EA Steam keys can be activated through Origin
Steam keys for certain EA games work to activate their Origin counterparts, though some older titles aren't so lucky.
EA's Origin digital storefront has a long way to win over the gaming community. One feature that may help is the discovery that certain Steam keys for EA games can be used on both digital platforms. PC Gamer reports that Steam keys for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dragon Age: Origins, and Mass Effect 2, among others, worked to activate Origin games as well. Some games (like the original Mass Effect) didn't work in testing, though, so the keys aren't always universal. They seem to work more reliably with recent titles.
The report also notes that Origin launches the Steam version of Dragon Age 2, and the Origin client auto-detects installed EA games. Since it can already do both, it's theoretically possible for the service to read EA games in your Steam library and populate your Origin library with them.
EA's push to give Origin platform-exclusives has been met with mixed reaction from fans. Star Wars: The Old Republic will be an Origin-exclusive digital download, and recent reports indicate that Battlefield 3 won't be coming to Steam -- though EA is reportedly going to make it available on other digital platforms besides their own.
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replySteve Watts posted a new article, EA Steam keys can be activated through Origin.
Steam keys for certain EA games work to activate their Origin counterparts, though some older titles aren't so lucky.-
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dammit, I am unfollowing you on twitter in protest of stumbleupon links.
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So we're giving EA a pat on the back because Origin is accepting serial keys for their own games? Wow setting a high bar there...
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You sure about that? Or are you just hoping that EA makes a new service and doesn't realize they can sell games on it.
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The whole point of a publisher is to sell stuff. They sell more stuff, and make more money. And why would competitors sell stuff there? The same reason they already sell games on a bunch of other competing systems. As far as I can tell, there's only one publisher that refuses to sell their products on competitors systems. Valve Ok, not entirely true, but the big publishers don't seem to have an issue with it.
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Meanwhile, at EA:
Guys, guys. Listen. Why are we banking on this game that we've invested millions in to create and market to beat the competition? Fuck that! Let's sell the competition! Modern Warfare 3 - Coming soon to Origin! We won't profit at all like we would selling Battlefield 3, but we can make Activision richer! There's no conflict of interest, we wouldn't have to display it on the front page.
EA in unison: Brilliant!-
Why not? They'd profit off of every copy sold, and there's no reason it would lead to MW3 eating up BF3's market share. If anything, having a DD site of Steam-level popularity would allow them to promote both games in such a way that BF3 looked like the better option.
Smaller scale, but Valve actively promoted two co-op zombie killing games, one of which was free, around the time they were pushing Left 4 Dead.-
Valve isn't EA, they aren't beholden to any shareholders. Steam isn't for their best interests alone the way Origin is for EA. Compared to EA, Valve is totally impartial and independent, and an equal opportunity promoter on Steam, whose business is almost entirely separate from Valve the game designers.
You guys are fucking nuts if you think a game from a competing publisher will end up on EA's own service.
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Where if it was sold on another channel they get $0?
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"EA 'Would Absolutely Welcome' Other Publishers' Content on Origin"
http://www.industrygamers.com/news/ea-would-absolutely-welcome-other-publishers-content-on-origin/-
Yeah sure, they say they are open and would welcome it rather than appear so utterly controlling like they actually are, but under what terms and conditions would? And which publishers would jump through those hoops to have their direct competitors selling their games?
They'd say anything to present their brand new service in best possible light, but what would they actually do? What would another publisher do?
It's not going to happen.
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Wow indeed. A rival publisher like Activision or Ubisoft or TakeTwo or Zenimax would create and support their own delivery method before ever considering to join EA's, and that's forgetting all the other digital distributors they would gladly team up with and support long before resorting to giving a slice directly to the enemy.
And EA would never promote and sell and finally support a competitor's game on their own service like that in the first place. They are in it for themselves, as they always have been, as every publisher is.
Do they think it's preposterous enough it might just happen? I'm at a loss for words. It'd be just as insane as Microsoft and Sony teaming up and selling Uncharted on the 360 and Gears on the PS3.-
This is the one case where Activision's WE LIKE MONEY policy serves them well. They know Steam is the best market for their game on PC and know better than to try fighting their digital store.
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Then they will never compete with Steam in any significant way.
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Are they trying to compete with Steam? I thought they were trying to sell their own games at the most profit and under their own terms with the highest amount of control of they can possibly inflict upon it.
No giant publisher is going to compete with Steam, because they'll never get all the other publishers on board the way Steam has no matter what bullshit they try to pull. It's going to remain an EA specific service for EA games.-
Are they trying to compete with Steam? I thought they were trying to sell their own games at the most profit and under their own terms with the highest amount of control of they can possibly inflict upon it.
Then why haven't they removed their games from every other DD service's catalogue?-
They haven't removed anything from Steam, either. Valve are the ones who pulled Crysis 2, remember?
They are choosing to ignore Steam with future products though, perhaps because the other digital distributors (and retailers) are more inclined to let EA be EA and do whatever they want just so they can keep their business? Fuck if I know. Wherever their new games are sold, whether it's retail or online, they'll come bundled with Origin anyway. If service A is more accommodating than service B, why bother with B?
I don't know if you remember this, but back in the Xbox days EA wouldn't support Xbox Live because they wanted a cut from the subscriptions and control of their own servers. Microsoft eventually bowed down and gave them what they wanted because for a few years, only the PS2 was getting Madden online, which was huge. They demand that sort of control, and not just so they can shut down their servers for older titles and force people to buy the newest if they want to play online.-
..though that's still the most openly known of their controlling methods. I missed the most recent shutdown list:
http://www.destructoid.com/electronic-arts-shutting-down-online-for-older-games-205988.phtml
previously:
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/01/05/ea-announces-latest-waves-of-server-shutdowns.aspx
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And you seem to be missing the point that back then there was no established digital distribution service, and now there is. Furthermore, you're relying on the what-if of Origin expanding their catalog to include other large publisher's games. Even if it happens, why would someone with a substantial Steam library want to switch?
Currently, there's at least the negative of no auto-updates on Origin.
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And with bfbc2 and some others , if you have the normal ed on steam you select the digital deluxe ed on origin, ad in free vietnam addon .... old news move along
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Or is it... keep in mind that the steam installer then downloads.. well, the rest of steam.
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Besides (variable) morals, what prevents a person from giving Steam activated keys to a friend with an Origin account? Are the keys deactivated in Steam after Origin activation?
With all the piracy-phobia in the industry, this seems like an odd decision.-
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its tied to an email address so that wouldnt work
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ive been able to do this since Origin was EADM.....how is this news?
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If it was a digital river client, why would it accept cd keys from retail or steam copies of the game? This story tells me nothing new because when EA was using EADM, I could do the exact same thing they are reporting above, about 2 years ago now.
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Can't publishers just generate their own keys and send them to Valve to tie into Steam? I remember Prey getting shut out of Steam because 2K literally ran out of keys to send Valve.
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Now that this is announced, can EA please acknowledge that its Global War on Steam exists and is under way?
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You can add Mass Effect (and a few other games that wont add otherwise) by entering the CD Key at this site https://activate.ea.com/gameactivation.do
After you've added the game, refresh the origin games list and they should appear -
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Is Origin really that bad?
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Yes and no.
Yes in that I have to download installer files, run the install, and type in a CD key that origin itself is showing me. Plus in my case, the fucking key that THEIR system is giving me, doesn't work in the installer.
No in that if their shit actually worked, I might not care.
I made an OP about it like 5 minutes ago.
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