A number of large digital distribution services - namely Direct2Drive, Stardock's Impulse and GamersGate - have announced that they are boycotting
Modern Warfare 2 and will never have the PC version of the game on sale on their networks.
The row stems from the
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's
reliance on IWNet for multiplayer gaming, which is built on Valve's Steamworks system and therefore requires the installation of Steamworks to run.
"
We don't believe games should force the user to install a Trojan Horse," a Direct2Drive spokesperson told
Kotaku.
Activision and Infinity Ward announced that
Modern Warfare 2 would make use of Valve's
Steamworks system just a few weeks ago, at the same time saying that they implement the system in such a way that there is no support for dedicated servers and user-generated content.
The Steamworks tool kit itself however can be used to add a number of functions to Steam games, such as game authentication, auto-patching and syncing with the
Steam Cloud. Valve have previously claimed that the system would
make DRM completely obsolete and have
released the system for free as a way to encourage developers to use it.
Direct2Drive has claimed it will boycott the title as it is unhappy that the game should require the installation of a rival's software and that it will not support or sell an Steamworks games until Valve "
decouples itself from the marketplace".
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