EA: Origin has over 5 million daily users

Electronic Arts' Origin platform, launched in early June, already serves a daily userbase of five million and counting, says Peter Moore. Speaking to Australia's Sydney Morning Herald, Moore explained that the company sees the figure as a sign it's on the right track: “you launch software and continue to polish it, upgrade it, get feedback and make it better. That's where we are with Origin.” The COO's commitment to feedback also extended to engaging with one skeptical attendee at a recent keynote address.

“Within five seconds of starting on my first slide somebody shouted out 'Origin sucks!'” Moore tells the Herald. “Unfortunately I didn't hear him the first time so he had to repeat it.” As Moore explains, he then “convinced him over 35 minutes why it actually doesn't suck... I think two years from now we'll be back down here in Australia and talking about how it really enhances and complements the gaming experience, not gets in the way of it, which I think some people do believe right now.”

According to Moore, Origin is intended as a means of engaging more directly with consumers. He suspects that while manufacturers understand and endorse the approach, the platform remains an unknown quantity for users such as his Sydney interlocutor. “I think the fans, the people that have to use it in the early going, are the ones that get it last in regards to what we are trying to do.”

One high-profile, prospective user with a more measured approach is Minecraft developer Notch. In a recent blog post, the FPS fan admitted he was “skeptical” of Origin – but that he'd gladly adopt the platform just for Battlefield 3. “Heck,” admits Notch, “I’d gladly gnaw my own feet off to be able to play Battlefield 3.” Surely Peter Moore would agree that a simple, prominently-placed tattoo should suffice.

Oct 19, 2011

Source: Sydney Morning Herald via Gamasutra

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