Mass Effect 3 isn't launching on Steam, requires Origin

by Ben Gilbert on Jan 16th 2012 1:15PM

Mass Effect 3 is yet another entry in EA's stable of PC games that can't be purchased via Steam. At least it can't be purchased "initially," that is, according to BioWare community manager Chris Priestly, who posted a variety of FAQ answers on the EA division's forums late last week. "During initial release, Mass Effect 3 will be available on Origin and a number of other 3rd party digital retailers, but not on Steam at this time," he said.

Unsurprisingly, this also means that all PC versions of Mass Effect 3 will require EA's Origin service to launch the game -- regardless of where you buy it -- just like Battlefield 3 before it. And despite EA's wording, which implies the game may end up on Steam at some point after launch, we're doubtful that's around the corner.

Alongside the confirmation that ME3 won't end up on Steam, Priestly goes on to list the issues his company sees with launching on Steam ("restrictive terms of service," BioWare claims). Given Steam's ubiquity across the PC gaming landscape, not to mention the vast majority of its clients not complaining about said terms of service, we're gonna go ahead and wager that the terms aren't being altered anytime soon.

Source: BioWare forums

Tags: bioware, chris-priestly, digital-distribution, electronic-arts, mass-effect-3, origin, pc, steam

Reader Comments (273)

Well not only is that disappointing but I am not at all surprised.

@KinseySS

So what they are basically saying is: the game will be available in two options, Origin or the pirate bay...............

@Hunter141072

No, you can still buy EA games at sites like Gamersgate / Impulsedriven. The conflict is between EA & Steam.

@(Unverified)
It doesn't matter where you buy it from- you still require Origin.
The Mass Effect series is my second favorite game series ever. I hate EA for doing this.

@Hunter141072

No Steam, no sale. If it's anywhere near Origin, you can damn well bet I'll never have it on my system.

Glad I started playing this on the 360 version though, I won't be too broken up by this ham-handed attempt at forcing people into using Origin and it's lovely spyware.

@KinseySS

I sure hope it'll still read steam purchased game saves.

Ah well. EA is doing everything they can to squander the good will the earned a couple years ago. Unfortunate, but predictable.

@Ignatius lol ok bro. You'll show them!

@Hunter141072 Anyone that pirates this game over something like this is a scum sucking ass hat.

@Ignatius

Oh well, guess there is only one way to get the game and stay origin free...... buy it from the local store, but don´t install it.... instead get the cracked version and play with that one, that´s the only method with all the UBI soft titles with DRM, guess it´s time to do the same with the EA games.......

@KinseySS

I said this before, but I will not give a penny to a company who've decided they don't want my money.

@Gibbeynator No ea want your money I think you are reading this all wrong...

@KinseySS

ME3 seems like a Day 1 origins removal torrent to me.

@byaboy

I believe the technical term is "No Steam, no sale".

@byaboy

They seem to want my contact and usage info and DLC-dollar more than my initial investment in the actual game.

@Haizeus I'm sure saved games won't be a problem - steam or non-steam, the first two just saved to your documents folder. I have the steam me1 and non-steam me2, and had no trouble transferring characters.

@(Unverified)

This comment system works great!

Step 1: Don't release game via comfortably the most popular digital platform around
Step 2: Report disappointing sales
Step 3: Blame piracy, instead of poor business decisions, on declining sales

@xbit Step 4: Lower funding and manpower towards PC development because "It's obviously a dead platfom" since you have bad sales.
Step 5: Constantly make bad console ports since it's cheap and free money despite being on said thought dead platform.
Step 6: Have everyone with a PC hate you.

@xbit didn't seem to hurt BF3 or SWTOR's sales...

@Omnistatic

SWTOR doesn't actually go through Origin, despite saying so on the site.

@xbit EA hardly launched Origin and made their games exclusive to it in order to justify pulling out of the PC gaming market. Don't look for conspiracy where straightforward explanations such as EA wanting all the money their games earn for themselves.

They won't win though, Origin may survive, but Steam will just bigger and bigger while Origin's fate is determined largely by how wanted their own games are. They're in a good spot at the moment, but that won't last.

@xbit

yeah!!! those tree points say it all....... "restrictive terms of service" sure..........like if forcing people to use their stupid service wasn´t restrictive enough.....................

@Omnistatic

Sure as hell didn't help either...

@Omnistatic

And yet both BF3 and SWTOR are now LOSING customers..but this has nothing to do with Origin.. The problem is EA's choice to release games that still need months of development. ie: BF3 and MOSTLY SWTOR.

@Traptz BF3 needs months of development? Have you played it? I mean, sure it has some issues like any other online shooter, but come on..

@Dcmac

No I haven't played it..I magically got rank 45 and unlocked all the weapons. OFC I played it..why would I comment on it if I didn't?

They have fixed a lot of the issues but you'd have to be a muffin to not know how horrible this game was at release. There were MANY bugs that weren't fixed for a long time and still some that exist. Things that should have been fixed in the beta.

You never crashed to desktop only to lose all the unlocks you just earned? You never get killed 3 seconds after you've already taken cover(this is an engine issue btw). Sorry but you don't experience these kinds of things in a lot of today's shooters. Know why? Because they don't have EA breathing down their necks telling them to get the game out. Other companies release games when they're ready...not when the time runs out.

I'm sorry but you're wrong.

@Dick Socrates It's not a conspiracy, it's sheer dumbness and incompetence to adjust to modern conditions and customer demands.

@Jetleo1
You forgot the part about laying off employees.

Oh wow, didn't see that coming.

/ultrasarcasm

What is this 'Calcuclus'?

@DarkKingSilvers Indeed. And is being capable of "calcuclus" a good thing?

@DarkKingSilvers

3 a : a concretion usually of mineral salts around organic material found especially in hollow organs or ducts b : 1tartar 2

Aka, "we don't want to pay Valve a portion of our DLC sales."

@Demios

AKA "Valve won't let us spam the shit out of everyone who buys a copy of our game"

@Demios Pretty much. Also: your avatar is godly. That is all.

@archipelagos thank you good sir.

@Demios
This is true of the other ME games as well.

AKA "We don't want to pay valve a portion of our DLC sales."

I'll wait for the Steam/non-Origin version then ... or else skip it completely.

Not competing with Steam my ass.

@Faceless Troll
I wish I could give you a 4th heart.

*adds shortcut to game in steam*

@Startbuttonnews
Adding your game to your Steam library is not the issue.

Steam offers the best updates, the best sales and the best community when it comes to digital distributors. Good luck finding an Origin community, good luck with EA Support..

@Traptz

Hey I'm with ya there man. Totally agree. However, I do still want to play this game and since I'm being forced to have Origin I can at least mitigate my pain by shortcutting the game through Steam so I don't have to look at Origin's terrible interface.

@Startbuttonnews I'm not sure how the other Origin-dependent games work, but won't you have to start the service up to play the game regardless of where the shortcut lies?

@Tinkus

I have BF3, DA2, SWTOR and Dead Space 2 all on Origin..none of them need Origin to be on to play. Origin is useless..It's just useless platform for EA to try and squeeze out more money.

When a game says "requires Origin", all that means is you need to register it through Origin and that's it..again..completely useless.

@Tinkus

I launch Bulletstorm from Steam and Origin doesn't open.

@Traptz

I've got news for you, every time you launch BF3, it launches Origin and puts it on your taskbar, you just haven't noticed it.

@SirUrza

BF3 probably does, but I just checked Bulletstorm again and Origin does not pop up under Steam. It's possible all the newer games will open Origin now regardless of their location. That's unfortunate.

@SirUrza Yea..I forgot about BF3 doing that..my mistake..but my point still stands.

1 out of 5 games I have on Origin actually requires Origin to be open..

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Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3 isn't launching on Steam, requires Origin

Reader Comments (273)

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:20PM KinseySS said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 2:11PM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 2:58PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 3:22PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 3:27PM Ignatius said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 3:39PM Haizeus said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 3:53PM DerpMchurson said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 3:58PM Drakkhenden said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 4:03PM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 4:11PM Gibbeynator said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 4:20PM byaboy said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 6:56PM SirUrza said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 7:11PM Gibbeynator said

Posted: Jan 17th 2012 6:46PM Chareth Cutestory said

Posted: Jan 20th 2012 8:52AM maxwell97 said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 2:01AM lolkeits said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:20PM xbit said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:31PM Jetleo1 said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:43PM Omnistatic said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:46PM Copybass Ah jeez zombies said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 2:09PM Dick Socrates said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 2:17PM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 2:46PM liquidsoap89 said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 3:08PM Traptz said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 3:12PM Dcmac said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 3:23PM Traptz said

Posted: Jan 17th 2012 6:43AM Nathanyel said

Posted: Jan 17th 2012 10:12AM Timerider said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:21PM ShadowXIII said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:22PM DarkKingSilvers said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:23PM Xemplar said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:27PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:22PM Demios said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:43PM copa said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 2:01PM archipelagos said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 7:28PM Demios said

Posted: Jan 17th 2012 10:10AM Timerider said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:23PM Demios said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:23PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:24PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 2:26PM zero2dash said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 1:24PM Startbuttonnews said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 3:16PM Traptz said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 4:15PM Startbuttonnews said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 4:56PM Tinkus said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 6:09PM Traptz said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 6:11PM Startbuttonnews said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 6:50PM SirUrza said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 7:33PM Startbuttonnews said

Posted: Jan 16th 2012 9:03PM Traptz said

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