Digital distribution firm refuses to stock Modern Warfare 2
IGN-owned digital games firm Direct2Drive is refusing to sell Modern Warfare 2 on PC because of its integration with Valve's Steamworks.
All PC copies of Modern Warfare 2 will come with Steamworks, not just the ones sold on Steam, and will benefit from Steamwork's variety of features, including community integration, updating, DRM and stat tracking.
However, the Steam online store is a direct competitor to Direct2Drive and similar digital services.
Kotaku is reporting that other digital distributors, including Impulse and Gamersgate, have also pulled support for the title.
Direct2Drive told Kotaku: "At Direct2Drive, we believe strongly that when you buy a game from us, you shouldn't be forced to install and run a third party software client to be able to play the game you purchased. Because COD MW 2 requires you, the consumer, to do that, we aren't able to offer the game via Direct2Drive at this time.
Advertisement
"We don’t believe games should force the user to install a Trojan Horse."
The comments are certainly eyebrow-raising, and arguably contradictory - some of the titles available through Direct2Drive have included comparable SecurROM and GameSpy multiplayer and DRM software.
Modern Warfare 2 is due for release on Tuesday and is being billed as the biggest entertainment launch of all time.
I know I'll be getting Modern Warfare from Steam and not Direct2Drive.
After Steam was accused of being a trojan horse they responded with a strong "ney"
I'll get me coat.
I'm sure Valve will be crying over these protests as they see the money rolling in from the biggest game of the year that now is pretty much exclusive to them as a download.
Anyone who bought Half-life 2 the day it was released knows how much of an annoyance and monopoly the Steam system is. And you would think calling it a 'trojan horse' is over the top, but you need to look at the amount of data they gather from you without your consent. Read the small print.
Steam has it's ups and downs. The only inconvenience I see in it is the advertisements. The rest is great. And the use of the info they take is only to make their own games, and others if they share this info, better. They use it to know how far they can push the limits in graphics and such so even the low end gamers can run their games. They allow us to have free use of their forums, community tools, and other stuff. It is also more convenient to get a game online then out of the store and this allows you to easily keep track of all of them while also switching out systems or cleaning your computer out. Valve, while being a company first, tries to make it so their customers are happy. That is why they created steam. So the players and gamers, even devs will be satisfied.
