Gabe Newell Opens the Door To Origin On SteamOS

[Andy Chalk]

Gabe Newell Opens the Door To Origin On SteamOS

Gabe Newell says Electronic Arts is welcome to put Origin on SteamOS if it wants to.

Gabe Newell spent some time on Reddit last night, as you The Heart of Racing [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131376-Gabe-Newell-Gets-Ignored-on-Reddit-Posts-Selfie-to-Prove-Identity] event the conversation naturally took a turn toward gaming. That led one Reddit user to ask why Valve would make Steam Machines "so proprietary" when it's spoken out against proprietary platforms in the past.

"What part is proprietary? We're trying to make it as open as possible," Newell responded. "If EA wants to put Origin on it, that would be fine, etc... (trying to pick an example of something that people think we would prohibit)."

You may recall that Valve and Electronic Arts up to Valve [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111041-EA-Gets-Ready-to-Throw-Down-With-Steam-UPDATED] to convince EA of the benefits of being on Steam but by all appearances, relations between the two have remained frosty since then.

It's not likely that EA is going to trip over itself whipping up a SteamOS-compatible Origin client based solely on an offhanded-remark on Reddit, but it could be the first step toward a thaw - and if Steam Machines are a hit, EA is going to want Origin on them.

Source: Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/motorsports/comments/1v85hy/the_heart_of_racing_new_team_competing_in_uscc/ceqmaeq?context=3]


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[A-D.]

And the question is response is, why would those who get a steambox, or the steamOS want origin anywhere near it? Seriously i never understood this idea of publishers lately that they have to have their own "steam". I mean at least Ubisoft still utilizes steam and sells their games there, but EA? EA went "im taking my ball and go home" because they wouldnt agree that all DLC they sell has to also be available on steam.

Yes. EA Games are gone from steam because EA refused to put DLC on steam. Just..let that sink in for a minute.

 

[Exterminas]

That is probably the biggest insult that Valve could issue to EA: "You are so little a threat to our service that we don't even have to bother to block you from our OS, since people won't use your crap anyway!"

 

[cerebus23]

Because EA should be torn down to its roots and sold.

It is the united states government of gaming. best analogy i can think of, criminal, lazy, stupid.

 

[Kieve]

Because EA should be torn down to its roots and sold.

It is the united states government of gaming. best analogy i can think of, criminal, lazy, stupid.

As much as I dislike EA, it would be good to keep in mind that they exist because we allow them to.
Until gamers stop buying games with an EA label on them, they will continue to make money, produce more shit games, and perpetuate the cycle.

 

[A-D.]

Because EA should be torn down to its roots and sold.

It is the united states government of gaming. best analogy i can think of, criminal, lazy, stupid.

As much as I dislike EA, it would be good to keep in mind that they exist because we allow them to.
Until gamers stop buying games with an EA label on them, they will continue to make money, produce more shit games, and perpetuate the cycle.

I cant help but think of Sovereign's little monologue from Mass Effect. "You exist because we allow it, you will die because we demand it." Rather apt..and ironic given Mass Effect is a EA title, in a manner of speaking.

 

[Amaror]

Oh Ea should get right on that.
I mean, the more Operating systems the user can choose not to install Origin on the better!

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

This is not a surprising move. The facts are, a lot of people play EA games. Some of those games aren't available on Steam. And if Valve wants gamers to adopt SteamOS, it has to allow people to play their Origin games. It's not an insult, it's not a revolutionary decision. It was to be expected.

 

[Pyrian]

...and if Steam Machines are a hit, EA is going to want Origin on them.

Steam is a hit, and EA isn't particularly fussed about no longer releasing on it. (They probably should be, but they're not.)

 

[Slash2x]

Also, what's the point of buying a Steam Machine when you run the same shit on it you would on PC?

Because it will(should) not be a proprietary and spyware POS like Windows 8 or Origin. I would but assume that Gabe would make EA remove the spyware section of Origin before it would be allowed in the SteamOS. If not I agree why bother, but so far Valve has a track record of not being assholes........

 

[Zagzag]

Also, what's the point of buying a Steam Machine when you run the same shit on it you would on PC?

A steam machine IS a PC. It's just a prebuilt PC being marketed towards living room use by a demographic who wouldn't want to build their own machines, yet want some assurance that they are buying something suitable for gaming.

It's designed to be completely open, so you can run whatever you want on it. Asking why you would buy one when it runs the same things as any other PC is to miss the point somewhat.

Whether this works out for Valve remains to be seen, however.

 

[Colt47]

EA gets a lot of their support from the console market, which is largely unaffected by their Origin platform outside of some connectivity software. I haven't really played any games from EA since Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect 2, and at those times Origin was still web based and not a software system that had to be installed on the clients machine. The problem is that EA is playing second fiddle to Steam, since valve beat them to developing the solution. The man who does the path-finding reaps the biggest benefits.

 

[Zipa]

EA should make Origin on Windows less terrible before they make any attempt to port it to another OS. Trying to do CO OP stuff on Origin games is way harder than it needs to be and often derps out for no good reason.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Oh this will be fun, it's going to make Gabe look like the all around saint while at the same time making EA look like the evil "baddy" that's also a child with his ball.

 

[major_chaos]

Good to see people still spouting the same nonsense about Origin being "spyware".

OT: Interesting statement, although I'm betting EA is going to wait and see if SteamOS actually takes off before they worry about porting Origin to it. Doesn't matter either way to me because fuck SteamOS. (and I would say fuck Steam, but I'm kinda stuck with that PoS.)

 

[Colt47]

The man who does the path-finding reaps the biggest benefits.

True! It's called "first to market" (or "first-mover advantage"). It has the greatest potential for success, also carries the biggest risks since there's very little established market information available.

More times than not, a company's venture into a brand new market will fail. Valve just happened to hit upon a good thing and implemented it well.

EA, traditionally, has not taken risks like that with new market ventures. Heck, the majority of their portfolio is either IP they bought or copied from someone else.

...and often derps out for no good reason.

Actually, there's a very good reason for that happening. You could be a pirate. EA would rather their DRM disconnect any number of valid customers than allow even a single pirate to enjoy their service. But hey, it surely keeps their costs (and prices) down by preventing lost sales, yes?

They like to think that they are protecting sales figures, though I'm fairly sure if they dropped Origin and used a common platform like Steam they would pick up a lot more. What is annoying about EA is that they are basically the same as Blizzard Activision, only they survive off of sports releases and have just recently started to try competing with Call of Duty.