EA Gets Ready to Throw Down With Steam - UPDATED

[Sean Strife]

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah... this idea's gonna tank. And tank horribly. They'll wind up going back to Steam once Origin fails miserably.

The problem is it won't fail. If horrible things like GFWL still exist I can't imagine this will die.

If Origins winds up costing EA more money than they're making from it: they'll cut it. Keep in mind: EA is a corporation, and corporations are ALL about money, no exceptions.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

To everyone saying "but Steam was crappy when it first came out too, so don't be so hard on Origin". Yes Steam sucked at first (I remember swearing to never use it either back in the HL1 days). But the comparison isn't really valid simply because Steam didn't have any competition to be compared with, Origin does. It's like the iPhone...it sucked when it first came out, but had no competition and did well. Windows Phone 7 also sucked when it first came out, but had iOS and Android as competition, and it's not doing very well. It may not be fair, but Origin will have to compete with Steam quickly or it will fail.

Agreed, Steam is the standard now for what any would be online distributor should aiming for and be looking to surpass. I don't see EA being a company that can beat Valve for bargains and customer service.

 

[Judgement101]

So a company that a lot of people hate said "Let's compete with a company people love"

"Okay!" says the EA marketing director

-6 days later-

"Well, looks like we fucked up!" exclaims the EA president

 

[Sean Strife]

Ok I really need a answer for this...Whats going to happen to my precious Mass Effect game and Dragon Age. I don't own the box just the digital download.

Reading the update to this story: absolutely nothing.

 

[moose_man]

Wait, what about Bioware games!? Do I have to download this Origin shit to play Bioware games?!

 

[synobal]

Wait, what about Bioware games!? Do I have to download this Origin shit to play Bioware games?!

For future games most likely.

 

[Redingold]

Wait, what about Bioware games!? Do I have to download this Origin shit to play Bioware games?!

Well, since TOR is a Bioware game, yes. You do. We can only hope that ME3 is still available through Steam.

 

[DaHero]

There's only one way to put this...


Steam: Oh! Ruuuun! ruuuun! I'm coming for youuuu!!!

EA: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

 

[Chadling]

I'll wait to see if Origin actually works. Considering that this is EA, I'm not expecting it too.

 

[Canid117]

Sorry EA but I trust valve more than you.

 

[moose_man]

Wait, what about Bioware games!? Do I have to download this Origin shit to play Bioware games?!

For future games most likely.

Oh God.

OH GOD.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[archvile93]

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah... this idea's gonna tank. And tank horribly. They'll wind up going back to Steam once Origin fails miserably.

The problem is it won't fail. If horrible things like GFWL still exist I can't imagine this will die.

If Origins winds up costing EA more money than they're making from it: they'll cut it. Keep in mind: EA is a corporation, and corporations are ALL about money, no exceptions.

I have my doubts, but I really hope you're right. I can already tell this is going to be bad, and I don't want this starting a trend where every game company has to have its own mandatory online distribution and DRM system. If i have top have 18 of those things running on my system at once to play my games I may just have to get a 360 and let MS bleed me dry with a gold membership so I can play the other half of the games I buy.

Edit: oops wrong quote, sorry...okay there we go

 

[synobal]

I'll wait to see if Origin actually works. Considering that this is EA, I'm not expecting it too.

As of right now it's just a rebranded reskinned version of EADM with some tacked on social networking features. Their DRM and download system works the same.

 

[WonderWillard]

Why all the hate for EA and Origin? I used it to get my free copy of Mass Effect 2 for the PC, from Bioware's sequel celebration with Dragon Age 2, and it seems to work fine for me. I don't use it or Steam too often though, so I can't say too much.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

As someone who has fought tooth and nail with the EA download manager for years via The Sims 3. I would highly advise against even going near this thing

It will probably make kittens explode as a random bug.

 

[aashell13]

"It's unfortunate that Steam has removed Crysis 2 from their service. This was not an EA decision or the result of any action by EA," the company explained. [...] Unfortunately, Crytek has an agreement with another download service which violates the new rules from Steam and resulted in its expulsion of Crysis 2 from Steam."

Wait. So Valve kicked Crysis 2 off steam because crytek made it available on other digital distribution platforms? Did I read that right?

Because if so, this is the first major misstep which I can recall valve making with steam. Ejecting a product from your service because the producer decided to make it available somewhere else also can't be good business, can it?

 

[The Sane]

"It's unfortunate that Steam has removed Crysis 2 from their service. This was not an EA decision or the result of any action by EA," the company explained. [...] Unfortunately, Crytek has an agreement with another download service which violates the new rules from Steam and resulted in its expulsion of Crysis 2 from Steam."

Wait. So Valve kicked Crysis 2 off steam because crytek made it available on other digital distribution platforms? Did I read that right?

Because if so, this is the first major misstep which I can recall valve making with steam. Ejecting a product from your service because the producer decided to make it available somewhere else also can't be good business, can it?

Of the little information I've seen on the subject, it seems Valve kicked Crisis 2 off because EA refused to supply Steam any game patches, opting for a separate downloader only.


Or something.... ?

 

[Sean Strife]

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah... this idea's gonna tank. And tank horribly. They'll wind up going back to Steam once Origin fails miserably.

The problem is it won't fail. If horrible things like GFWL still exist I can't imagine this will die.

If Origins winds up costing EA more money than they're making from it: they'll cut it. Keep in mind: EA is a corporation, and corporations are ALL about money, no exceptions.

I have my doubts, but I really hope you're right. I can already tell this is going to be bad, and I don't want this starting a trend where every game company has to have its own mandatory online distribution and DRM system. If i have top have 18 of those things running on my system at once to play my games I may just have to get a 360 and let MS bleed me dry with a gold membership so I can play the other half of the games I buy.

Edit: oops wrong quote, sorry...okay there we go

I pride myself in having an above-average understanding of how the corporate and marketing minds work. I give it a year tops, and if Origins winds up costing them too much money, they'll cut it.

 

[aashell13]

Of the little information I've seen on the subject, it seems Valve kicked Crisis 2 off because EA refused to supply Steam any game patches, opting for a separate downloader only.


Or something.... ?

Ok, that makes more sense. Still, I find it curious that EA would say that this is "...not the result of any action by EA" if it was an EA decision to discontinue support for the steam version which prompted the game's removal.

 

[jpoon]

Can't wait to see this one flop, even though I don't use steam.