14 DAY TRIAL // Video game publisher Electronic Arts says that, while at the moment its digital distribution service Origin is only delivering first party titles, there are plans in place to expand its offerings and make it a clear competitor to the Valve created Steam platform.
Speaking at a digitally oriented UBS conference in London Eric Brown, who is the Chief Financial Officer of EA, has stated, “Initially, Origin is set up to deliver EA games, but very soon, we'll be delivering third-party content to Origin.”
The executive did not mention a clear date but said that Origin has more than 130 million registered gamers who are engaged with its various titles and that the company will use that number and the infrastructure needed to serve them to create extra revenue.
It's not clear which other publishers would be interested to put their games up for sale on Origin and allow Electronic Arts to get a cut from every transaction.
John Riccitiello, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Arts, stated earlier during the year that Origin will be open to all, saying, “We've had a lot of inbound inquiry about getting on. I think forward-looking publishers really want their content on any and every platform possible. One more sale is better than not.”
At the moment more than 4 million gamers have installed Origin.
It will be interesting to see what will happen with those companies who choose to put their games on Origin in terms of their relationship with Steam and other services like Impulse, Direct 2 Drive and GamersGate.
Electronic Arts has indicated that Origin will be required by those who are interested in playing the Battlefield 3 first person shooter that launches later during the fall and Star Wars: The Old Republic, the BioWare made MMO, will only be sold digitally through Origin.