EA games back on Steam after eight years
Apex Legends, Fifa 20 and next month Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is coming. And it's coming to Steam. EA and Valve are joining forces again after eight years. A little bit. It's complicated.
EA games on Steam! Sounds good.
Buying games online and managing the game library purely with Steam was never completely possible. Even after Steam had established itself as a gaming platform, competing launchers quickly emerged from the major labels themselves.
Valve paid handsomely for the sale of games on its Steam platform: The model provided for a 70/30 share. Valve took a whopping thirty per cent from game manufacturers. Only major labels such as Blizzard and Ubisoft were able to fight back and negotiate better conditions.
EA was not satisfied. After an experiment, EA withdrew from Steam in 2011 and launched its own online shop and launcher. All EA games were available exclusively on the company's own Origin label.
This is now a thing of the past: from November, EA also wants to offer its games via Steam. The EA smash hit Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will be available via Steam on 15 November. Other blockbusters such as Apex Legends, FIFA 20, The Sims 4 and Battlefield are to follow.
Still sounds good? But it's not really.
- The complete offer from EA is not available on Steam
- you still need an EA login before purchasing on Steam
The benefit for you as a user is that you have the EA games in your library and can use Steam as a launcher. In addition, the EA friends lists will be transferred when playing via Steam. After all.
Are EA and Valve friends again? I wouldn't say so. It's a partnership of convenience in which both benefit. EA can sell plans and increase its own customer base. Valve has a more complete offering on Steam and strengthens the platform.
This deal doesn't seem to have been created for eternity, however.
I'm the master tamer at the flea circus that is the editorial team, a nine-to-five writer and 24/7 dad. Technology, computers and hi-fi make me tick. On top of that, I’m a rain-or-shine cyclist and generally in a good mood.