EA: Steam sales “cheapen” intellectual property”

Origin boss David DeMartini has launched an attack of Steam, stating that heavily discounted games “cheapens” a developer’s intellectual property.

Steam is known for it’s sales – the daily, weekly and whenever-we-want-them kind – wtih discounts of up to 75 per cent. DeMartini has told everyone not to expect the same from EA’s Origin service.

“We won’t be doing that,” said DeMartini. “Obviously they think it’s the right thing to do after a certain amount of time. I just think it cheapens your intellectual property.

“I know both sides of it, I understand it. If you want to sell a whole bunch of units, that is certainly a way to do that, to sell a whole bunch of stuff at a low price. The game makers work incredibly hard to make this intellectual property, and we’re not trying to be Target. We’re trying to be Nordstrom.”

Origin is presently the number two digital game service with roughly 11 million registered users. Steam is number one with over 40 million.

Source: Gamesindustry International