A growing number of the biggest PC games are making use of Valve's SteamWorks tools and that doesn't seem to bode well with brick and mortar game retailers who don't want to promote their competitor's services.
"If we have a digital service, then I don't want to start selling a rival in-store," the digital boss at one of the biggest UK games retailers told MCV-UK. "Publishers are creating a monster - we are telling suppliers to stop using Steam in their games."
The head of sales at a big-name digital service provider agreed: "At the moment the big digital distributors need to stock games with Steam. But the power resides with bricks and mortar retailers; they can refuse to stock these titles. Publishers are hesitant, but retail must put pressure on them."
Industry experts estimate that Steam controls more than 80% of the online games distribution market.