EA: We’re on a “journey to regain trust of the PC gamer”

Even years after the disastrous launches of games like SimCity and Battlefield 4, EA's poor reputation among many PC gamers still hasn't recovered all that much. EA Senior Marketing Director for Origin Peter O’Reilly seems to realize this, telling trade magazine MCV recently that the company is on a "journey to regain the trust of the PC gamer."

That means "ensuring a great play experience from launch," O'Reilly said, and indeed, online games like Battlefield: Hardline and Star Wars Battlefront have launched without the widespread server trouble reported on some previous EA titles. But O'Reilly also pointed to a number of consumer-focused programs as part of EA's trust-building attempts on the PC. Those include no-questions-asked refunds for games on Origin within seven days of purchase, free Origin game downloads as part of the "On the House" program, and the recently launched Origin Access subscription program that gives PC gamers access to older titles for $5 a month. "We’re excited about the progress we’ve made but are always pushing ourselves to innovate on behalf of players," O'Reilly said of those efforts.

Regardless of the specifics, it's definitely a welcome message from EA, which has been fighting against poor opinions of its Origin service for years. The tenor reminded us a bit of Microsoft's Phil Spencer, who last June owned up to the failure of Games for Windows Live and promised a new focus on the PC with "Xbox on Windows 10" (an effort that has paid decent dividends so far).

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