EA’s Origin service coming to Android, there goes the neighborhood
During a GamsCom press conference a few days ago, Electronics Arts revealed that it would bring its Origin service to more platforms, including Mac, Facebook, smartTV, and Android. For those that don’t know Origin, it’s EA’s horrible attempt at a game download and social network, similar to – but infinitely inferior to – Steam. The service is hated by just about everyone who has ever had to use it, the reason being that it works about as well as a car with square wheels. It’s slow, buggy, crashes, times out, and generally just makes a living hell for anyone trying to use it. Despite this, EA is releasing its own games through the service, giving users no choice in the matter.
Exactly how this platform will be expanded to Android is not clear. EA Mobile has tons of apps for Android, and it wouldn’t surprise me if those were turned into Origin games available through a new Origin store. Whether or not that would mean removal from Google Play, I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past EA to do something that stupid. It’s also a possibility that it will simply be a network feature in the game, and that the games themselves can still be bought from more stable services. Companion apps for game networks is a pretty common thing these days, and EA may simply want a piece of that cake.
Whatever the case is, this is not good news if you ask me. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Origin is among the most horrible software I have ever encountered, making iTunes seem like it has the speed of Notepad in comparison. When a computer program is as bad as Origin, and when the company behind the service does absolutely nothing to address user concerns, then that’s not something I want on Android.
[The Verge]
