Gamestop may not carry Dawn of War 2 because of Steam?

Big Download is following up a rumor that Gamestop may be dropping Dawn of War 2 because it is coming bundled with Steam. The objection is allegedly not Steam per se but the requirement that users are required to use the Steam client, which includes a store, in order to play the game.

Meanwhile, developer Stardock, which launched a competing platform called Impulse this past Summer is nearing release of its answer to Steamworks called Impulse Reactor. While the two are similar in terms of functionality, Impulse Reactor does not require users to use a client but is, instead, a DLL that can be included with the game and hence does not require someone at Gamestop to become a customer of a competing store to play the game.

Big Download has further reporting:

Earlier this week rumors hit the Internet that game retailer Gamestop had decided to cut sales of the upcoming THQ RTS title Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II. Allegedly Gamestop execs were upset the game would install the client software for Steam, the game digital download service and store created by Valve. So far these rumors have yet to be confirmed (and we add that at the moment we are skeptical that Gamestop actually stopped orders for the game because of Steam). However it does illustrate the point that PC gaming is becoming more and more of a digital software download business rather than the standard boxed copy sold at retail and mail order outlets.

So what if you are a developer who wants to be able to have a PC game through both retail stores and digital outlets? Is there some way you can have a balance so one is not competing with the other? Stardock's CEO Brad Wardell says, "Yep!" and is aiming to prove it with a new virtual platform library called Impulse Reactor.