EA Origin is being retired as branding by Electronic Arts for the new EA Desktop app. The change will include a new desktop app with better user experience and support for other services and games.
Confirming the news to GamesIndustry.biz, EA’s SVP of Strategic Growth Mike Blank revealed that the name has been a bit of a burden. The change is being made to ‘better enable player choice in regards to what platform they play EA games on’ and said that “It’s not just a name change. It really signals an ethos that is critically important to us and that we know that’s important to our players.”
The client software for the service will also get updated with an overhaul as well offering new features and an improved UI. The library could also get expanded with new games too. EA has also said that they’re revamping the patching experience to make updates for games smoother in the future.
EA has already been putting a lot of effort into trying to pull away from the tainted branding. More and more PC gamers are tiring of the idea of yet another launcher, and EA itself doesn’t have the best reputation for a variety of reasons. The Origin name will drop away an be replaced by a new offering. The company has also dropped their subscription services formerly known as EA Access and EA Origin Access, renaming those as EA Play. No word yet on when this change will occur though.
The company has also announced plans to port the service to more devices as part of a blending with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate later in 2020. The latter service just launched for Android this week and has been getting solid reception among gamers waiting to get their hands on xCloud. Maybe the boost from a relaunch onto Game Pass is just what EA needs here.
