I think that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 can easily win the award for the most controversial release in the series, especially when it comes to the PC version of the game – one that really disappointed tons of gamers.

Now there’s another problem with Infinity Ward’s game, one more connected with the industry: digital distribution portals Direct2Drive and Impulse are now refusing to sell Modern Warfare 2! Unfortunately, the reason behind that is not their support for the computer gamers’ community, but the fact that the game comes packed with Steamworks – in other words, bundled with Steam.

According to website 2404.org, D2D explained:

“At Direct2Drive, we believe strongly that when you buy a game from us, you shouldn’t be forced to install and run a 3rd party software client to be able to play the game you purchased. Because COD MW 2 requires you, the consumer, to do that, we aren’t able to offer the game via Direct2Drive at this time.”

Also, Stardock’s Impulse won’t be offering the game for the same reasons: “Impulse will not be selling Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 either. We share some of the same concerns as Direct2Drive over the bundling of the Steam client with the game. The most obvious issue is the forced inclusion of a competitor’s store that blocks us from carrying the game. Our issues with the game are solely with the Steamworks bundling. We enjoy a great relationship with Activision and would love to sell the title, but not with Steam”

However, I am sure that this won’t teach Inifinity Ward a lesson either and, even more, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sales won’t be affected too much because it was obvious that, thanks to the Steamworks integration, most of the sales were going to come from Steam anyway… However, great to see the two websites taking the matter into their own hands and refusing to promote the “enemy”.

Tags: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Direct2Drive, FPS, Impulse, Mainstream, Modern Warfare 2, Online distribution, Protest