M+E Daily

Steam’s ‘Call of Duty’ Exclusive Draws Fire From Digital Game Retailers

Several digital videogame distributors are refusing to sell Activision’s hotly-anticipated “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” this week, in a conflict-of-interest battle with online gaming leader Steam.

PC versions of the game reportedly require installation and use of Steam software for online multiplayer functionality. But in addition to providing back-end services such as anti-cheating technology and game-saving management, the Steamworks software also promotes Steam’s own online storefront.

That has rival online stores including IGN’s Direct2Drive, GamersGate, and Impulse boycotting the game.

“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,” the Fox-owned site says on a for “Modern Warfare 2.” Direct2Drive offers a $5 coupon toward the digital purchase of other Activision titles on its site, while referring those who wish to purchase physical disc versions of “Modern Warfare 2” to “partner” site Amazon.com.

Steam is a leader in the emerging digital game marketplace, with reportedly more than 20 million user accounts and a market share of 40%, according to one estimate. The service offers more than 750 full-length games from its parent company, “Half-Life” developer Valve, as well as third-party publishers such as LucasArts. For a little less than the price for a physical disc, members purchase online access to an individual game — playable from any PC — rather than a downloadable copy for their own computer.

With “Modern Warfare 2,” the issue isn’t so much that a market leader has an exclusive offer on the title. Smaller retailers, digital and physical alike, have begrudgingly accepted exclusive offers as the nature of the business. The problem, direct2drive tells gamer blog Kotaku, comes in Steam’s inclusion of a “Trojan horse” for its own retail service— a twist without comparison in the physical world.

PC gamers can prove to be especially sensitive over business decisions from publishers and developers that purportedly restrict consumer choice. But some speculate that the “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” boycott is a branding ploy by stores that have little to lose in actual sales.

Boycotts notwithstanding, it remains to be seen what overall effect the digital distribution of “Modern Warfare 2” will have on physical sales of the game.

Steam’s release of Electronic Arts’ “Left 4 Dead” last November still stands as one of the most high-profile tests of online game distribution. Valve maintains that instead of cannibalizing disc purchases for PCs and Xbox 360 consoles, Steam’s “Left 4 Dead” free-play promotions helped to boost title awareness and sales overall.

For “Modern Warfare 2,” brick-and-mortar chain GameStop reports that the title has amassed more pre-orders than any other title in company history.