Modern Warfare 2, one of the biggest games of 2009, will not be available through digital distributors Direct2Drive, GamersGate, and Impulse. It seems it's all Steam's fault.
The PC version of Modern Warfare 2 requires a mandatory installment of Valve's Steamworks software, which handles the DRM, installation, and a few other things. The software, however, requires you to launch the game through Steam, which means that other digital distributors would be selling a game that directs players to view a competitor's store. In a recent interview with Blend Games, GamersGate CEO Theodore Bergquist had characterized this practice as "forcing technology" on gamers.
"We don't believe games should force the user to install a Trojan Horse," a Direct2Drive spokesperson told Kotaku today. Shortly thereafter, reps from GamersGate and Impulse confirmed that they wouldn't be selling the game either.
No doubt Steam is more than happy to be the only digital store selling Modern Warfare 2. It may end up hurting these other distributors in the shott term to miss out on these sales but their goal is to convince Activision (MW2's publisher) to stop the practice of coupling their games with Steam software.
