Origin signs up 11 more publishers

Origin is now getting serious about being seen as a bona fide digital distribution platform, rather than a vanity project, signing up eleven publishers including CD Projekt RED, 1C Company, and Paradox Interactive.

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Origin is now getting serious about being seen as a bona fide digital distribution platform, rather than a vanity project, as Electronic Arts today announced it has signed up another eleven publishers. Over "the coming months," Origin will add PC games from CD Projekt RED, 1C Company, Paradox Interactive and more, starting today with MMORPG Rift from Trion Worlds.

The eleven joining forces with Origin are The Witcher 2 maker CD Projekt RED, sim and strategy specialist 1C Company, niche publisher Paradox Interactive, To The Moon dev Freebird Games, InXile Entertainment, N3V Games, Core Learning, Trion Worlds, Robot Entertainment, Autumn Games, and Recoil Games.

"Origin is focused on providing choice to consumers and the games they play," Origin VP of business development and marketing Craig Rechenmacher said in the announcement. "From blockbuster franchises to high-quality independent titles, we're bringing the industry's best content to one place. We're excited to welcome new partners and a diverse new line-up of titles to Origin today."

Origin first started selling games from third-party publishers in November, signing up Warner Bros., THQ and Capcom. Industry analysts polled in November weren't impressed by Origin, but signing up more publishers and expanding is at least a step in the right direction for EA.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    January 24, 2012 7:45 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Origin signs up 11 more publishers.

    Origin is now getting serious about being seen as a bona fide digital distribution platform, rather than a vanity project, signing up eleven publishers including CD Projekt RED, 1C Company, and Paradox Interactive.

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      January 24, 2012 7:50 AM

      I don't mind Origin, but I do hope they improve the functionality of the browser with video capture and improvements.

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      January 24, 2012 7:59 AM

      They arnt offering deal like steam is. Ill stick with steam

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        January 24, 2012 8:11 AM

        That sums it all up pretty good, what do they have, more or better? The prices aren't more different than on Steam I suppose otherwise it would have been the a big buzz around that, they don't have better deal, or promotions, to rival Steam's so imho they are a long long way from being more than an annoyance

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          January 24, 2012 8:29 AM

          no better promotions than ea games that will be exclusive to origin. but until origin becomes a better platform i wont be buying any of them bf3 was too much of a hassle to get into games with friends, friends and server browser should all be managable from in game not some web browser i have to quit to go to.

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        January 24, 2012 12:59 PM

        But they do. The free ME2 for Dragon Age 2 owners, I got Crysis for something like $10, $5 Dead Space 2, they have the old Battlefield games on sale pretty often, and they like to give away Medal of Honor and a few other games with preorders.

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        January 24, 2012 3:23 PM

        They run sales they just don't always have daily deals or weekend deals but the do have sales.

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      January 24, 2012 8:36 AM

      1 think i hate - "Origin is focused on providing choice to consumers" - and than they won't let steam sell EA games... really? i say lets make it a fair competition, all same games, try to get same discounts, try to provide better service, and see who gets more people, why trying to restrain users... we all know that restraining pc user is the worst thing one can...

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        January 24, 2012 8:38 AM

        Can't keep exclusive DLC if you go on Steam.

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          January 24, 2012 9:08 AM

          Exclusive DLC is an inane marketing move. Publishers need to stop being so snobby and offer it on all distribution networks. The console platform holders set a bad precedent with platform-exclusive DLC and timed exclusive releases.

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        January 24, 2012 8:46 AM

        Actually its Valve that prevents EA from selling games on Steam due to changing their dlc policy (which they seem to apply randomly).
        I know it isn't all Valves fault. EA is choosing to use DLC in a way Valve forbids. Still, I can buy games off origin that require steam, I don't see why you can't buy games off steam that require origin. Double standards are annoying.

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          January 24, 2012 9:55 AM

          Valve reacted to a trend EA started that was hurting Steam customers and so they changed the Steam policy on DLC. I'm quite comfortable in my determination of who the bad guy is.

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            January 24, 2012 1:15 PM

            Yeah, I agree with this. EA's DLC was not giving Steam players fair and equitable treatment vs. other retailers.

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              January 24, 2012 1:42 PM

              It's interesting to see how in all of this, Valve never spoke out against EA. Only EA has done all of the talking so far.

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        January 24, 2012 2:34 PM

        Do you think valve will sell their games on origin? I love steam and valve but it's the same thing.

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      January 24, 2012 8:48 AM

      That is cool. I hope they embrace more indie games as well.

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      January 24, 2012 9:08 AM

      If Origin took $10 off all the games they had and gave me a real reason to use their services I would. I like having choices but why would I want to buy the same product from another store just because they are new when I have been shopping at steam for close to 10 years.

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      January 24, 2012 9:18 AM

      Good. Hopefully this will encourage more competition, and give the consumers better deals.

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        January 24, 2012 10:05 AM

        I too am all for competition. But Valve and EA need to fight a fair battle. Valve products should be sold on Origin and vice versa. Fix that shit.

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          January 24, 2012 10:32 AM

          This,. I'm fine with the rest, no exclusivity though please?

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            January 24, 2012 10:40 AM

            way way way too late for that. it's about control and monetization with a captive audience.

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        January 24, 2012 1:47 PM

        I see this sentiment a lot with regards to Origin. The problem is that EA is not averse to underhanded tactics that screw over both developers AND consumers for their own benefit. They are a publicly traded corporation, after all.

        If the way they entered the market and continue to maintain their service is any indication, it would seem to me their desire to put up actual competition (ie. offering a better product to both developers and consumers) seems low.

        I mean, I would go for a better-than-Steam service in a heartbeat, because Steam is awesome. Origin, however, is not so awesome.

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          January 24, 2012 2:09 PM

          Those are pretty much the exact reasons why I'd rather support Steam and GOG. That and I'm still bitter about EA killing Westwood, Bullfrog, and Origin.

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          January 24, 2012 3:39 PM

          The only thing that origin lacks that steam has that I really care about, is party chat.

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            January 24, 2012 8:15 PM

            where are the sales? where's the community involvement and community features? what about the dubious "guaranteed downloads for 1 year!" language? what about the reports of EA barring people from downloading games who download them too much?

            Valve, with Steam, has put out a service that is functional and fairly reliable, and while the support leaves something to be desired, it's not like Origin support is much better... and this is all just taking Origin's service at face value, who knows what shit EA has planned for Origin -- the pattern of EA support for services (and games in general) is that it generally it becomes more restrictive and exploitative over time, not less.

            If EA had the intentions of putting out a competitive service, they, first of all, have an uphill PR battle against people who already use Steam, and secondly need to offer more than being able to play EA games on the thing -- something which people could do in a similar capacity before Origin. The fact that they don't seem to be confronting these issues either directly or indirectly leads me to believe that they don't care. Their opinion is that people will use their service regardless of how certain people feel about it... I don't think that's a terrible thing to be at least suspicious of, if not outright hostile towards.

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        January 24, 2012 2:56 PM

        [deleted]

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        January 24, 2012 6:13 PM

        Exactly. The level of anti-Origin hate on this site sometimes is absolutely astounding to me. I don't understand how anyone can be against competition in the digital distribution arena.

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        January 24, 2012 8:54 PM

        On EA's platform. Steam has great deals. You can't do better than what they do unless you just give the damn game away.

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      January 24, 2012 9:46 AM

      So, Origin just wants to develop their own patching system so it can be easier to distribute and not be Steam's competitor? I guess thats one lie. Origin wants its games to be sold on different distribution platforms? I have not seen BF3 on Steam or anywhere and also SWTOR, so I guess thats two lies.

      For BF3, its stupid that its using Battlelog and Origin. Makes it a lot more difficult to communicate with friends and my mic never works right in Battlelog for some reason.

      No sales and/or promotion ever going on in Origin, and the interface is a lot better with Steam. The only thing I like about Origin is the ability to install games on different location. I can easily go around this with Steam Tool (for Steam) so this advantage is nullified.

      Yeah, I guess I'll stick with Steam for the time being, but competition is good. Hopefully Steam will be better (for me it is already a better choice).

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        January 24, 2012 1:13 PM

        [deleted]

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          January 24, 2012 3:06 PM

          I think what I mean is it required Origin.

          As for sales, I have not yet seen any good sales on Origin that can match Steam or any other digital distribution.

          It's not garbage, its simply personal opinion.

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      January 24, 2012 10:04 AM

      does origin give the option of backing up your games like steam?
      cuz I couldn't find this feature and it would be nice to have

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      January 24, 2012 10:23 AM

      "Origin is focused on providing choice to consumers and the games they play,"
      that sentence makes me angry every time they repeat it, since i'll have to skip Masseffect 3 since it's Origin exclusive.

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        January 24, 2012 3:23 PM

        I don't see why you have to

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        January 24, 2012 3:26 PM

        Your lose. Origin is fine people don't piss and moan this much when stuff is x-box or PS3 exclusive and that is a whole other system. This is just a program that is fairly non intrusive.

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      January 24, 2012 10:43 AM

      i dont see this helping that much - they got in too late vs steam

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      January 24, 2012 12:50 PM

      I think I'll only ever see Origin as a glorified EA game launcher. I don't see why I'd buy any non-EA game from them. In fact I'm having a hard time convincing myself that I want to buy anymore EA games offered exclusively through Origin after my experience with BF3. It seemed Origin served to make BF3 less convenient to play with an unnecessarily clunky web based server browser and their penchant for locking you out of your games for days when they have a service hiccup. Steam is only marginally better in the availability department but at least they have an offline option that doesn't deprive me of the actual game, just the achievements and overlay perks.

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        January 24, 2012 2:20 PM

        Exactly. I'll only ever play a game through Origin, that I absolutely have no other option with.

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      January 24, 2012 1:02 PM

      Maybe Origin will make Steam have an offline version which works oneday.

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        January 24, 2012 2:03 PM

        Steam offline works just fine. Maybe the 10% rule is winning out.

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          January 24, 2012 3:04 PM

          I used it over winter break and had nothing but trouble. Couldn't open steam (besides "steam can't connect" notifications) and couldn't play any games.

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          January 24, 2012 6:40 PM

          [deleted]

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          January 24, 2012 10:14 PM

          Steam Offline works when you want it to. It doesn't work when you need it to.

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          January 25, 2012 1:22 AM

          For the people having issues with offline mode: make sure you aren't connected to a router, even if it doesn't have an internet connection, as that can prevent offline mode from happening.

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            January 25, 2012 9:37 AM

            I heard some people disabling their ethernet port or wireless adapter solved it as well.

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        January 24, 2012 2:08 PM

        Maybe you haven't tried it recently - basically it works, but some games nowadays have an always online DRM that will create an issue, its must not necessarily be Steam itself.

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        January 24, 2012 4:36 PM

        [deleted]

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        January 24, 2012 6:34 PM

        yeah it's always been frustrating the few times I've needed it

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      January 24, 2012 1:55 PM

      Good for them. But they'll have to work harder to get me to choose Origin over Steam.

      More competition in the market is a good thing though.

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      January 24, 2012 2:06 PM

      There really seems to be a lot of people with incorrect information regarding EA and Steam and the DLC. EA stopped putting their games on Steam, because now Steam requires new games that get published on Steam to make their DLC available through Steam as well. EA doesn't want to sell their DLC through Steam so they don't publish their games on Steam.

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        January 24, 2012 3:25 PM

        [deleted]

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          January 24, 2012 5:47 PM

          I didn't hear about this. Can you link to a story of proof of this?

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            January 24, 2012 6:33 PM

            [deleted]

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              January 24, 2012 9:30 PM

              Also EA made it so the Pure Time Trial DLC for Mirror's Edge didn't work with Steam compies of the game. You had to buy a retail copy to get their DLC. Tons of people bought the DLC off the EA Store and then found it wouldn't work, so they had to get refunds.

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        January 24, 2012 3:55 PM

        Did you read every fact backwards and then sing the star spangled banner to come up with that logic?

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      January 24, 2012 2:52 PM

      Actually after EA making you buy online passes on games.'

      FUCK YOU EA

      It doesnt cost $10 to host my account ( their reason behind the fee). If I can buy my EA games anywhere else I will just so you wont get more money from me.

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        January 24, 2012 3:24 PM

        Aren't those passes free and included with new copies of the game?

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        January 24, 2012 5:47 PM

        You realize that if you by your games new, rather than at a pawn shop like Gamestop, you don't have to pay the $10, right?

        But don't let me put facts in the way of your herp-derping.

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      January 24, 2012 3:28 PM

      How adorable

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      January 24, 2012 3:35 PM

      [deleted]

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      January 24, 2012 4:45 PM

      As with Steam, I will give the Origin service 5 years of shakedown time before using it.

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        January 24, 2012 5:23 PM

        By then your steam catalog will be in the thousands, and steam will run on every single computing device you have.

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        January 24, 2012 6:10 PM

        I really question EA's ability to maintain a service like this over the long haul. I don't think they'll be able to stomach the development or maintenance costs. Their own bean counters and cost focused culture will cut their distribution ambitions short.

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      January 24, 2012 5:30 PM

      Maybe Origin will come up with a freaking way to buy gifts this way. It was a huge pain to buy copies of SWTOR for a couple friends.

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      January 25, 2012 12:42 PM

      And it took them this long to decide that? Yea, i'll stick with steam. The only EA game i'm looking forward to is Mass Effect 3 and that's not enough for me to completely switch to Origin. Even then, i'm starting to get skeptical with the changes they are making to Mass Effect 3.

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