14 DAY TRIAL // Direct2Drive, the digital distribution service owned by IGN, has announced that it will not be selling Modern Warfare 2, the most recent entry in the very successful Call of Duty series, because Infinity Ward and Activision have decided to include Steamworks, created by Valve, in the release itself.
The statement delivered by Direct2Drive is pretty harsh and says that “At Direct2Drive, we believe strongly that when you buy a game from us, you shouldn't be forced to install and run a 3rd party software client to be able to play the game you purchased.”
Statements from the company have also referred to Steamworks as a Trojan program. There's a carrot linked to the above stick. To prove that it has nothing against Activision as a publisher, Direct2Drive is prepared to offer a discount of 5 dollars to all those who are interested in picking up another Activision title from the digital distribution service. The company is also suggesting that those interested in Modern Warfare 2 should get a boxed copy of the game from Amazon.
Steamworks is set to be used by Modern Warfare 2 as a way of integrating updates, providing quick support and activating the game itself before it is played. It has the potential to actually help customers by making sure updates are quickly distributed to players.
Direct2Drive is probably annoyed that it basically helps a competitor, with Valve maintaining the Steam service, by selling Modern Warfare 2 with Steamworks integrated. Interestingly, other digital distribution services have not announced their intentions not to sell the Infinity Ward made videogame. Direct2Drive might be hurting itself with the boycott as gamers who would like to buy the title will move to other retailers and download services to get it. Modern Warfare 2 is set to be released on November 10 on the PC, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.