When it comes to digital markets, PC gamers have a fairly varied selection of places to purchase games. While Steam, Humble Bundle and GoG (Good Ol’ Games) strictly distribute digital titles, places like GameStop, Amazon and Origin provide both digital and physical copies of games. However, starting on April 4, EA’s online Origin service will switch to a solely digital platform, and will no longer sell disc-based games.
Origin was a topic of hot debate when it originally launched, as EA began pulling titles from Steam in order to feature them within their new marketplace. While some may still have vendetta’s against EA and their cloud service, the general consensus of PC gamers are beginning to see Origin as a common counterpart with other online distributors. What originally set Origin apart from its competitors, was that it offered not just digital games, but physical ones as well. According to a new post from EA/Origin writer Craig Harris, Origin will no longer sell physical titles after April 4. The change doesn’t affect the majority of users, however those who used Origin to purchase physical copies of EA-published games will find that the platform can no longer”fulfill that need “.
This change will only affect Origin itself; physical EA-published PC games can still be purchased from any other video game retailer.