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Published on June 17th, 2011 | by Brandon
0>EA Apparently Serious About Competing with Steam
>It sounds like EA is doubling down on its new Origin service, hoping to create the next big digital distribution platform for gaming. According to a GamesIndustry.biz interview with EA Games President Frank Gibeau, EA will still work with its retail channel partners, but that Origin will have some exclusive titles. EA has already announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be available only through the new platform. Knowing EA, I fear that Battlefield 3 will probably be Origin-only as well, much to the chagrin of PC gamers like myself who have been waiting to pre-order the game until it shows up on Steam.
Gibeau said that “[Origin] is a platform, it has traits much like you see with Steam or PSN or Xbox Live, but it’s unique to EA.” Yeah, that’s just what everyone wants: a new digital distribution platform forced on us just for one publisher’s games. EA should do right by its customers, which means offering its new titles on Steam and other distribution platforms, in addition to Origin.