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EA starts rolling out a new PC app to replace Origin
Mac users will still use Origin for the foreseeable future.
EA kills off Origin with new 'EA Desktop' app
It'll support faster downloads and updates, along with more cross-play features.
'Star Wars: Squadrons' will let you pilot an X-wing in VR
It'll hit Xbox One, PS4 and PC on October 2nd and offer full cross-play support.
'Need For Speed Heat' is the first EA title to offer cross-play
PC, PS4 and Xbox One players can race each other starting tomorrow.
EA's game servers went down this morning (updated)
If you've been unable to play Star Wars Battlefront II or log into your Origin account, you're not alone. EA's servers are down, impacting thousands of users. EA and DICE community leader, Ben Wilke, confirmed the issue on Twitter, saying that teams are working on rectifying the problem. EA's help services are slammed due to the outage, and the company's customer support Twitter account warned that representatives may not be reachable at the moment.
‘Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville’ is available today
The latest game in the long running Plants vs. Zombies series has arrived for PS4, Xbox and PC. Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville is a third-person shooter, but it's cartoony enough for older children; EA calls it "our biggest and most accessible shooter ever." Players can compete in head-to-head multiplayer matches and explore new areas solo or in split-screen and online co-op modes.
EA's long-awaited 'Sea of Solitude' arrives July 5th
EA's emotional adventure game Sea of Solitude has been a long time coming, and you'll finally get to delve into its story when it arrives on July 5th. It's a third-person journey in which you'll guide a young woman named Kay through a flooded city to help her overcome her loneliness. Along the way, you'll confront creatures and monsters, and tackle challenges to remove "tainted memories" from the world and reveal more light and color.
Get 'The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection' for free this month
It seems as if this week is a good one to get stuff on the cheap or even for free. First, Marvel announced a promo yesterday which gave access to its Unlimited comics service for 99 cents, and now EA has quietly revealed that it's giving away copies of The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection. You'll need to have Origin, EA's software distribution platform, installed on your machine to take advantage of this deal, but it's as easy as entering a code for old and new users alike. Just don't expect EA to keep supporting the classic game after you install it, since the publisher brought closure to that a few days ago. The Windows download on Origin will be available until July 31st at 1:00AM ET, which means there's plenty of time to let it all sink in and cancel whatever you had planned for the weekend.
Rumor: Origin hacked, EA denies intrusion [Updated]
If you have created an EA Origin account for any reason, such as for Star Wars: The Old Republic or Ultima Online, we advise you to change your password posthaste. Numerous sites are reporting that hackers have breached Origin's security and are potentially modifying account information and stealing it. Allegedly affected players claim that the hackers are changing the log-in emails associated with their accounts and that the new email addresses have a Russian suffix. In response to a question about whether any accounts were compromised by hacking, an EA spokesperson made the following statement: "At this point, we have no reason to believe there has been any intrusion into our Origin database." EA has updated us with its full security statement: Anytime a player has a question about the security of his or her account or personal data, we take it very seriously and take all possible steps to help. For any customer who cannot access their Origin account for any reason, we ask them to please contact Origin Help or EA's customer experience group at help.ea.com. The robust security measures in place to protect Origin users accounts are constantly being expanded and upgraded, and we also strongly recommend customers take the protective steps of using strong passwords and changing passwords often.
EA's Origin has 30 million registered users, 4.4 million paying
EA's digital distribution service Origin now has 30 million registered users, 4.4 million of whom have purchased content via the service. EA Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore revealed the figures during yesterday's earnings conference. Moore also noted 13 million users have accessed Origin via a mobile device, and an average sale figure of $64."With the 70 plus developers that are now putting content on the platform," said Moore, "And with our own content itself - Medal of Honor [Warfighter] debuted this week, obviously - our ability to continue to drive stronger commercial engagement as well as community engagement has got to be key, and the metrics all point towards that being a very strong part of our business."Based on the last revealed figure of 21 million back in July, Origin's user base increased by 42.9 percent in the last three months. EA secured another 13 developers at least for its catalog in that time.
Origin coming to Mac, getting achievements and free-to-play later this year
Over 21 million users have signed up for Origin, EA COO Peter Moore revealed during the publisher's annual Gamescom keynote – Origin currently has over 500 games from more than 50 publishers. But more exciting than boasting figures was the news that the service would be available to Mac users sometime this year.It's part of improvements coming to the platform overall, improvements which include the integration of achievements and adding free-to-play gaming. Not only that, but EA is bringing its digital distribution platform to, well, other platforms, like Android and Facebook.
EA: first year with Origin 'a huge success,' service to become 'stickier'
EA's Origin service is "a huge success" in its first year, according to EA senior VP of global e-commerce David DeMartini. Despite a rough start with end-user license agreement mishaps and banning some users from playing games they purchased offline, DeMartini said the service has seen 12 million downloads and counts 50 publishing partners among its catalog.Still, he called the first year "foundational," and he's excited to add "more sticky features" to Origin. Not, like, "We're gonna pour maple syrup on the servers," but in the sense that players will see Origin more as a service (like Steam or Xbox Live) rather than yet another digital retail outlet."We want to put features in place where we fully take advantage of your friends lists and gameplay activities amongst all of your friends so you can compare achievements," DeMartini said. "We want you to be able to challenge your friends, and to challenge your friends to play other EA games to try and achieve things that might even be across EA games."DeMartini insisted that EA games removed from Steam, such as Dragon Age 2, remain off the service due to Steam's rules. "We'd love to have those titles up on Steam, but unfortunately, those titles don't follow the rules that Steam has so therefore those titles are not up on Steam."As for the future beyond those "stickiness" additions, DeMartini noted additional publishers he'd like to see join Origin. "If Activision was open-minded, we're absolutely willing to take on their great titles. Diablo III is a great game. Call of Duty will be very popular. Take-Two ... I mean there are a couple of large publishers out there that are not on Origin."
EA has 11 million strong on Origin, made $150 million in ten months
EA's Origin service has a registered 11 million members and has generated $150 million in non-GAAP revenue during the fiscal year from March 31, 2011 to April 1 this year, EA reports.EA's Nucleus, its cross-platform community network, now has 220 million members, EA says.EA recently allowed all 11 million members to provide feedback on Origin, its digital distribution service.
Crysis 3 accidentally revealed by EA's Origin service
EA probably wasn't too keen on you learning about a new Crysis just yet – the news comes from its Origin service where box art and cursory details popped up overnight for "Crysis 3" (as seen above). The box art and listings have since been removed, but as we all know Google sees all.Moreover, as Neogaf points out, GameReactor magazine is teasing a reveal for Crysis 3 in the coming week. Unfortunately for both EA and the European magazine, some of that thunder got stolen by a faulty switch over at Origin.Box art for Xbox 360 and PC versions popped up, but we imagine it'll also arrive on PlayStation 3. We've reached out to EA for clarification, but we don't expect to hear more until next week's planned reveal. (And yes, that dude on the Crysis 3 cover is rocking what looks like a compound bow.)
SimCity requires internet connection to play, will be sold outside of Origin
Good news: If you want to download SimCity somewhere other than Origin, you'll have the option to do so. An EA representative confirmed with Joystiq that the title would be available for purchase on other digital distribution platforms, though a list of stores has yet to be finalized. SimCity is arriving sometime in 2013.Lead designer Stone Librande confirmed that SimCity would be an internet-dependent experience. Players will need to be online on Origin while playing, even if that wasn't the point of purchase. The always-on connection becomes necessary with the game's emphasis on multiplayer and regional impact, and the use of a global economy that all players can influence.%Gallery-151600%
Sega's Shogun 2 expansion leads the charge on Origin
Sega's PC games have been available on Steam and other internet portals for some time, and are now on the way to EA's Origin service.Starting today, folks can pre-order the upcoming Total War Shogun 2 expansion, "Fall of the Samurai," and more content will follow in the coming weeks. Beyond the Japanese publisher, Origin added Team 17, Rebellion, Kalypso, "and more" to Origin today, and their games will start showing up "in the coming months."
Gaikai: Delivering instant MMOs to your browser
Imagine that you're reading up on an MMO on a site such as Massively (far-fetched, but stay with us on this). The words intrigue you and you think it might be worth checking out. You make a mental note to do so in the future -- to head over to the game's site, see if there's a trial, download it, set up an account, and give it a whirl -- but time gets away from you and none of that actually happens. Now imagine that right after you read that article there was a single button or link. Clicking on it, a Java window opens up on top of your screen and tells you that you're now playing a trial of the game. There's no wait, no download, no lengthy form to fill out -- just click and play, right away. You go from interested to inside the game within mere seconds, your computer specs (mostly) aren't an issue, and your curiosity is immediately sated. This isn't a far-fetched dream but the here-and-now reality. This is cloud-streaming MMOs brought to you by Gaikai. And it just might be the future of MMOs as we know it.
Your Mass Effect 3 PC pre-order lets you pre-load the game now
You're no procrastinator. You plan things ahead of time like a responsible member of society. And now you may prepare for Tuesday's launch of Mass Effect 3 by pre-loading the game through EA's Origin platform, freeing up valuable time this weekend to stock up on the cuisine of the future: Mountain Dew and Totino's Pizza Rolls.If you've pre-ordered Mass Effect 3, all you have to do to pre-load the game is log into your Origin account, head on over to the Game Library section and click the "Ready to Download" button on Mass Effect 3.
Origin ends offer of Battlefield 3 bonus with Mass Effect 3 early
During a brief period of fiscal insanity, EA decided to offer a free copy of Battlefield 3 to Origin pre-ordere of Mass Effect 3. That period has now ended, unfortunately, according to a tweet from EA's Origin account. Moreover, pre-orders won't receive a code to download BF3 immediately, but rather "by March 8th." So, just in time to play Battlefield instead of Mass Effect 3, then? That seems ... unfortunate.EA originally claimed the deal would extend until March 5, though it seems that the publisher decided to cut it early. Regardless, Origin's tweet went up about 18 hours ago (around 2PM ET yesterday), so it stands to reason that the window of time for a free copy of BF3 was somewhere between Valentine's Day and yesterday afternoon. EA says "all pre-orders made during the deal" will snag a free code, so, uh, hopefully that's you!
Pre-order Mass Effect 3 on Origin, get Battlefield 3 free
It looks like we have the making of a thing on our hands here. Following EA's Origin promotion, which promised a free copy of Dead Space 2 for those who pre-ordered Battlefield 3, it's now employing a similar strategy with Mass Effect 3. We've dubbed it The Leapfrog Initiative™.Anyone who pre-orders Mass Effect 3 through the publisher's digital distribution platform will get a free copy of Battlefield 3. And even though we expressly mentioned Origin in the first paragraph, we'll say it again: this is a PC promotion only. Don't go thinking EA is going to mail you a PS3 copy of Battlefield 3 or anything.Interested parties can head over to the Origin site. Everyone else, you can safely go back to playing the Mass Effect 3 demo.
