Electronic Arts pulled titles from Steam, including the hotly-anticipated multiplayer shooter Battlefield 3, before rebranding the EA Store. Named ‘Origin’, the new version of the software was famously panned for the rather dubious terms of use, which suggested that the company would be harvesting some data about the machines it was installed on, before selling the information to third-parties. On August 24th, the End User License Agreement was edited to make it sound less questionable, though some gamers have still made their opinions heard. With claims that they would refuse to play Electronic Arts games that use Origin, the company appears to have relented slightly, revealing that Origin will not be offering Electronic Arts titles alone.
As Gamasutra reports, the service will offer third-party titles, as well as Electronic Arts’ own games. The new actions, confirmed by EA’s CFO, Eric Brown, bring the service more in-line with other digital distribution options, such as GoodOldGames and Direct2Drive. At a UBS conference in London earlier today, Eric Brown had the following to say:
"Initially, Origin is set up to deliver EA games, but very soon, we'll be delivering third-party content to Origin."
Following this news, he added further information, saying:
“We have about 4 million installs of the client, we expect that number to climb substantially as we enter this ... holiday season."
His mention of the ‘holiday season’ is not surprising, as EA readies its barrage of titles in time for Christmas. Historically this has included a new Need for Speed title, and this year is no exception, with Need for Speed: The Run, as well as Battlefield 3. Arguably their biggest game at present, Battlefield 3 has been hailed by some parts of the gaming fraternity as a “Call of Duty killer”. Whether this is accurate or not remains to be seen, but it shows the faith that some gamers have in the title, and therefore the likelihood of more installs for EA’s Origin.
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