EA Vice President wants to bring Origin back to its roots

Shunal DokeJul 01, 2013 15:22:13 IST

EA’s digital distribution service, Origin, has caught a lot of flak from gamers for its focus on pushing game and DLC purchases more than anything. EA Executive Vice President Andrew Wilson has told GamesIndustry International that he is looking to change that. He originally planned for Origin to be a service that allowed easy access to purchased games, finding friends and installing updates. However, he has admitted that EA has focused on the purchasing of games and DLC a bit too much.

Wilson stated that the "transaction component of that service has taken a disproportionate amount of the communication and mindshare of what we really try and provide." He states that the future of Origin will depend on it going back to its original mission, so that it can rival the likes of Valve’s Steam and its borderline monopoly over digital distribution for games.

Origin's future lies in offering better service to gamers than Valve's Steam

"Part of the reason why I think it came back in to me was my history with Origin," he said. "And the ability to take a step back and say okay, now that we have the plumbing what does 'Make your EA games better' mean? What does 'Make it easier to access those games' mean? What does 'enhanced gameplay' mean? What does 'connect with friends' mean in the context of Origin, and what does that mean for the PC, for console, and for mobile? Really coming back to our roots as a service for gamers, versus anything else that it may have been perceived to have been over the last few years by virtue of its various permutations or changes in direction."

Origin is a digital distribution service where gamers can buy games published by EA, as well as other publishers.