EA Combining Play4Free with Origin

[MikeWehner]

EA Combining Play4Free with Origin

EA's free-to-play titles will now live exclusively on Origin.

Regardless of how gamers feel about EA's Origin storefront, it's clear that the company is putting all its PC eggs in one basket for the foreseeable future. In the latest move to make Origin the one-stop-shop for all EA titles on PC, the publisher's Play4Free hub is being fully merged with Origin.

The decision to merge the two game launching apps was likely an easy one; Origin can easily function as a portal for all of EA's Play4Free titles, so the need for a separate hub was largely redundant. The official Play4Free website now simply redirects to Origin's free-to-play game directory where titles like Need for Speed World and Battlefield Heroes now reside.

"Other than a new destination URL, nothing about the games has changed," reads the official EA statement on the change. "These are still the premium quality games that are free to download and play, where you control when you want to pay and how much."

Permalink

 

[vxicepickxv]

I wish Activision would follow suit on creating something like Origin. That way I wouldn't have to worry about the same stuff being sold all the time in on the Steam Store.

 

[jackpipsam]

The 'free' option on Origin had already being there for a while along side the play4free website.
So really this was a no brainer.
Still the free section doesn't allow for all the client games to be downloaded through the Origin client itself which is odd, hopefully that will come soon.

To mean the interesting addition to this is that on the free games section there is now non-EA free to play titles (such as Crossfire) which can be downloaded and played through Origin.

Look I know Origin is hated, but I give props to EA for not just leaving it in the dust like GFWL, they seem to be doing a fair job updating it.

EDIT: Okay strange, Crossfire has for some reason all of a sudden been pulled, but now it's in my library.
I guess it's some kind of error.

 

[felbot]

i have to wonder who actually wants to play battlefield heroes, that game is the very definition of pay to win.

 

[PoweD]

and thus, any chance of me returning to this game someday dies.

i have to wonder who actually wants to play battlefield heroes, that game is the very definition of pay to win.

It used to be different, way back in closed beta, Play4Free followed shortly

 

[Slash2x]

And with that what playerbase EA had for their FTP games is gone.

 

[Slash2x]

i have to wonder who actually wants to play battlefield heroes, that game is the very definition of pay to win.

LOL what is your gif from?

 

[SomebodyNowhere]

i have to wonder who actually wants to play battlefield heroes, that game is the very definition of pay to win.

this is pretty much right. I have not played in a long time, but even back when I did play the weapons you could buy with money really did give those players an unfair advantage

 

[felbot]

i have to wonder who actually wants to play battlefield heroes, that game is the very definition of pay to win.

LOL what is your gif from?

I got it from a friend of mine in Malaysia, she posted it in a thread I made back on gaia online, we only bacame friends though after I had tipped the post a couple of times.

 

[Emiscary]

Hey, look everyone, EA's beating a dead horse! Everyone pause for a 1/10th of a second, shrug, and move on with your lives.

 

[Your Gaffer]

I think EA's strategy with Origin is to just do everything Steam does except after Steam has done it and not as well as Steam does it.

 

[octafish]

I think EA's strategy with Origin is to just do everything Steam does except after Steam has done it and not as well as Steam does it.

To be fair to Origin Steam has copied their outlawing of class action lawsuits.

I like Origin, their service is fine and more dependable than Steam in my experience. The store prices are batshit insane though.

 

[Grabehn]

So... just when I was thinking of coming back to play some more BF: Heroes, there's this. I guess no more BF: Heroes for me.

 

[Legion]

"Other than a new destination URL, nothing about the games has changed," reads the official EA statement on the change. "These are still the premium quality games that are free to download and play, where you control when you want to pay and how much."

The second quoation is essentially why I dislike EA so much. Everything they say reads like a mix between a politician and a salesman. It is pretty much their attitude through and through. Why can't they just say things like normal people.

 

[Yureina]

Good. Let EA move all its stuff to Origin and keep it there. Then I won't have to see it anywhere and never give them a drop of my monies. Not that I would anyway...

 

[Your Gaffer]

I think EA's strategy with Origin is to just do everything Steam does except after Steam has done it and not as well as Steam does it.

To be fair to Origin Steam has copied their outlawing of class action lawsuits.

I like Origin, their service is fine and more dependable than Steam in my experience. The store prices are batshit insane though.

I have not run Origin on my computer, my first hand experience has been on customer computers, but I was not impressed.
I have had almost no technical problems with Steam though, have you had stability issues? What kind?

EDIT: Also, on the class action banning, we have ATT and the Supreme Court to thank for that one. Mostly the Supreme Court.

 

[octafish]

I think EA's strategy with Origin is to just do everything Steam does except after Steam has done it and not as well as Steam does it.

To be fair to Origin Steam has copied their outlawing of class action lawsuits.

I like Origin, their service is fine and more dependable than Steam in my experience. The store prices are batshit insane though.

I have not run Origin on my computer, my first hand experience has been on customer computers, but I was not impressed.
I have had almost no technical problems with Steam though, have you had stability issues? What kind?

EDIT: Also, on the class action banning, we have ATT and the Supreme Court to thank for that one. Mostly the Supreme Court.

Agreed on the US Supreme Court thing.

I have been with Steam since HL2, it was pretty much unusable for the first few years. I was locked out of HL2 for the first four months by Steams instability. I still get lengthy system hangs and say bi-monthly crashes. Nothing I won't forgive. My experince with Origin is that I have personally had no problems with it at all. Terrible prices but a reliable client. Faster downloads too. That is probably region based though.

 

[Farther than stars]

"These are still the premium quality games that are free to download and play, where you control when you want to pay and how much."

Shouldn't that be "if you want to pay"? EA's PR-team just makes me sadder and sadder.

 

[Your Gaffer]

I think EA's strategy with Origin is to just do everything Steam does except after Steam has done it and not as well as Steam does it.

To be fair to Origin Steam has copied their outlawing of class action lawsuits.

I like Origin, their service is fine and more dependable than Steam in my experience. The store prices are batshit insane though.

I have not run Origin on my computer, my first hand experience has been on customer computers, but I was not impressed.
I have had almost no technical problems with Steam though, have you had stability issues? What kind?

EDIT: Also, on the class action banning, we have ATT and the Supreme Court to thank for that one. Mostly the Supreme Court.

Agreed on the US Supreme Court thing.

I have been with Steam since HL2, it was pretty much unusable for the first few years. I was locked out of HL2 for the first four months by Steams instability. I still get lengthy system hangs and say bi-monthly crashes. Nothing I won't forgive. My experince with Origin is that I have personally had no problems with it at all. Terrible prices but a reliable client. Faster downloads too. That is probably region based though.

That is so strange. I had Steam starting in 2006 I think, after buying a copy of Counter Strike, and it was slow as hell, I didn't use it very often. In 2008 I started playing more games, I had an upgraded (and pretty great) gaming PC, and it ran really well.
I work as a computer tech, how is your PC running overall besides steam?