Could Bioware Games Be Returning To Steam?

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According to an anonymous report received over at BF3Blog, a fan site for DICE's upcoming military shooter, EA and Valve are nearing a final agreement on DLC sales for Battlefield 3 - which would allow the highly anticipated title to be sold on the Steam platform in time for its 10/25 release. Now, take an anonymous tip on a fansite for what it's worth, but this could be big news for those of you who enjoy both the ubiquitous digital storefront and Bioware's most recent games.

The EA/Valve tiff has been an ongoing thread in the gaming industry saga - and caused Bioware's most recent adventure, Dragon Age 2, to be pulled from the Steam marketplace on the same day as the release of the Legacy downloadable campaign. Since our last writing on this topic, seemingly little progress had been made in talks between these two massive publishers.

However, today's developments prove promising. James Hyde writes:

According to the report, EA and Valve are very close to reaching an agreement regarding sales of DLC content, which is the main reason Battlefield 3 is not on Steam....

In other words, EA and Valve may be pretty close to reaching a deal that will allow EA titles to be sold on the leading digital storefront. With Dragon Age 2 pulled from the shelves, and no mention of Mass Effect 3 on Valve's site, this could be great news. Steam remains the most prolific retailer on the digital distribution front, and seeing Bioware's titles on the platform would lead only to more sales.

Of course, I'm basing this all on conjecture. Assuming that BF3Blog's information is good, the news is specific to Battlefield 3 - for all we know, this is a one-shot deal and any other release from EA and its subsidiaries (including Bioware) would also have to be negotiated. However, a deal between EA and Valve would really be best for both sides.

Source: Report: EA and Valve in late-stage talks to get Battlefield 3 to Steam

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=684511406 Paul McConnochie

    Wish they’d sort this out – I really like the Steam interface for keeping track on my games, and would prefer to be able to access all of my preffered PC games that way… Particularly hoping DA:2 and ME3 are released via Steam asap.

    • DannyMcGeek

      Well, for keeping track of your games, you can add non-Steam games to your library, which allows you to launch them from within the Steam app and, in some cases, use the overlay as well. I haven’t had an issue launching my non-Steam versions of the ME or DA games from Steam’s library.

      It would be nice to see these guys work out a deal – they’re both missing out on sales by not working together. With the launch of BF3 on the horizon, we’ll be able to see if this rumor pans out within the next couple of weeks.