the Witcher 2 (three installs only and if your computer dies without you running your invalidation program you have to pay to get the install removed) If Origin follows the same path as Steam in that regard (along with the ability to play offline and such) I'll be happy to use it.

    I understand your point though I mean if valve or EA went bust and couldn't run their servers there would be all sorts of trouble for steam or origin users.

    Can't say I've ever had any trouble running mods on steam versions of games though and I've got a fair few.
  2. XTR3M368
    XTR3M368
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    this doesn't bother me a bit. I haven't fired up steam in a long time. I don't like steam...It is kinda like i-stuff to me. I don't like stuff that forces you to do stuff different and only use their software/hardware....for example....I see a lot of...
    "install this to this folder, check this and then just start the game. Now for steam users....here are some hoops to jump through extra for you and it still might not work right".

    I hate having to be connected to the internet to activate stuff too. I have something for those companies I buy "off the shelf" games from and then HAVE to connect to the internet to activate....
    ,,l,,
  3. moonlightwolf
    moonlightwolf
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    Well I guess all we can hope is that one or other of them will back down because I think we can all agree that in terms of competition its better if EA stuff is sold on both services. Theses companies did and perhaps still do have a fairly good relationship, (EA cited Valve as one of their development partners at this years gamescon.) So i really hope they can sort it out because all this business posturing from both companies does nothing for gamers. perhaps if both companies were more focused on games rather than business Valve would have finished Half-life 2 episode 3 and EA wouldn't have rushed Bioware into creating the DA2 disaster.
  4. /harry/
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    For 800 MS Points you can now get the latest Dragon Age II DLC. However it also appears Dragon Age II has been pulled from Steam. There is speculation the game was pulled due to the new Legacy DLC which apparently infringes on Steam's policies. No details on the exact policy that is broken has been mentioned to the public.

    Word from EA and Bioware on the new DLC is Targeted by a vicious criminal cartel that are hunting [the blood of the Hawke,] you must put an end to their relentless attacks. Leave Kirkwall, and journey to an ancient Grey Warden prison in order to find the source of the aggression and uncover the harsh truth about the Hawke lineage. Playable from any point in the Dragon Age II campaign, face new breeds of darkspawn, forge a powerful new weapon and come face to face with an ancient horror.

    •Uncover the harsh truth about the Hawke lineage
    •Adventure through several new locations including a prison constructed by the Grey Wardens
    •Obtain a powerful class-specific weapon to which you can apply upgrades of your choice.


    Thanks Blues News
  5. Thandal
    Thandal
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    @Thandal
    I take your point but look at the various other bits of info out there, such as the fact that battlefield 3 will use Origin exclusively. Steam allowed EA to sell all the Mass Effect 2 DLC outside of steam as well as the DLC for Dragon Age:origins and I note those are still up on steam. As with a lot of public statements i think you need to read between the lines and take all the evidence into account. Remember EA are one of the biggest publishers in the world, Valve would almost certainly try to accommodate them....

    All that is What they used to allow. Valve changed the rules for new releases in a way that requires (for original game download/install via Steam) DLC to be sold EXCLUSIVELY through Steam. EA's not gonna let that happen, so... a parting of ways. Not his fault or her fault. Just business decisions on both sides that mean the two parties aren't a good fit for each other any more.

    Have to say, if I'm EA I really don't see why I need/want Steam, since I have my own in-house digital distribution system. The (very?) few customers I might lose because those customers only purchase through Steam is more than offset by not having to pay Valve to distribute my product for me. At least, that's a bet I'm willing to make. <img class=">
  6. moonlightwolf
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    @Thandal
    I take your point but look at the various other bits of info out there, such as the fact that battlefield 3 will use Origin exclusively. Steam allowed EA to sell all the Mass Effect 2 DLC outside of steam as well as the DLC for Dragon Age:origins and I note those are still up on steam. As with a lot of public statements i think you need to read between the lines and take all the evidence into account. Remember EA are one of the biggest publishers in the world, Valve would almost certainly try to accommodate them.
    @ombria
    I know you had a bad experience and thats never fun but that wasn't exactly steam's fault. when I installed the ambitions add on the first thing to come up was a warning that the DVD wasn't compatible with the steam version of the game. If I'd had the steam version I would have taken the game back and got a refund. To be honest it should be made clear on the packaging rather than the installer. It also is EA's decision whether to make their installers compatible with the steam version of the game or not so I really don't see how steam screwed you.

    In the end I'm sure there are problems with both Valve and EA, both sides have suggested that they want EA's products on steam but neither seems to be trying very hard to make it so. Perhaps once Battlefield 3 is launched over origin and that service gains a decent market share either EA will stop being so competitive or steam will lessen its terms of service (whichever problem is the real cause)and we'll get games on both services.
  7. ombria
    ombria
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    QUOTE
    Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to sell downloadable content. 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.
    --------------------------
    My experience quoted below certainly gives credence to EAs statement. I'm not a great fan of EAs' corporate ideas (statements about delaying ME3 to appeal to as wide an audience as possible was a bit worrying - Oh and shepahrds robbo dog :-() but on this occasion they may be in the right
  8. Thandal
    Thandal
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    @moonlightwolf;

    Ummmm... this:

    IGN Article: Dragon Age II Pulled from Steam, EA Responds.
    Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to sell downloadable content. 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.


    If EA were really the one pulling it to push people towards their service, then why would they be allowing it here? DA2 on D2D
  9. moonlightwolf
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    Steam didn't kick Dragon Age 2 EA pulled it because of supposed disagreements between EA and Steam about who should offer game patches to the player. However most people in the business plus a good deal of game journalists believe this is a cynical move by EA to push players towards EA's own Online distribution software. So it's not steam being greedy its EA trying to use their weight as a big publisher to try and grab a slice of the online distribution action. Just think about it steam have been happy letting EA provide patches and DLC outside steam for the last 2-3 years, why would they suddenly ask for more control and piss off one of the worlds biggest publishers. Not likely is it. Don't blame Steam for this, Blame EA.
  10. northwind221
    northwind221
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    you know what the real issue is... steam doesn't get a cut of the DLC content that Bioware is "selling" thats why steam kicked it off. All the others you buy from "Steam" not EA. Like with sims 3 you buy all the DLC though steam. so its just Steam being greedy.