Mass Effect 3 PC Will Require Origin, Won't Be Released on Steam
Bioware's Chris Priestly has confirmed that Mass Effect 3 on PC will require Origin, and won't be available on Steam.
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1) Will Origin be a requirement to play all versions of Mass Effect 3? (Digital and/or from a retail brick and mortar store)
Yes, Origin is required for all PC editions of Mass Effect 3, physical or digital.
2) Is constant Origin connection required or is it a single one off authentication when the game is first installed. Is there also a limit to the number of installations available?
Mass Effect 3 will require a one time, single authorization for the single player game. There is no limit to the number of installs. Playing Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer will require a constant connection.
3) Is Origin required for the retail versions of the game?
Origin is required for the PC versions of Mass Effect 3, both physical and digital.
4) Will ME3 be available on Steam?
During initial release Mass Effect 3 will be available on Origin and a number of other 3rd party digital retailers, but not on Steam at this time. Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. We are intent on providing Mass Effect to players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play their game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers.
5) Is there an opt in or opt out clause for data collection?
Users will be allowed to opt-out of Mass Effect 3 data collection from inside the game.
6) I’ve seen reports that Origin is spyware. Is this true?
Origin is not spyware, and does not use or install spyware on user’s machines. In order to allow Origin to install games and their patches for everyone to use, Origin implements a permission change that results in Windows, not Origin, reviewing the filenames in the ProgramData/Origin folder. This is an ordinary Windows function, not an information-gathering process.
4) Will ME3 be available on Steam?
During initial release Mass Effect 3 will be available on Origin [...] but not on Steam at this time.
conflicts with sentence 2:
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Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content.
During initial release? If this were really a problem with delivering patches or DLC, waiting until after initial release wouldn't solve your problem. This is nothing but a smokescreen. Asshats.
So the only way to play it without Origin will be to download it for free, and probably have it work better?
Well, that's not a great business model, now is it?
I already vented in the quoted thread on the Bioware forums. This pretty much guarantees that Dragon Age 3 will require Origin as well. I'm just going to borrow the console version from a friend so I can get the rest of the story. It's sad that I want to give them my money for this game but their stupid "feature" or DRM or whatever they think Origin is will instead let me play the game for free.
I was going to buy BF3 when it came to Steam. It never did, so I never bought it. I have no regrets now, nor will I have regrets when I don't buy ME3 for PC. I'll most likely rent/borrow that shit.
We've long since guessed at this. It's likelihood was so high that we've considered it a done deal. So, no one around here is likely to be surprised.
As for why it's not on Steam, EA wants to be able to sell you DLC directly. Steam wants you to put DLC on Steam. Which means Steam takes a 30% cut of your DLC profits. EA doesn't like this.
However, Steam doesn't want you to put a game on their distribution system and also not put your DLC up there too.
However, that is how it worked in Mass Effect 2, where you'd buy DLC on an EA website, download a patch file and directly patch your game. But now EA wants to handle it on online and automatically.
So, basically it comes down to EA throwing their weight around and trying to give Origin a boost over Steam, using the silly DLC issue as pretense.
It's economic war. Nations use similar pretext to invade one another. Here we have EA invading Valve's marketspace.
I'll buy this in the store and activate it on Origin, because screw EA for making me not use Steam. They're going to receive a lot less of my money by forcing me to buy a hardcopy than if I had bought through Steam.
That's my only route for protest that still allows me to play ME3, one of my favorite series of all time.
I'll buy this in the store and activate it on Origin, because screw EA for making me not use Steam. They're going to receive a lot less of my money by forcing me to buy a hardcopy than if I had bought through Steam.
That's my only route for protest that still allows me to play ME3, one of my favorite series of all time.
Man this is starting to get frustrating... Dragon Age 2, NFS The Run, ME3... All because EA wants a bigger piece of the DLC pie (another reason why i loathe DLC).
Really wish Valve and EA would sort this crap out, i'm a stricly PC gamer and Steam is my chosen platform, as a consumer i just wish i had the choice to as to which platform i get to use
Man this is starting to get frustrating... Dragon Age 2, NFS The Run, ME3... All because EA wants a bigger piece of the DLC pie (another reason why i loathe DLC).
Really wish Valve and EA would sort this crap out, i'm a stricly PC gamer and Steam is my chosen platform, as a consumer i just wish i had the choice to as to which platform i get to use
This is why it's probably a bad idea for publishers to be running their own distribution platforms. There's too many ways in which hurting their customers helps their bottom-line.
Valve has proven that they won't abuse the position. But clearly EA is taking the darkside path.
But ultimately we very well may need a non-publisher clearing house. And maybe it will be Steam if Valve were to stop making games. That would be pretty ideal. Valve is already a game-distribution company that happens to also occasionally make games :P (Steam earns them more money than their own games do. Much like Sony is actually an insurance company that has a money-losing electronics, games, and entertainment divisions :P)
I really don't like the trend towards walled-gardens. That's why it's important not to buy Apple, to punish their attempt to monopolize the market through their walled content-gardens.
A walled garden is why Apple has been able to do evil things like deny someone's app from appearing on the Apple store only for Apple to put up their own version later on, basically thieving the idea. EA's basically doing their version of that asshattery here in playing hardball with Mass Effect.
I certainly hope everyone who had a hand in this decision spends eternity in hell getting skullfucked by demons with bone-spiked dicks while gremlins shred their genitals with 30-grit sandpaper.
Have there been any EA titles that showed up on Steam since (I think) Bad Company 2? I thought this was understood: no more new EA games on Steam, right? So at the very least it should not be a surprise.
