Origin has made an impact on gamers. Unfortunately for EA, most of the impact it has made has been decidedly negative, with some embarrassing moments and ideas. Between tacking on multiplayer onto previously single-player games (like Mass Effect 3) to give an excuse to install Origin with the game, deriding the idea of giving a discount in price for a digitally-downloaded game, and the debacle of the SimCity ‘release’, Origin has left a sour enough taste in many gamers’ mouths for even EA to have noticed.
Andrew Wilson, head of EA Sports and newly in charge of Origin, has re-stated the original idea behind the service as his goal, wanting to “re-establish Origin as a service to gamers, not as a means to drive transactions.” This would mean, for many gamers, a complete re-branding of the service, a difficult prospect for the company recently voted the worst in the world for the second year in a row.
EA seems to be pushing the social aspect of a service like Origin in their stated direction, describing the goal as having the service as a gracious host for the player’s games. As a gamer who had to sign up for Origin without ever installing it onto a computer for the single-player experiences of Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3, EA has some work to do if they want me to consider them gracious. I am probably not the only one who feels thus.
