News

4M users have installed EA's Origin
Posted: 10.09.2011 06:56 by JonahFalcon Comments: 17
Electronic Arts is doing its best to put its mark on the digital distribution market - it had already broken into the market with EA Download Manager. Their new platform, Origin, will sell all of Electronic Arts' published games, but unlike Download Manager, will sell non-EA games as well, making it a competitor for services like Valve and Direct2Drive.

According to EA's chief financial officer Eric Brown, "Initially, Origin is set up to deliver EA games, but very soon, we'll be delivering third-party content to Origin," and added that EA plans to "leverage our backend infrastructure -- the 130 million-plus registered users that we have, the multitude of digital payment methods, et cetera."

EA's PC games now by default install Origin to users' PCs, even if the game is purchased at physical retail. "We're fairly excited about Origin," Brown revealed. "We have about 4 million installs of the client, we expect that number to climb substantially as we enter this ... holiday season."

Third party support will be coming as well. EA boss John Riccitiello stated in July, "We've had a lot of inbound inquiry (from third parties) about getting on (Origin). I think forward-looking publishers really want their content on any and every platform possible. One more sale is better than not."
Source: Gamasutra

Comments

By SirRoderick (SI Elite) on Sep 10, 2011
SirRoderick
Just 6 936 000 000 more to go guys.
By James_Day (SI Newbie) on Sep 10, 2011
James_Day
It wouldn't surprise me if most of those 4k were Sims 3 players. That game has forced players to have Download Manager/Origin to be able to access the content store and game updates since it launched.
By neilmike (SI Core) on Sep 10, 2011
neilmike
hmmm, this was to be expected and it will upset steam i think?
By nocutius (SI Elite) on Sep 10, 2011
nocutius
Ah well, we're screwed.
I expected some resistance after seeing those Origin T&C's but i guess people don't care.
By MindCoil (SI Veteran Member) on Sep 10, 2011
MindCoil
Wondering if they counted all the people who uninstalled it, or even reinstalling for that matter... 'Cause I had to twice because it liked to crash.

What will uproot Steam, is Steam itself. EA seems to do that a lot to themselves,
By JonahFalcon (SI Elite) on Sep 10, 2011
JonahFalcon
EA has more, far more, first party titles than Valve.
By Maffia01 (SI Member) on Sep 10, 2011
Maffia01
Well I didn't install it willingly.

Mind you I suppose I didn't install Steam willingly originally either, I still prefer Stem though.
By Chosen_One (SI Elite) on Sep 10, 2011
Chosen_One
Imagine how many will join when battlefield will release, cus that Son of A w***e EA will demand origin to play BF3
By herodotus (SI Herodotus) on Sep 10, 2011
herodotus
That's right. Origin numbers will soar, but the regionalised pricing is a sticking point with Region 4 gamers. The prices Origin are asking (as are Steam) are around $10 MORE than the fully packaged retail release here in Oz (with prices set to drop by 40% for retail next Feb.). However, as with "BF: BC - Vietnam" the DLC will need to be bought directly from EA through Origin. Damn!
By FoolWolf (SI Elite) on Sep 12, 2011
FoolWolf
I installed it willingly some time back - don't have it running all the time - only starts it to download the clients for the games. Started when I bought Crysis 2...

Still - it is a pain to need several online services - but you already have Blizzard, Steam, Origin and UbiSoft...
By herodotus (SI Herodotus) on Sep 12, 2011
herodotus
Not forgetting the inimitable GFWL:)
By FoolWolf (SI Elite) on Sep 13, 2011
FoolWolf
GFWL is a not a service - it is a curse - an abomination an affront to all PC players ;)
By nocutius (SI Elite) on Sep 13, 2011
nocutius
Any of these is a curse when it's required to run together with another one. One at a time is enough.
By SirRoderick (SI Elite) on Sep 13, 2011
SirRoderick
One at a time is one too many.
By nocutius (SI Elite) on Sep 13, 2011
nocutius
ah, we've got a dreamer here :)
By herodotus (SI Herodotus) on Sep 14, 2011
herodotus
Still it beats Tages and StarForce being installed instead:(
By nocutius (SI Elite) on Sep 14, 2011
nocutius
Especially if you make your living as a DVD drive :)