PC games that also feature on Steam are apparently being refused by jilting retail chains in the United Kingdom, according to Russian developer 1C. According the studio, “bullying” stores aren’t happy about digital distribution taking all their jobs and women, and are acting maturely about it.
1C’s UK publishing director Darryl Still said that retail chains “Recently sent a command to publishers that if they include Steamworks in their title it will not be stocked.” He also added that “Those guys need to grow up, stop bullying, and focus their attentions on making their offerings as attractive as the people they are obviously looking over their shoulders in panic at.”
It’s a free market and retailers can stock whatever they pleased, but it does look like a silly tantrum, and a case of a company cutting off its nose to spite its face. Like it or not, Steam and other digital distributors are here to stay, and if retailers react by plugging their fingers into their ears and hoping it’ll all go away, they’re in for a very rude awakening.
