EA Joins Europe on Steam

[Hectic Glenn]

Valve today announced Spore, Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, Mass Effect, Need for Speed Undercover and FIFA Manager 2009 are available now to gamers in most of Europe, the United States and Canada via Steam.[br]
In the coming weeks, Mirror's Edge, Command & Conquer Red Alert 3, and Dead Space, will be added to the catalogue of EA's titles available via Steam. Steam games.

 

[Sierra Oscar]

They are? Nothing on the store for me yet.

EDIT: There now! If only the prices were decent.

 

[Marler]

Quicker then usual for steam to do this isn't it? Now they just need to convert some games and make them available to Europe like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2

 

[Lobster]

The delay was most likely due to converting the prices to the new currencies they recently added.

 

[DigiQ8]

yay I can buy EA games now

 

[Barnz]

They need to put some old EA titles.

 

[Reflex]

Great. Haven't had time to check this out yet.

 

[cool_myll]

OK now fix the european prices and you are back to perfect Valve

 

[fix-cz]

The delay was most likely due to converting the prices to the new currencies they recently added.

Wasted time. Nobody will buy it for that price.

 

[Paulaner]

The prices are a joke. Fix it soon or this is a total fail.

EDIT: What about DRM? Will the games be SecuROM free? The Mass Effect page on Steam says "INTERNET CONNECTION AND END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT REQUIRED TO PLAY. MORE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM." It seems that activation limit is still in place.

 

[DarkDamo]

The delay was most likely due to converting the prices to the new currencies they recently added.

Australia is still buying in USD and we only just got the EA games. Really glad to see the games released in Europe (Australia is in Europe according to EA) AND even better is that the prices have not been artificially inflated per region. I should be getting Mirrors Edge when it comes out (Assuming the AUD -> USD isn't any worse).

EDIT: What about DRM? Will the games be SecuROM free? The Mass Effect page on Steam says "INTERNET CONNECTION AND END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT REQUIRED TO PLAY. MORE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM." It seems that activation limit is still in place.

The games (At the very least Spore and Mass Effect) are 3rd party (SecuROM) free.

 

[Paulaner]

The games (At the very least Spore and Mass Effect) are 3rd party (SecuROM) free.

I am skeptical, but I am willing to have faith. The real problem is the pricing.
Mass Effect on play.com --> 29 Euro
Mass Effect on Steam --> 45 Euro

At the moment, buying on Steam is simply impossible.

 

[Mutley]

But Retailers buy games in Bulk, hence the lower prices as they can offer a discount.

I don't think Steam works like that. They probably have a fixed price. You also have to think of the server costs.

 

[Paulaner]

I don't think Steam works like that. They probably have a fixed price. You also have to think of the server costs.

Well, I am not a charity foundation, so I simply buy at the lowest price

 

[Avoidist]

Urge to kill... rising....

 

[jondy]

But Retailers buy games in Bulk, hence the lower prices as they can offer a discount.

I don't think Steam works like that. They probably have a fixed price. You also have to think of the server costs.

'Server costs'? ****ing lol. There's no defense for higher prices on Steam - although AFAIK they're set by the publisher, not Valve.

 

[Mutley]

'Server costs'? ****ing lol. There's no defense for higher prices on Steam - although AFAIK they're set by the publisher, not Valve.

I thought it was a good defence but then I totally forgot about retail versions having a box, disc and packaging... so forget everything I said.

 

[Eejit]

I am skeptical, but I am willing to have faith. The real problem is the pricing.
Mass Effect on play.com --> 29 Euro
Mass Effect on Steam --> 45 Euro

At the moment, buying on Steam is simply impossible.

Christmas time is definitely representative of normal play.com and amazon prices, right?

 

[Paulaner]

Christmas time is definitely representative of normal play.com and amazon prices, right?

I don't care why, when, what. This is not a question of supporting Steam or play.com. I am not here to support, I just want to buy at the lowest price. Christmas is the right time to cut prices, and Steam is insanely doing the contrary, so I buy on play.com. That's just it.
My post says: "At the moment, buying on Steam is simply impossible."