When EA revealed Origin last week, many dubbed it the publisher’s own version of Steam and while it can be argued the grounds on which the service stands on does resemble Valve’s popular store, EA Global Online senior VP David DeMartini has dismissed such name-callings, saying that Origin and Steam or not an “either/or choice.”
“We don’t see Origin and Steam as an either/or choice,” said DeMartini during a chat recently. “Just because a gamer chooses to play Battlefield 3 doesn’t preclude them from playing another shooter game, just as the fact that I’m on Facebook doesn’t mean I don’t also use LinkedIn.
Added DeMartini, “we expect people will purchase content and utilize both Origin and Steam. We’ve learned a lot from Steam, they have been good partners. We will continue to listen to our customers, expand the social feature set, and will make Origin the best service on the market.”
Of course, Origin will only feature games from EA, unlike Steam. But with an initial roster of 150 titles available including an exclusivity on BioWare’s upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic (the digital copy), it has more than enough meat on its bones to stand by itself and deliver what it’s supposed to; games.
