Battlefield 3 won’t appear on Steam, retailer says

The splintered relationship between Electronic Arts and Valve appears to have worsened, with Gamestop now claiming that Battlefield 3 will be blocked from Steam.

The upcoming EA DICE shooter will be available digitally on other platforms, including Gamestop’s, an unnamed executive at retailer also said.

Financial research firm Baird recently held a meeting with Gamestop’s management, and in its subsequent report says: “The upcoming EA title Battlefield 3 will be sold as a download through GameStop, but not through Steam.”

Baird has since told Develop that it had heard the claim directly from Gamestop executives. EA and Valve have been approached for comment.

“Given Steam’s dominance – and insistence on users downloading a Steam client application – publishers are likely to be receptive to a competitive alternative,” the Baird report read.

The new claims come amid widespread speculation that some future EA games won’t appear on Valve’s network.

Electronic Arts recently positioned itself as a Valve rival in the digital PC space, having launched its own Origin service.

David DeMartini, who heads up the operation, made assurances that EA is not inclined to block its games from any distribution platform.

The publisher also claimed that Valve removed Crysis 2 – an EA Partners game – from Steam due to imposed "business terms".

“This was not an EA decision or the result of any action by EA,” the firm claimed.

EA has for a number of years been the publishing partner for a number of Valve games.