After the announcement in 2020 that the EA Origin marketplace would be shutting down, EA has released its next PC platform: the EA app.
Origin was EA’s exclusive PC launcher for its titles first launched in 2011. It was intended to compete with other digital PC storefronts such as Steam, though it eventually integrated with its competitor to sell their titles on that service. Origin, however, was still required to run EA titles even if bought on Steam. Despite accumulating over 50 million registered users, the service was heavily criticized and maligned by the PC community due to security flaws and suspicions of spying on players. In late 2020, EA announced that it would retire Origin in favor of a new client simply called the EA app.
The new EA app left open beta today and is now available for download as EA’s primary PC platform. The publisher claims that this new platform “is our fastest and lightest PC client to date. With the new streamlined design you will easily find the games and content you’re looking for and discover your new favorite games. With automatic game downloads and background updates you can ensure that your games are ready to play when you are.”
Those who already have an Origin account will be automatically invited to transfer all their games, cloud saves, friends lists, and content onto the EA app seamlessly. This new app will also allow players to connect their accounts to other services, including Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation, to have a unified friends list across all their services.
With the general resistance some PC gamers have to alternative launchers and platforms, the best-case scenario is that this new EA app is more stable and functions seamlessly behind players’ preferred and established storefronts.
