It's one of the biggest PC game releases of the first quarter but the US's biggest brick-and-mortar game retailer Gamestop has apparently stopped taking pre-orders from customers for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. The sci-fi RTS game from Relic and THQ had a deal with Gamestop to offer its customers a pre-order special that included extra maps, armor and other exclusive in-game content.

Big Download has confirmed that the game no longer appears on Gamestop's web site and calls to local Gamestop stores have also confirmed that the game can no longer be pre-ordered from their retail store locations. Kotaku, who broke the story, states through unnamed sources that the reason for such a move might be because Gamestop disapproved of THQ's decision to also install Valve's Steam service along with the game.

However, Big Download's conversation with Gamestop employees have offered two other less sinister explanations: Gamestop may have simply sold out of all the pre-order units it was willing to take for the game or the recent change in the game's release date from Feb. 23 to Feb. 19 may have screwed up Gamestop's ordering system (also Valve's games like Left 4 Dead, which also install the Steam client, haven't been pulled from Gamestop's site).

A THQ spokesperson told Big Download they could not comment on the situation. The spokesperson added, "The game is available at all other major retail and online outlets." Emails and phone called to both Gamestop and Valve reps have yet to be returned.