GameStop Won’t Distribute Dawn Of War 2 Because Of Steam

As of January 15th, GameStop started taking preorders for Dawn Of War 2, but less than a week later it stopped taking preorders and removed all references to the game.

Dawn Of War 2 has already gone gold (reached the final stage of production, and is ready for distribution) and is slated for release on February 19, 2009.

Sources close to GameStop claim that the store delisted the game due to its strong ties with Steam. Allegedly, installing Steam is mandatory to be able to play Dawn Of War 2, even if it's a retail version or a digital download one. Understandably, it seems that GameStop doesn't like to distribute a competing distribution outlet to its customers.

Valve, THQ and GameStop refused to comment.