EA says that it pulled the demo because it couldn’t figure out a way to keep it exclusive.
Earlier this month, BioWare revealed that GameStop employees would get early access to the Dragon Age 2 demo. Unfortunately, it seems that in the days that followed, someone at EA decided that wasn’t such a good idea after all.
It was the GameStop link on the BioWare site that first revealed the existence of the demo in the first place. BioWare initially tried to downplay the link, saying that until the demo was officially announced, any talk of it was just speculation. It wasn’t long before it changed its tune however, and confirmed both that the demo was coming, and that GameStop employees would get it early.
Appropriately enough, the link on the BioWare site was also the first indication that the situation had changed. The offer has been removed from the site, and in its place is a short note saying that the offer had been cancelled due to “security concerns.” No further information is given on the site, apart from the fact that GameStop employees now have to wait until February 22nd like everybody else.
In an official statement, EA said that it had wanted to give some of its partners early access to the demo, but couldn’t figure out a way to keep it exclusive. With that in mind, it said, the decision had been made to rescind the early access offer. It seems like a slightly strange reason pull the demo, as you’d think that that kind of security issue is something that BioWare and EA would have figured out before making the demo available, not after. Oversights do happen however, and it’s not like there’s long to wait before until the demo’s actual release.
When the demo does go live in a few days time, it will give players an introduction to the main character Hawke, the city of Kirkwall, and the party member – and potential love interest – Isabella. What’s more, completing the demo will give players access to a magic sword called Hayder’s Razor, which boosts health, mana, and combat abilities.
Dragon Age 2 comes out for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on March 8th.
Source: Joystiq
Published: Feb 11, 2011 12:26 pm