Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. Guides

Can EA’s Origin succeed on Mac where Steam hasn’t?

By
EA-Origin
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Electronic Arts may be struggling to regain its financial strength as the company transitions from the one-time wealth of console games to the more level playing field of digital distribution on PC and mobile, but that doesn’t mean the company isn’t exploring every possible avenue of growth. The publisher wants a piece of the 54 million active user per month pie enjoyed by Valve’s Steam, and it’s spent two years growing its Origin digital platform to do just that. EA announced on Friday that it’s bringing Origin to one of the few growing personal computer brands in the market: Apple’s Mac. Based on the performance of competitors, though, Apple’s desk and laptop line may have a negligible impact on Origin’s growth.

“Our vision with Origin is to connect your gaming universe online, and today we’re taking a major step in expanding our service to reach Mac-based gamers worldwide,” said Origin VP Michael Blank in EA’s announcement of the service, ”In delivering great game content, connecting the Origin service across PC, Mac and iOS devices, and offering great value to gamers with dual-platform play on select EA titles, Origin is making it easier than ever before for gamers to connect and play.”

Recommended Videos

Dual-platform play, letting Origin users with both a Windows PC and a Mac play games on both platforms, is an appealing sales pitch. According to research firm Gartner, Apple’s Mac line accounted for just above 12 percent of the global PC market during the holiday quarter, but compared to the broader PC market, it’s maintained the steadiest growth. As the NPD Group discovered just three years ago, an enormous percentage of Mac purchasers also own PCs. Dual-platform play should help EA appeal to those users.

The initial lineup of dual-platform supported games may not be a huge draw. Batman: Arkham City, LEGO Harry Potter, The Sims 3, and Dragon Age 2 were popular titles at one point, but their age limits their appeal as instant draws to the service.

An outdated game selection isn’t the biggest hurdle EA faces in finding an audience for Origin on Mac. With 40 million registered Origin users—though active client users on PC are closer to 11 million—EA has a base of gaming customers to build from, but that base has shown it isn’t especially interested in gaming on Mac. As demonstrated in Valve’s monthly overview, Apple’s OS X is the least used operating system amongst Steam users.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Anthony John Agnello
Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
Power up your tech game this summer with Dell’s top deals: Upgrade for a bargain
Dell Techfest and best tech on sale featured.

One of the best times to upgrade your tech stack, be it your desktop, a new laptop, or some high-resolution monitors, is when great deals are to be had. Well, I'm here to share that thanks to Dell's top deals, you can power up your tech game and have most of the summer to make it happen. Maybe you're happy with your current system or setup. That's excellent, but you're likely considering upgrading somewhere, and that's precisely what these deals are all about. Dell has a smorgasbord of deals on laptops, desktops, gaming desktops, monitors, accessories, and so much more. We'll call out a few of our favorite deals below, but for now, know that you should be shopping this sale if you're interested in anything tech-related.

 
What summer tech should you buy in Dell's top deals?

Read more
I love the MacBook Pro, but this Windows laptop came surprisingly close
Apple MacBook Pro 16 downward view showing keyboard and speaker.

There are some great machines in the 15-inch laptop category, which has recently been stretched to include the more common 16-inch laptop. The best among them is the Apple MacBook Pro 16, which offers fast performance for tasks like video editing and the longest battery life.

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 is aimed not only at other 16-inch Windows laptops but also at the MacBook Pro 16. It offers many of the same benefits but at a lower price. Can it take a place at the top?
Specs and configurations

Read more
How to set an ‘Out of Office’ message in Microsoft Teams
Person using Windows 11 laptop on their lap by the window.

Many people use Microsoft Teams regularly to communicate with colleagues both inside of the office and remotely. It is considered one of the most efficient ways to ensure you can stay in contact with the people on your team, but what if you need to let people know you’re not readily available? Microsoft Teams has a method for you to set up an "Out of Office" status for your profile to let staff members know when you’ll be gone for the afternoon, for several days on vacation, or for an extended period.
Where do I go to set up my ‘Out of Office’ status for Teams?
It is important to note that your Microsoft Teams and Outlook calendars are synced. This includes your out-of-office status and automatic replies. So, whatever you set up in Microsoft Teams will reflect in Outlook. Similarly, you can set up your out-of-office status in Outlook, and it will be reflected in Teams; however, the former has a more straightforward instruction.

First, you can click on your profile icon in Teams and go directly to Schedule an out of office, as a shortcut. This will take you to the settings area where you can proceed. You can also click the three-dot icon next to your profile icon, then go to Settings > General, then scroll down to the bottom of the page. There, you'll find out-of-office settings and click Schedule.

Read more