Why is mass effect 3 not on steam?

[Arnonear]

i did some looking around for the third game but came up empty, is it only on consoles? or am i not looking hard enough?

[Nerevars Goat Univeron]

Its on Origin only.

[Fenoria]

I am curious as well as to why it is only on Origin for PC though?

[Arnonear]

Originally posted by Legion:

Its on Origin only.

what is origin?

[Nerevars Goat Univeron]

EA's distribution platform. Kinda like steam.

[Lifekeeper]

Why only on origin ?
That is a good question... maybe one day we will be lucky. For the moment you have no other choice than try out for origin account.

[peer_inward]

EA profits more from a game sold through Origin as opposed to Steam, and since EA owns the Mass Effect IP, they chose to distribute ME3 on PC only on Origin. Mass Effect 1 and 2 are on Steam because they were released before Origin officially launched.

[Kenny32673]

It's an argument over Valve's terms which insist on patches to be delivered via Steam and any DLC available for a game on Steam must also be available through Steam (games from before the terms were put in place such as Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect 1 and 2 are exempt which is why they still remain on Steam).

EA don't agree with this term (preferring to patch via Origin and sell DLC themselves) and refuse to change the way they work so Valve refuse to sell the games (EA don't refuse to allow Valve to sell them, Valve choose to not sell them) - "ultimate" editions of some games (Crysis 2 Maximum Edition for example) MAY appear later down the line but I wouldn't count on it for ME3.

If it WAS purely a means to avoid giving Valve "their cut" they would have removed the games from all the other digital retailers (GMG, Gamersgate, Gamefly etc.) and avoid paying their cuts too but they didn't.

[Vaemer-Riit]

Originally posted by MonkeySeeker:

It's an argument over Valve's terms which insist on patches to be delivered via Steam and any DLC available for a game on Steam must also be available through Steam (games from before the terms were put in place such as Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect 1 and 2 are exempt which is why they still remain on Steam).

EA don't agree with this term (preferring to patch via Origin and sell DLC themselves) and refuse to change the way they work so Valve refuse to sell the games (EA don't refuse to allow Valve to sell them, Valve choose to not sell them) - "ultimate" editions of some games (Crysis 2 Maximum Edition for example) MAY appear later down the line but I wouldn't count on it for ME3.

There are many games that patch outside of steam (mostly f2p and MMOs) so I doubt that the requirement that the games patch through origin was a problem.

The real problem seems to be the DLC like you stated earlier. This requirement was added when the f2p games where added to steam to prevent a publisher from releasing a cut down game on steam with DLC being sold at their website sticking Valve with the distribution costs while denying them any revenue.

It also prevents the customer from being screwed by making sure all the DLC for the game is available and compatible with the user's chosen platform (steam in this case).

[Mhmmm]

Because it allows you to buy DLC through the game and Steam isn't allowing that. Maybe EA will add ME3 to Steam when it will have GOTY edition or something.

[NihlusGreen]

It's nothing to do with Valves T&C, Selling through EA's Origin allows them to take all the proftis instead of paying a percentage to Steam / Valve. They also removed Dragon Age 2 and placed it on Origin only. Also why their games don't have trading cards (and most achievements?).
It's a business so its all about the $$$. I'd be suprised if EA put anymore titles on here again.

[Sinick]

It's simple. EA wanted a piece of the PC digital distribution pie, of which Valve has a 75% share and makes over billion dollars a year. With the likes of ME3, BF3, and SW:TOR, they banked on three major releases to catapult their own platform into relevance.

[NihlusGreen]

Originally posted by Cracker:

It's simple. EA wanted a piece of the PC digital distribution pie, of which Valve has a 75% share and makes over billion dollars a year. With the likes of ME3, BF3, and SW:TOR, they banked on three major releases to catapult their own platform into relevance.

Exactly. And been a fan of BioWare I had no choice

[Walsh451]

origin sucks though, iv never brought a game off it and many people do not like it. Most people use steam as their choice for PC gaming and dont like using others

[NihlusGreen]

Originally posted by Walsh:

origin sucks though, iv never brought a game off it and many people do not like it. Most people use steam as their choice for PC gaming and dont like using others

I agree it sucks. I'm only there for BioWare

[TentacleMayor]

When I didn't have internet, Steam Offline mode stopped working a week after the last time Steam had been online. Huge problem, as you can tell. Origin on the other hand, worked unfailingly.