Mass Effect in the Steam please

[sinatrocious]

I can play ME1 and ME2 at Steam. But I can't play ME3 or new Andromeda. Why?

I understand it's about money. But you are not getting my money I am willing to pay for games, their DLC and in-game shop because I AM NOT GOING TO BUY GAMES IN ORIGIN. Period. Never ever...

Why? Simply put: I need more than just game to play. Steam gives me that, Origin - doesn't.

I have Far Cry game (and some others, like M&M X) and despite I hate the fact that they run Origin from Steam, it's a better option than not to have game at Steam.

[ivrognard]

@sinatrocious

A few things:

EA abandoned Steam for over 5 years ago. So, by now, this is common knowledge. Once the Origin client was able to stand on its feet, EA stopped releasing there. The EA games are using Origin since 2009, though it became mandatory around 2011. 

Most of the recent Ubi games (Far Cry and M&M X were developed by Ubi) are using uPlay. And in Steam that means that you will have Steam and uPlay open. Ubi doesn't give you a cd-key to use on uPlay, so you could use only their client. EA does that. If you check ME1 and ME2, you will see a cd-key that can be redeemed on Origin. Once the keys are redeemed, you can play the games from Origin, without the need of Steam. The remaining games on Steam are usually games released up to 2012 and they don't require Origin to run, but they can be redeemed on Origin (for free, i might add, which was more than Ubi did)

EA is using Origin, because all their recent games (ME3 and ME:A included) have MP and that MP is built around the Origin client. 

Can't say that i understood what you wanted to say with "I need more than just game to play". 

The Origin client has a friend list, chat, wishlist, favorites and the possibility to gift games, if you are inclined to do so. Yes, you won't have trading cards. And you won't have achievements for all games (will point the fact that there are plenty of Steam games that don't offer those, so not a difference).

The rest is just your personal opinion. No one is forcing you to do anything that you don't want to. Personally, i have an uPlay account, an Origin account, an GOG account and a Steam account. I prefer to buy my EA games from Origin (or GOG, when it comes to old games), my Ubi games from the uPlay store and the rest from Steam or GOG. What i can't find DRM free, i buy from Steam, and even then, if a game goes DRM free i will rebuy it on GOG. 

If i am to make a top of the clients, my personal would be:

GOG - simple, not bloated, just with the necessary features

Origin - see above, though most people can't go past its minimalist look

Steam - lots of games, but bloated as hell

uPlay - less stable, still missing a lot of features, like the wishlist, library customization and so on.

Personally, i hate the fact that Steam has the market monopoly, right now. A monopoly is never good for the consumer, as the monopoly dictates the prices and the lack of availability elsewhere hurts the customer. So i welcome a healthy competition. 

[RedFoxxie]

Hey there @sinatrocious

This is only my theory, but. EA profits more from a game sold through Origin as opposed to Steam since it is their own platform. And since EA owns the Mass Effect IP, they chose to distribute ME3 and Andromeda only through Origin. Mass Effect 1 and 2 are on Steam because they were released before Origin officially launched.

So yeah it's probably all about money and competition. What better way to get players than exclusive titles ? Console markets do this all the time.

Back when ME3 came out, BioWare's community coordinator Chris Priestly put it on Steam's "restrictive terms" :

"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. Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. We are intent on providing Mass Effect to players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play their game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers."

They also back then pulled back Crysis 2 and Dragon Age 2 from Steam. So I guess this makes me think that BioWare and EA are not exactly in the best terms with Steam even to this day and didn't feel the need to release them out to Steam later since you need Origin on the background anyhow and Origin is doing today fine and dandy business-wise. So why let Steam siphon in-between the profits there ?

Tl;dr : Most likely has to do all with money and competition and unfortunately there isn't much the user end can do other than of course vote with their money, as you are doing. You have all your right not to purchase games off Origin.

EDIT: And I agree with @ivrognard that competition is healthy for consumers.

[ivrognard]

@RedFoxxie  According to quite a few developers (indie or AA) and publishers, Steam gets over 30% from the profits. in many cases, more. So, no wonder that the big guys are starting to avoid it. Ubi is pushing towards their own client, by imposing the need of the second client, Bethesda, Rockstar and Warner started to develop their own platforms, recently (Bethesda actually launch it, while Rockstar's Social Club is more of a social platform/DRM for now and the Warner's client is still not released). 

So many big publishers are unhappy with the procent requested by Steam for selling the games on their platform. I wouldn't be surprised if more publishers/devs will leave Steam, especially seeing Steam's anti-consumer policy that appeared in the past three years (BECAUSE their position as a monopoly). 

Right now, the only client that i have a rather big dislike is the Windows Store. That one is a mess. If it will improve, i will probably buy from there, too. But so far i did not see anything that i could say that was an improvement.