Mass Effect 3 on PC will require Origin to work

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If you were hoping to be able to play Mass Effect 3 on PC without having to sign up to EA’s new little service Origin, prepare to have those hopes dashed. Chris Priestly, Bioware’s Community head honcho, has stated in a forum post over on the BSN that Origin will be required for all PC editions of Mass Effect 3, regardless of whether you have a hard copy, store bought version or a digitally downloaded version.

In the post, Priestly states several times that Origin is required for both phyical and digital version of Mas Effect 3. He goes on to state that a one time single authorization will be required for the single player portion of the game, and that those wanting to engage in the multiplayer portion will need a constant connection to access that mode.

On the subject of whether Mass Effect 3 will be made available to steam users, Priestly mentioned that whilst Mass Effect 3 will be available during initial release on Origin and other 3rd party digital retailers, it will not be available on Steam during initial release. The reason for this, is stated as “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.”

Priestly goes on to reassure that the Origin service is definitely not spyware, nor does it install spyware onto user’s computers, and he further states that “users will be able to opt-out of Mass Effect 3 data collection from inside the game.”

For the full forum post, click here.

A not entirely unexpected announcement given EA’s very passionate marketing of their new Origin service. Is it an understandable move by Bioware, or are you, as a PC player annoyed at having to download and activate Origin regardless of what version of the game you have? Let us know in the comments section below.

Source: Bioware Official Forums


About the Author: Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Tash is a self-diagnosed gaming fanatic with a doctorate in Psychology. She's also a self-confessed Mass Effect fangirl and will likely talk your ears off if you ever get her started on the subject. A lover of all things RPG and adventure, she has more gamer related action figures and memorabilia than any 30 something year old professional has a right to own, and has spent more time than she’d like to admit to daydreaming about exactly what she would do should the Zombie Apocalypse actually happen.

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