Tuesday, January 24th 2012
Origin Expands Games Catalog, DRM-Free Evangelist Joins DRM Scheme
Origin is the fledgling online download account-based DRM service from Electronic Arts launched last June, that is home to Battlefield 3. To compete effectively against other similar services, the industry-leading Steam in particular, it must offer more content. To this end, Origin has added 11 publishers to its portfolio, reports CVG. These are Trion Worlds, Robot Entertainment, Freebird Games, Recoil Games, Autumn Games, 1C Company, inXile entertainment, Paradox Interactive, Core Learning Ltd, N3V Games and CD Projekt RED. That last one is interesting, because CD Projekt RED owns and runs www.gog.com, the website dedicated to selling DRM-free games.
Now the vast majority of those games are pretty old, in the order of 5-15 years, but their own title, The Witcher 2 is current and also comes without DRM from gog.com hence, the obvious question is why are they signing up with a DRM service? Will they end up putting all their current games behind the DRM curtain? This is a possibility, because their recent attempts at extracting payment from alleged pirates backfired spectacularly. Note that at the time of writing, searching for The Witcher 2 on Origin returns no results.
Now, from today, Trion's MMORPG Rift is available on Origin, with more titles from these publishers to follow in the coming months. Commenting on Origin's expansion, vice president of business development Craig Rechenmacher said: "Origin is focused on providing choice to consumers and the games they play. 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."
So, will Origin turn out to be a Steam killer? This can only happen if games are not exclusively tied to the one distribution platform, since that will make them complement each other and they can peacefully operate as a duopoly, which is bad for the customer looking to get games at good prices. One can see how neither the distribution platform operators, nor the games publishers have any interest in being made available on more than one platform. The best that can happen is that the distribution platforms compete with each other to attract the publishers by undercutting each other's commissions, thus allowing them to make more profit, which isn't something that the end customer cares about.
Now, from today, Trion's MMORPG Rift is available on Origin, with more titles from these publishers to follow in the coming months. Commenting on Origin's expansion, vice president of business development Craig Rechenmacher said: "Origin is focused on providing choice to consumers and the games they play. 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."
So, will Origin turn out to be a Steam killer? This can only happen if games are not exclusively tied to the one distribution platform, since that will make them complement each other and they can peacefully operate as a duopoly, which is bad for the customer looking to get games at good prices. One can see how neither the distribution platform operators, nor the games publishers have any interest in being made available on more than one platform. The best that can happen is that the distribution platforms compete with each other to attract the publishers by undercutting each other's commissions, thus allowing them to make more profit, which isn't something that the end customer cares about.
23 Comments on Origin Expands Games Catalog, DRM-Free Evangelist Joins DRM Scheme
Steam has established itself and EA is using the same methods to establish itself (sell games that require the proprietary store).
I really haven't investigated Origin to figure out how dirty their DRM methods are (I heard about scanning the computer but that's not DRM). I really should...
Most of the hatred for Origin stems on EA's poor tactics against Valve.
EA was with Steam for a long time before suddenly they made the argument about Steam's EULA. They were fine with it and then suddenly they made a huge scene after Crysis 2 launches. Then suddenly back out support. Next thing you saw them scrambling to promote Origin which wasn't even ready for launch.
I can guarantee you that if EA did not make such a mess, Origin would be much better accepted. Origin used to have policies about games being deleted if you didn't use them within 2 years. Service was a complete abomination. But they've changed it since and tried to address complaints. I will admit their support was very responsive and helpful. But the mess with Valve left such a sour taste, I don't blame people for refusing to buy stuff that requires Origin.
EA shot themselves in the foot by the squabble with Valve. I cannot see Origin ever being a major success. If they really wanted to, they'd make peace with Valve already. Get games back on Steam. Even if they require Origin activation, so what. Show consumers that you have a competing product, don't throw a fit and force it on them.
Yeah Valve requires Steam with their games, but you can run them in offline mode. I used to be a big critic of Steam. But then as time went on and the service improved, I love it. Will this happen with Origin? Maybe. But EA has a major uphill battle and right now, they are not proving their service to be better or worth it over Steam.
For your information CD Projekt has suspended its so called "witch hunt" for pirates and have released a open letter to the community. To ostracize a company for looking at different avenues for making money is downright wrong.
Yes, I have to agree those tactics weren't endearing at all. I wonder: Crysis 2 was briefly available on Steam and I had it, before I returned it over the undisclosed DRM. So, as it's no longer there, I wonder if those Steam users are left without the patches that came out later? That would suck so hard. :shadedshu Anyone here have experience of playing Crysis 2 on Steam?You're obviously not a Steam user, or you'd know that you can. The option is right there in the menu. Just check out their FAQ's or install Steam and register an account and you'll see.
I will give them a fair shake before passing judgement...if it is like steam then I will not have any issue with it.
Personally i like steam......in exchange for being a steam customer, i can access all my games from any pc just by going through a few steps.
In addition i think steam has added the ability to keep up with my save games.....if it doesn't have this ability i think they should add it bc keeping up with savegames can be a pain if like me you don't backup often enough and lose some progress due to hardware changes and failures.
Also if you wait a little bit steam will offer discounts(sometimes deep discounts during events/holidays) on games that I actually like to play. It is so great not having to keep up with CD's anymore.
For me steam is so hassle-free that i don't mind actually buying the games through steam. On top of that I can put steam into an "offline" mode so I don't feel like I need to be tied to the internet to play their titles.
For me personally STEAM has done more to stop piracy than any DRM will ever do.
I will admit I was against steam when it was first introduced but Valve has seriously polished it up since then.
Back on the subject concerning Origin; I will reserve judgement until I get some more titles that use it but I will however take whatever EA pumps out with a grain of salt. In the back of my mind thinking EA may employ a Wal-Mart strategy of being competitive and easy to use until they get a good hold of the market then bringing to light more restrictive agenda's whereas valve seems to have proved itself by not taking what they have and not running wild with it.
time will tell.
But with Crysis 2, last I heard EA pretty much forced the Steam users to load their keys into Origin or it wouldn't work.
Think an apology by EA for the mess would go a long way in mending a lot of bad feelings. But they'd never admit that. By the time they get the thumb out of their butts and return titles to Steam, the prices will be so low that Steam holdouts will rejoice and taunt EA about the fact that they would have bought a year ago for full price had they not fought with Valve.
But I would like the ability to trade keys back in on games I don't use anymore. Valve talked about looking into the option months back. But to do that they'd have to get approval of all the publishers and I doubt that would be an easy task. Nor that simple to implement.
New keys issued or just resell the used key? It isn't like a used game at Gamestop where it has scratches and missing a case. Digital would mean the same new game. So then the key would need to be de-authorized on one account and then authorized on another. Pirates would likely find a way to exploit this which would lead to more potential problems.
In the end I think Valve would much sooner add a subscription rental service than do that.
As awesome as it would be to be able to sell/gift games that I've played it won't happen for one reason alone. The amount of hacking/account looting that is bound to happen if an option like it ever exists.
Next. First sale rights do not exist in the software world, as determined by the licensing of said software. It's a stupid loophole. I personally believe that first sale rights should apply, but it hasn't been overly decided by the courts yet.
It's simply the publishers do not want you swapping/selling keys on hence why you do not get a spare key if you buy an extra of a game you already own without choosing the gift option.
Weird thing is the CEO of Paradox bashed DRM in an interview with GS, but then has signed up with Origin...
I don't believe it can kill Steam, and I doubt that is even the intent. Look, you have Origins, Steam, and Impulse. You also have Amazon downloads (some are not steam/origin/impulse) and who know what other little start ups other places have. There is a big market. The market is expanding for more reasons than simple DRM issues. Stores don't like to carry PC games. How many do you know that have a good selection? People are getting lazier and want to buy everything online. Game makers know people want to buy their games that are not necessarily easily found, so combine those 2 items and add in their personal benefit of a more effective DRM and there you go.
FWIW, Origins is much better than SecureRom!!!!!!