EA might be encroaching on Valve's digital distribution territory with its Origin project, but that hasn't stopped Gabe Newell trying his new competitor out - and giving his verdict.
EA has notoriously stopped many of its recent games appearing on Steam in recent months, since ramping up efforts with Origin - which has now been installed by approximately four million users.
The likes of Battlefield 3 and Mass Effect 3 not expected to appear on Valve's service in Q4 this year.
Speaking in the latest edition of PC Gamer, Newell said that he'd "tried out" Origin. His verdict?
"I think it does some things well. I think there are still some areas where, as a customer, I'd like to see it improve. It's not that different from any other system like this. There are positive things and negative things."
Newell was less tight-lipped when it came to the nature of competition for market leader Steam.
"I and everyone at Valve know that you're only as successful as what you've done lately," he added. "So the idea that Steam is somehow the answer to digital distribution ignores the fact that every two or three years, something is going to change dramatically."
EA has previously admitted that competitive "conflicts" exist between Origin and Steam.
Comments
13 comments so far...
hi0marc on 29 Sep '11 said:
I very much doubt mass effect 3 will feature ANYWHERE in Q4 this year
Otherwise i think origin will be massively boosted by Bf3, battlelog seems to be up n running nicely.
runadumb on 29 Sep '11 said:
I signed up for the BF3 beta (well done EA you sly bastards!) and it started well enough. The first 90% flew down, super speedy and then it slowed to an absolute crawl. Waiting on the final .30% now
The friends feature doesn't seem to be working for me or my mate either. Can't find each other. I do wish it was on steam really but I guess I should give origin a fair crack.
icedmetal57 on 29 Sep '11 said:
Well I'm only upset in that I now have another gaming service to keep track of. I was glad that most games I play were available on Steam and so I stuck with that. I also used Xfire for a while and used Raptr, Playfire and Games For Windows Live. I liked Steam because it had everything I needed except maybe a few titles here or there, typically older games or games that weren't very big titles or mainstream. That's my only gripe with Origin, it's like how Games for Windows Live is, not that it sucks it's just that it's for EA titles only like how GFWL was for just Microsoft published titles.
JJM-NUKE on 29 Sep '11 said:
Yep the friend feature is amazingly slow but i managed to download the beta fine and it runs better than i expected. ( mostly high if you care)
I however do not like it when people say Origin uses less RAM than Steam as it actually uses more when i had them both running, I also don't think Origin has that much of a chance against Steam, and them bragging about their install base is stupid since they converted all the other EA related accounts over to Origin.
JJM-NUKE on 29 Sep '11 said:
Yep the friend feature is amazingly slow but i managed to download the beta fine and it runs better than i expected. ( mostly high if you care)
I however do not like it when people say Origin uses less RAM than Steam as it actually uses more when i had them both running, I also don't think Origin has that much of a chance against Steam, and them bragging about their install base is stupid since they converted all the other EA related accounts over to Origin.
Headsrinker on 29 Sep '11 said:
Competition is definately a good thing. I've been playing BF3 beta on Origin and i think they've done a good job of it. If they want to compete with Steam they've got a very long way to go though. BF3 has probably contributed to 80% of that 4 million users. Steam is so good because of the offers they have every month or so. EA simply doesn't have the gaming catalogue to compete with that, that is, if only EA products are available.
beemoh on 30 Sep '11 said:
I've not seen the full interview, and I probably never will.
But you know what? Handbags. That's what. "oooooOOOOOOOOOOooooh!", as well. Oh yes.
djnicey on 30 Sep '11 said:
I've got a huge catalogue of games on Steam and there's nothing wrong with it. I like my game library in one place, and don't want a different client for every publisher.
If EA stops publishing their games on Steam I'll stop buying them, simple as that.
Obscure_Metaphor on 30 Sep '11 said:
exactly my thoughts. im lazy, i dont go to shops anymore... and i have no interest in filling my machine with bloated pieces of crap that im only gonna use to buy one or two games. my steam collection is 50+ and growing often... theres more than enough on steam to keep me happy.
the only other service im bothering with is onlive.
fyre_and_ice on 30 Sep '11 said:
Does that "4 million users" figure include people like me who have never even been on the Origin website but whos EA accounts from years ago have been automatically changed to Origin accounts?
nb_nmare2 on 30 Sep '11 said:
I think they mean financial year, so Quarter 4 would be January - March.
Drerven on 18 Jan '12 said:
EA don't fight it and just stick with Steam. I don't need you to conveniently "lose" the records of games that I purchased through your store again just so we can argue back and fourth about it for a month for you to just say no in the end. I lost a few games which were all new at the time so they weren't cheap when I got them. I still will not purchase games through the EA store because of past experiences with your "customer service" even if it has a fancy new name.
Billyboru on 25 Feb '12 said:
I personally have never had a worse experience than when I purchased a game from Origin. Instead of making it easy like steam or direct2drive (giving you and instant download and codes upon completion of order) you are forced to wait for a confirmation email, go to another site, and download the game. All steps I can live with, except I never got my confirmation email and its been 2 days. Their customer service is obviously 3rd world and completly useless. I was told to wait a few hours, then a few hours more, then a few hours MORE, then they told me 24 to 48 hours yesterday. So there you go, go to gamestop and get you game cause this service blows!