EA explains why Battlefield 3 isn’t available on Steam

Seeson a developer of Battlefield 3 has posted an official explanation as to why Battlefield 3 isn’t available for pre-order in Steam although it’s available in more than 100 other digital distribution services spread across the world.

He cited the platform’s adoption of a set of  ”restrictive terms of service” as being the prime reason for this as doing so restricts EA from connecting “directly with the consumers.”

Gamers can pre-order Battlefield 3 at Origin.com as well as over 100 digital retailers worldwide. EA offers games to all major download services. Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. No other download service has adopted these practices.

We are intent on providing Battlefield 3 players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play their game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers.

However, he assured that they want Battlefield 3 to be available on Steam and are trying to come to an agreement with Valve which will enable them to do so:

We hope to work out an agreement where Steam can carry Battlefield 3

Although, it’s a bit surprising as to why only EA is complaining about Steam’s “set of restrictive ToS” but atleast they’ve decided to come clean about it now.

Battlefield 3 releases this October for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Anyone who pre-orders the game gets its order upgraded to the limited edition free of cost.