GameStop not selling Dawn of War 2 anymore

According to recent reports on Kotaku, the North American video game store chain GameStop (which is currently expanding into the UK) is now no longer selling or allowing pre-orders for THQ's upcoming Warhammer RTS, Dawn of War 2.

GameStop was apparently still taking pre-orders for the game back on January 15th, even offering an exclusive 'Chapter Command Wargear Set' as an unlockable item to those who pre-ordered through them. Now though, the game has been completely removed from both the online and retail stores.

Normally that would mean the game is cancelled, but THQ launched the Dawn of War 2 beta just yesterday - the game has definitely gone gold, with the American release date being moved forward by a few days.

Instead - and this part is definitely a rumour for now - it seems as if GameStop has decided to stop selling the game because of a disagreement involving Steam. Steam will be a required install for all Dawn of War 2 users and the game will run through Valve's distribution platform, but it seems that Gamestop may feel a bit threatened by introducing so many customers to the online alternative of Steam and has decided to pull Dawn of War 2 from shelves as a result.

If the rumour, which comes from an inside source who's been in contact with Kotaku, is true then it won't be the first time that GameStop has had issues with online distribution platforms. Last April Penny Arcade told Wired that they had had problems with getting GameStop to sell the PC version of the first Penny Arcade Adventures episode because it was linked with the Greenhouse distribution platform.

GameStop is the worlds largest video games store and is owned by the same parent as EB Games, so if the rumour marks the start of a new policy for the company then it could drastically change the way PC gaming develops. Tell us what you think about it all in the forums.