Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Not Offered by Most Digital Distribution
posted Saturday Nov 7, 2009 by Scott Ertz
Everyone seems to be looking forward to the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Everyone, that is, except the digital distribution companies. "Why is that," you might ask. I have the answer for you.
Infinity Ward has integrated Steamworks into the PC version of the game, meaning that you must install Steam in order to play. Steam, for those of you who don't know, is the digital distribution system from Valve. So, if you were to purchase the game through, say, Direct2Drive, you would be required to install their competitor's software.
In an official statement, Direct2Drive said,
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. Because COD MW 2 requires you, the consumer, to do that, we aren't able to offer the game via Direct2Drive at this time.
In a similar statement, an Impulse spokesperson said, "Impulse will not be selling Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 either. We share some of the same concerns as Direct2Drive over the bundling of the Steam client with the game. The most obvious issue is the forced inclusion of a competitor's store that blocks us from carrying the game."
