"half life was a mistake, it's nothing but trash"
EA explains why they release games only on Origin
- Thread starter Stumpokapow
- Start date
"half life was a mistake, it's nothing but trash"
The people who play games on Origin, i.e the Battlefield, Sims and Dragon Age players do just that, don't bat an eye and leveraging their most successful franchises to be exclusive on Origin seems to be doing them just fine. They do not need Steam to market their titles and 30% of Battlefield 4 numbers would be quite hefty for EA.
Delusibeta
Banned
ITT: delusional and/or stupid EA fan boys seriously arguing that EA would make less money if they release their games on Steam.
So you think their game Unravel will sell as well on Origin, as it would on Steam? It does not have enough pull or a dedicated fan base. And I doubt there is much overlap between Battlefield players. Maybe a bit with DA. (Though Unravel apparently goes for genuine emotional reactions, not obvious manipulated ones.)
I think EA would sell even more if they had their games on Steam as well. Some numbers from their existing games on Steam were already posted.
Regarding "30% of Battlefield 4 numbers", I can apparently already buy a digital key from Amazon. Does Amazon get 30% of that? I don't know the details. Also, it's not a pure 30% profit, because EA has to finance and maintain their own servers/support/store/API/etc. instead of using existing Steam features.
Maybe, maybe not - depends on the general coverage the game will get. Obviously it won't get a multi-million marketing budget like Battlefront. I don't think they are counting on that game to get much of a PC audience at any rate.
ShockingAlberto
Member
EA can do what they want. But using Origin is enough of a hassle for me that I usually don't bother.
I also firmly believe Titanfall would still have a community on PC if it were on Steam instead. So I'm loathe to get games (not named Battlefield) that rely on a multiplayer community because I don't think that community will be there after a while. It's why I probably won't get Battlefront.
I also firmly believe Titanfall would still have a community on PC if it were on Steam instead. So I'm loathe to get games (not named Battlefield) that rely on a multiplayer community because I don't think that community will be there after a while. It's why I probably won't get Battlefront.
Sportbilly
Member
I would agree if they didn't also sell games on most other store fronts (all of whom are likely to take a cut of around 30%), except for Steam itself.
It looks like a two-pronged strategy- a cash grab- which I have no problem with, it's their games and their company- coupled with an attempt to damage a competitor- which feels sleazy.
GrandHarrier
Member
Our experiences seem to be polar opposites because mine have been:
1) Click Origin icon.
2) Origin opens with my saved account details.
This is the same for Steam when I click on it as well. I don't understand how they are different. The day that moving the mouse cursor a hundred pixels to the side before I click is too hard to play a game is the day I'm probably done with games.
flaxknuckles
Member
Steam has more features than Origin that I like. And I despise anything that makes me do extra work to set up Big Picture Mode. Hell, some peoples whole reason for being console gamers is because they don't want to do a lot of setup or configuration because it screws with the pick up and play aspect (as we have heard many times in this forum). So why is it so hard to understand that some PC gamers want everything to be in one convenient place and don't want to mess with other clients, especially when they conflict with the Steam overlay and constantly forget passwords and other fuckery?
The only game I bought on Origin is PvZ Garden Warfare, but I almost never played it because all my friends are on Steam. I didn't bother to open Origin since.
I also don't like what Origin has become: a console-like closed ecosystem, with more (overpriced) DLC than actual games and no support for mods or community content.
I understand that EA wants to create it's own store, but it's just lame to force people to use it by pulling their games from Steam.
I don't feel like giving EA my money anymore. I only still care about the Bioware games, and I buy them used for console while ignoring all DLC.
I also don't like what Origin has become: a console-like closed ecosystem, with more (overpriced) DLC than actual games and no support for mods or community content.
I understand that EA wants to create it's own store, but it's just lame to force people to use it by pulling their games from Steam.
I don't feel like giving EA my money anymore. I only still care about the Bioware games, and I buy them used for console while ignoring all DLC.
alexandros
Banned
There's no context, he just ended the interview and left.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
unprecedented agnosticity
Ploid 3.0
Member
Origin is awesome, keep at it EA, cut the middle man. PC people are smart, they know how to buy games on the internet. EA don't need Steam to sell their games, same for many other big companies. People that only buy from steam have their reasons and it's good that they can game without stepping outside of steam.
GrandHarrier
Member
That's fine. I just think it's silly to call the process difficult or even bothersome. I've gone as far, on a lark, of making it so I can launch Origin through Steam itself. It's literally nothing more than a button press, no different than clicking the library or store page icon. Also, if I'm not mistaken, non steam games launched through steam still have the overlay.
sneakydomo
Banned
Why doesn't Pizza Hut allow Dominoes to sell their pizza and take a 30% cut? I'm sure many customer who like both kinds of pizza would prefer only having to go to one store for all their pizza needs. Why? Because Pizza Hut isn't stupid and neither is EA.
charlequin
Banned
Let's just get this out of the way upfront: this is not a profit-motivated decision. EA makes less money selling games for 100%, minus all the costs of running their own distribution infrastructure (CDN bandwidth prices, engineer salaries, billing and customer support teams, etc.) than they would getting 70% while having their games available on the largest DD platform. There are plenty of potential reasons to run something like Origin, but actual raw profit simply isn't one of them.
For the record, I have four game DD clients set to run on startup right now -- Steam, Origin, GOG Galaxy, and Battle.net. Origin isn't the worst possible client (it's better than any incarnation of GFWL and dramatically better than the garbage that is uPlay) but that doesn't make it an actual net benefit to players, and it's the only one of those four clients that delivers exactly zero value-add beyond simply unlocking the specific games exclusive to that service.
This is nonsense. Corporations are just entities made of people, and people make terrible decisions all the time. This is literally the thing that makes it difficult to succeed in business -- most people in every line of business are constantly making bad choices and failing to be profitable as a result.
In terms of this specific type of issue, there's all kinds of things that could influence it: pure pride and stubbornness, sure, but maybe also a misguided idea that it'll be more profitable four or five years down the line, or an excessive desire for control above and beyond actual profitability.
If we went back to the old status quo, where Steam sold EA games that unlocked on Origin and Origin sold Valve games that unlocked on Steam, that would be more competitive than the current situation, not less.
In general, people say a lot of pretty bizarre stuff about "competition" in these threads, as if any scenario where corporations screw each other is automatically beneficial to the consumer. In products where companies hold limited monopolies (like, say, any medium of copyrighted works) many forms of competition have a net negative result for consumers. In order for competition to directly benefit end consumers, it needs to directly inspire lower prices or added functionality, neither of which Origin does in its current incarnation.
In order to actually put pressure on Steam, they'd need to actually sell meaningful quantities of something that Steam also sells (they don't, approximately zero people buy Ubi games or whatever on Origin) and have a featureset or pricing that encourage people to stray. Someone like GOG actually does this, by emphasizing features Steam can't provide (a DRM-free guarantee) while moving to close feature gaps with Steam's client (rolling out auto-updating and cross-play online with Steam players.)
(Alternately someone could provide competition to Steam by simply focusing on storefront competition and not trying to badly duplicate client features -- right now when you buy a game with a Steam key on Amazon or Green Man Gaming, you're fostering competition with Valve since they don't see a cent of those purchases.)
For the record, I have four game DD clients set to run on startup right now -- Steam, Origin, GOG Galaxy, and Battle.net. Origin isn't the worst possible client (it's better than any incarnation of GFWL and dramatically better than the garbage that is uPlay) but that doesn't make it an actual net benefit to players, and it's the only one of those four clients that delivers exactly zero value-add beyond simply unlocking the specific games exclusive to that service.
This is nonsense. Corporations are just entities made of people, and people make terrible decisions all the time. This is literally the thing that makes it difficult to succeed in business -- most people in every line of business are constantly making bad choices and failing to be profitable as a result.
In terms of this specific type of issue, there's all kinds of things that could influence it: pure pride and stubbornness, sure, but maybe also a misguided idea that it'll be more profitable four or five years down the line, or an excessive desire for control above and beyond actual profitability.
If we went back to the old status quo, where Steam sold EA games that unlocked on Origin and Origin sold Valve games that unlocked on Steam, that would be more competitive than the current situation, not less.
In general, people say a lot of pretty bizarre stuff about "competition" in these threads, as if any scenario where corporations screw each other is automatically beneficial to the consumer. In products where companies hold limited monopolies (like, say, any medium of copyrighted works) many forms of competition have a net negative result for consumers. In order for competition to directly benefit end consumers, it needs to directly inspire lower prices or added functionality, neither of which Origin does in its current incarnation.
In order to actually put pressure on Steam, they'd need to actually sell meaningful quantities of something that Steam also sells (they don't, approximately zero people buy Ubi games or whatever on Origin) and have a featureset or pricing that encourage people to stray. Someone like GOG actually does this, by emphasizing features Steam can't provide (a DRM-free guarantee) while moving to close feature gaps with Steam's client (rolling out auto-updating and cross-play online with Steam players.)
(Alternately someone could provide competition to Steam by simply focusing on storefront competition and not trying to badly duplicate client features -- right now when you buy a game with a Steam key on Amazon or Green Man Gaming, you're fostering competition with Valve since they don't see a cent of those purchases.)
They shouldn't count for it if they put it on Origin, clearly.
It just seems weird when it would clearly be the best choice to put it on the storefront (not just platform, but storefront) that clearly generates the most digital PC sales.
And I really hope no one here is doubting that Steam is the biggest general digital PC gaming storefront. Not without some detailed statistic that shows some remarkable trend the last few years. (Which I would be genuinely interested to read!)
Wiktor
Member
People better get used to separate clients. They're not going anywhere. In fact, we'll probably be getting couple more in next few years.
I do wonder why Ubi still sells on Steam, while EA doesn't. I guess it's the matter of DLCs? EA relies on them far more and AFAIR Valve has banned selling games on Steam that also don't have all DLCs on Steam too.
I do wonder why Ubi still sells on Steam, while EA doesn't. I guess it's the matter of DLCs? EA relies on them far more and AFAIR Valve has banned selling games on Steam that also don't have all DLCs on Steam too.
flaxknuckles
Member
You can navigate Origin with a controller? Because I don't have a keyboard and mouse plugged into my living-room PC mostly. I turn it on and Steam BPM comes up and I happily play games until I have to launch Origin, Uplay, or deal with a configuration pop-up. I don't like to be hunched over a keyboard burning my eyes out 2 feet away from the monitor. Nor do I like coming home from a long day at work and having to do any extra crap adding games as non-steam software and hunting down Steam grid icons (assuming someone even made one for the particular game).
If EA was actually interested in competition they would give Origin feature-parity with Steam. But they have only done the bare-minimum and added yet another useless DRM client to PC except now with its own exclusive games. That forgets my password every time I boot it up. Plus, Battelog sucks.
Would be the greatest if Ubisoft and EA would realize that. Just sell Steam keys and you'll get a whole bunch of weirdos who so voraciously want to give you your extra 30% cut because developers gotta eat (even though corporate execs will take the lion's share of that money and then layoff the development team anyway).
You could argue their refund policy and customer support are pushing Valve to get better on that front (and possibly was a contributing factor in Valve introducing their refund policy?).
flaxknuckles
Member
You should give EU credit for pushing for better digital rights that made Valve implement refunds. And plus, only EA-published games are eligible for Origin refunds so I don't know how they keeping getting props for that.
SlickShoes
Member
I am one of those people that will cut off their nose to spite their face.
I don't use origin, I can't be fucked maintaining another client with another log in with game updates due when I eventually can be bothered to log in to it.
I barely start steam up these days but I uninstalled origin ages ago because the off chance I want to play BF3 or Titanfall is not worth the hassle of bothering with it.
It seems daft yes, but when you have limited gaming time and shite internet the last thing you need is multiple clients all wanting updates.
I don't use origin, I can't be fucked maintaining another client with another log in with game updates due when I eventually can be bothered to log in to it.
I barely start steam up these days but I uninstalled origin ages ago because the off chance I want to play BF3 or Titanfall is not worth the hassle of bothering with it.
It seems daft yes, but when you have limited gaming time and shite internet the last thing you need is multiple clients all wanting updates.
Principate
Saint Titanfall
Probably because people only buy EA games on Origin...
King Gilga
Member
Steam doesn't forget my password every time it updates.
Origin does, its a massive pita. I have a notepad file with my origin password on it now for the times I actually open origin every couple months.
Well the one good thing about Origin is that it makes it easy to avoid all EA's games. :/
Seriously though I'm not installing more clients on my PC. One is enough for me. There is more than enough on Steam to keep me busy. If EA don't want to tempt me with their products that's cool.
ME2 and DA2 were big enough disappointments that it soured me on the New EA...
Seriously though I'm not installing more clients on my PC. One is enough for me. There is more than enough on Steam to keep me busy. If EA don't want to tempt me with their products that's cool.
ME2 and DA2 were big enough disappointments that it soured me on the New EA...
EA sells its games outside of Origin (Amazon, GamersGate, GMG, Nuuvem, and so on). Steam is the exception, not the rule. People like to point to Origin as an example of competition, but when EA deliberately ignores the largest player in the PC DD market, that's fragmentation.
I have no qualms buying games outside of Steam if I absolutely have to, however the only Origin game of interest to me thus far is The Saboteur. I collect Steam games, though, so if EA were to release its Origin games on Steam with Uplayesque client integration, then I'd be more than happy to snap them up during a sale, but until then...
Edit: A little history lesson on EA leaving Steam behind:
I believe the DLC policy no longer applies, though. Valve created a DLCisAvailableOnStore flag, which seems like a pretty useless distinction to make if Valve requires that you sell your DLC on the Steam Store in addition to elsewhere, plus pre-ordering Subnautica via the developer's website earned you some sort of vehicle skin that isn't available to purchase separately on Steam -- and neither was said version of the game (I'm sure there are other similar examples, but that's the one that sticks out in my mind the most).
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
What?
The policy isn't "you are not allowed to sell your own dlc". It's "If you sell a game to a Steam customer make sure they have the same access to goods as a non-steam customer does".
It is impossible to argue that in any way that is not customer first.
That's more akin to retailer exclusive preorder bonuses, than "sideloaded" dlc, and is still activated through the Steam system.
Well, yes, obviously.
My point was that it the DLC wasn't available through the Steam Store in addition to the developer's website, not that it wasn't available on Steam at all. Perhaps a more pertinent example would be The Repopulation -- there are silver and gold packages on the Steam Store, but the official website offers two higher tiers and yet, as per SteamDB, there's just the one DLC app for the Steam version ("Gold Package").MrNyarlathotep
Banned
Well, yes, obviously.
My interpretation of the Steam DLC policy - and like anyone its a best guess - is as a customer friendly move rather than a OMG I GOTS TA GET MAH MONEYS move because it is incredibly easy to envisage a scenario where a developer puts a game up that's free to play, immediately transfers you into their own shopping menu entirely outside of the steam system, then scalps your credit card details for nefarious purposes.
Like, the only way you could see trying to enforce transactions to be inside a secure and trusted environment as a bad thing is if you have Valve Hate Goggles on.
Consider yourself lucky. In my case, Origin corrupted itself every time it downloaded a new update, forcing me to delete and reinstall the client. It happened in two separate occasions with two different updates, which made me uninstall it for good.
But yes, for some unknown reason it's "good" that we have it as competition, some say. Never mind the fact that it sells totally different products than Steam, and has far less features.
I hate myself for saying this, but I'm going to pay money for two Origin games in the future: ME and Unravel. Damn.
Bonfires Down
Member
Yeah, what the hell is up with that? It asks for my password every single time even though I always check the remember box...
alexandros
Banned
I clicked on the thread expecting to find reasons. I didn't expect that the explanation would actually be "because reasons".
Sure, okay. I'm just illustrating why I believe the policy is no longer enforced -- the underlying point being that EA could sell DLC for its more recent games entirely outside of Steam as it previously did to a degree (e.g. the Mass Effect 1/2 DLC that can only be bought using space bucks).
The user experience sucks when you're trying to maintain a living room PC style setup and you have clients like uPlay and Origin shitting the whole thing up. Ironically Valve will actually solve navigation issues caused by Ubi/EA's launchers in living room setups with the Steam Controller's trackpads.
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
Oh, I agree that EAs purported reasons are bullshit, and if Valve had worked with them for a solution to that particular issue EA would have found some other point of contention to justify doing what they did.
I also think returning to Steam is somewhat inevitable because their shareholders like money more than they like being in control, and there's only so many games you can throw onto "On The House" immediately before a financial briefing to bump your Origin usage stats.
I heard Origin really found it's footing in the last two years and there a quite a few exclusive titles coming that are interesting, but as of now, I won't ever go there.
EA has fucked me so many times in the past, closed down my favorite studios or changed them beyond recognition, killed many fantastic franchises or made bizarrely bad choices for new iterations that I won't ever give them money for a new title again. I couldn't help myself and bought the old Bullfrog titles on gog though.
Doesn't help that I pretty much hate their PR talk and that they made many right moves in 07/08 that ultimately only ended in more of the same.
I'm not steam only btw, even though I like to play my games there. I like gog.com too and Blizzard's store is not bad either.
So this statement just helps me to not set Star Wars on my 'to buy' list.
EA has fucked me so many times in the past, closed down my favorite studios or changed them beyond recognition, killed many fantastic franchises or made bizarrely bad choices for new iterations that I won't ever give them money for a new title again. I couldn't help myself and bought the old Bullfrog titles on gog though.
Doesn't help that I pretty much hate their PR talk and that they made many right moves in 07/08 that ultimately only ended in more of the same.
I'm not steam only btw, even though I like to play my games there. I like gog.com too and Blizzard's store is not bad either.
So this statement just helps me to not set Star Wars on my 'to buy' list.
Yeah, as I've said in the past, that the performance metric changed from total user accounts to total installs (i.e. total downloads) is quite telling. The other shoe is eventually going to drop.