Are EA games coming back to Steam?

Last week I got an email from EA stating that Origin accounts will renamed to EA accounts.

Unfortunately, I deleted that email thinking nothing of it. Fortunately, it's a story on Kotaku: http://kotaku.com/origin-accounts-are-becoming-ea-accounts-if-you-ve-got-1718799748

The more I think about it, the more I wonder why they're doing it. It could just be a name change to make it more clear what the product is. It could be that they've tarnished the name with all the buggy releases, and are just trying to get a fresh start. My hope is that it's because they're ending Origin, and coming back to Steam.

I wonder if leaving Steam hurt their bank account. I haven't bought any EA games on PC since they left Steam, and I'm sure I'm not the only person that refuses to use Origin. The only reason I even have an Origin account is because I played Battlefield 3 back when it was in beta.

I also wonder if Disney has some influence in this decision. Since they now own the rights to Star Wars, they want to appeal to the biggest group of consumers possible. I can't say for certain, but I would bet that Steam has a much larger user base, and therefore market-share of PC digital distribution.

What do you guys think? Is it possible that EA games are coming back to Steam? Or is this just a name change?

I don't see how this name change has anything to do with Steam. The change is to simplify their account management and branding. One EA account to use on all consoles and PC.

It said in the email that Origin will still exist, it just wont be called origin.

the disney star wars thing is surely a factor that cannot be ignored though; at very least they could force EA to release star wars games on steam or taking away EA license on it; provided that the sales are less than satisfactory.

I was actually surprised they called it Origin in the first place. Origin was the name of a really cool game company that I loved back in the day that EA bought and eventually closed.

But yeah, I don't think that means they are coming back to Steam.

-Byshop

@Byshop: :O glimse from the past <3 origin game !

Greatest PC developers of 90s. Followed by Looking Glass and Blizzard IMO.

@Cloud_imperium:we are too old for the stuff i guess !

Personally, I think it would be a neat idea. The situation would essentially be the same as with Ubisoft: Sell your games on Steam and require that users install Origin as well in order to play the games in first place. Sure it can be a hassle for some but overall it should work.

As much as I dislike origin, I dont think it will move to steam. They just renamed the accounts, if they closed down origin that would be a different scenario

The leap you've made says more about you than about EA. There's no evidence they're going to steam.

Doubt it. People that still want to play EA games seem fine with using Origin. Pretty sure the biggest thing that caused the split was the whole debacle about the conflict valve/EA had with the distribution of DLC.

EA are probably losing sales for not being on Steam, but that's on them.

I ain't clicking no kotaku links.

Origin were a fantastic. Richard Garriot and Chris Roberts are worthy of PC deity status ;)

Yeah. Guys, from Origin later handled some of the stuff in Looking Glass as well. People like Paul Neurath along with Richard Garriot and Warren Spector made some of the best PC games of all time. Then there is good old Chris Roberts.