14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic Arts, arguably the biggest videogame publisher in the world, is severely lacking in digital distribution, as is its main competitor, the newly created Activision Blizzard. Meanwhile, Steam, a Valve developed service that started as a way of delivering updates for Half Life and Counterstrike, offers a huge number of games to those who do not want to pick up boxed disks. A partnership between the two seemed like a logical step and now there are signs that soon players will be able to get their Electronic Arts made videogames using Valve's Steam.
People have spotted the End User License Agreement of Spore, the Maxis developed life simulation, on Steam, where finding an EULA means a game should soon follow. Spore could be the first game to be offered via Steam and other titles Electronic Arts has developed internally, like last year's Mass Effect, the best seller The Sims, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the Command & Conquer series and horror shooter Dead Space, could follow during 2009.
At the moment, Electronic Arts is experimenting with its own digital distribution channel, handled through the EA Download Manager, but few gamers have showed interest in using it. Meanwhile, Steam has spurred other companies to promote their own solutions, like Impulse from Stardock or Good Old Games from CD Projekt, the guys who created The Witcher.
Electronic Arts probably sees digital distribution as one solution that can be used to solve, at the same time, two big problems that the company is facing, as far as PC gaming goes. Piracy is pretty much impossible on Steam, as the game runs tied to a server that requires authentication. Second hand sales, which lower sales figures for almost all titles, are also eliminated. Electronic Arts would benefit from bigger profits related to PC games, while Steam could boast a bigger game library than it currently has.