EA not inviting Steam to the Battlefield 3 party

In the latest development on the seemingly bubbling feud between publisher EA and Valve’s digital retail portal, claims are circulating that Battlefield 3 will not be available to buy through Steam.

As spotted by Joystiq, EA published a list of digital retailers through which the game will be available. EA’s own Origin portal of course topped the chart, but despite the inclusion of rivals such as Direct2Drive and GamersGate, Steam was conspicuous by its absence.

Tensions between the pair have been running high recently. Problems first became apparent when a host of EA titles were removed from Steam due to infringements of Valve’s T&Cs regarding the availability of DLC.

EA has subsequently revealed that many of its games will offer exclusive content when bought through Origin.

Keeping Battlefield 3 off Steam could be seen as a risky move, owing to Valve’s leading position in the sector. On the other hand, the game is so highly anticipated that such a move would guarantee a huge swell in origin users.